THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 30, 1995 TAG: 9504300206
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: TALLADEGA, ALA. LENGTH: Long : 102 lines
Steve Kinser is close to the vest with his feelings, so he probably wouldn't say this. But his runner-up finish in Saturday's International Race of Champions event at Talladega Superspeedway was proof that he can, indeed, drive a stock car.
Kinser's second-place finish behind Dale Earnhardt in the hotly contested race was even more impressive than his victory in this same event a year ago.
In that one, Kinser started the last lap in first, holding off the mob to win. Saturday, he charged from eighth to first on the last lap, only to slide a foot or so behind Earnhardt's front bumper as they ran side-by-side in the final seconds.
``I thought I won the race,'' Kinser told reporters. ``It looked a lot closer than 1 or 2 or 3 feet. It was that close. I caught them with a little run and was able to make up a lot . . .''
Kinser, a 14-time World of Outlaws sprint-car champion, had parlayed his victory here last year into a full-time Winston Cup ride, only to bomb out. He resigned after seven races and now is busy building a new sprint-car team.
But in the right circumstances, he can race a stock car with the best of them, at least at the superspeedways. Saturday's IROC race proved that.
Earnhardt, however, stole a bit of Kinser's thunder.
Jeff Gordon was the leader at the beginning of the last lap. But on the backstretch, Earnhardt went high around Gordon while Indy-car driver Scott Pruett went low. Earnhardt and Pruett went into the third turn side by side. But when Pruett drifted up into Earnhardt in the fourth turn, that opened a hole that Kinser managed to fill.
``I don't know where Kinser came from,'' Earnhardt said. ``But here comes Kinser through the short chute. Kinser was actually in front of me through the tri-oval. But Mark Martin was on the outside line and helped me draft back by Kinser and win the race.''
Martin finished third, followed by Pruett and Gordon, who said, ``I don't think I've ever screwed up so bad in my life.''
Thus, Kinser was able to add a footnote to his short-lived Winston Cup career. And he's not looking back.
``What's behind me is behind me,'' Kinser said Friday. ``I have no regrets about anything I've done. I'm looking forward to the rest of the year'' racing sprint cars.
WALLACE WINS ARCA: Winston Cup regular Mike Wallace inherited the victory in the ARCA 500K race Saturday when leader Harris DeVane ran out of gas in the fourth turn of the last lap.
``I couldn't have caught him if he hadn't run out,'' Wallace said. ``He had me beat.''
Wallace and DeVane were nose-to-tail on the last lap when DeVane suddenly slowed in the last turn and nearly collected Wallace, who got out of the gas.
Wallace lost a bit of momentum, but he didn't need it at that point and cruised to victory by 15 car lengths over DeVane. Wallace only led two laps in the race. Jeff Purvis was third, followed by Alabama teenager Kevin Ray and Mark Stahl.
The key to Wallace's victory was that he made a quick pit stop for gas only during the final caution period, which began on lap 76 of the 117-lap event. DeVane did not stop, nor did Gary Bradberry, who was leading on lap 109 when he, too, ran out of fuel.
Three drivers - Randal Ritter, John Stradtman and Henry Wallace - were taken to Northeast Regional Medical Center in Anniston for observation after being involved in an 10-car crash coming out of turn four on lap 37. No serious injuries were reported.
ROUND 2: Chesapeake native Elton Sawyer, one of 10 drivers to requalify in the second round of time trials Saturday, led the session with a speed of 192.305 mph in his Ford, which gave him the 31st starting position. The only other driver to qualify was Jeff Burton, who moved from 40th to 37th.
Provisional starting spots went to Steve Grissom (39th), Geoff Bodine (41st), Ward Burton (42nd) and Brett Bodine (40th).
Ritchie Petty, Billy Standridge, Joe Nemechek, Steve Seligman and Delma Cowart failed to make the race.
LaJOIE TOTALS CAR: Randy LaJoie and his car owner, Bill Davis, said they're getting a bill for $12,000 after LaJoie totaled one of Skip Barber's Formula Ford race cars on Wednesday while attending a driving school at Sears Point International Raceway.
LaJoie said Jeremy Mayfield, who was also at the school, lost control in front of him and spun ``at the fastest point on the race track. I drove over the top of him and straight into a concrete wall.
``It was like an Indy-car wreck, with stuff scattered everywhere,'' LaJoie said. ``The way the car looked, I'm in pretty good shape. But I'm still trying to walk it off.''
DALLENBACH RETURNS: Wally Dallenbach Jr. plans to return to the Winston Cup series at Sears Point next weekend driving a car owned by Colorado resident Bill Strauser.
Dallenbach, whose last Winston Cup race was at Watkins Glen last August, hopes to drive Strauser's car at the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis and perhaps two or three more in the fall, but at the moment it's a one-race deal.
McCLURE INJURED: Larry McClure, team manager and co-owner of Sterling Marlin's team, suffered two fractures of his lower left arm Wednesday night when he collided with a truck after being blinded by the sun while driving home from work in his hometown of Abingdon, Va. McClure's injuries required surgery, but he was planning to attend today's race. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Dale Earnhardt, left, describes the last-lap pass that gave him a
narrow IROC victory over Steve Kinser, right, at Talladega.
by CNB