THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, July 10, 1995 TAG: 9507100128
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: NASCAR NOTES
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LOUDON, N.H. LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines
The Ford Thunderbird that Dale Jarrett drove Sunday in the Slick 50 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway was the same car Davey Allison drove to his final victory, at Richmond in 1993.
It was the same car Allison nearly won with here two years ago on the day before his fatal helicopter crash in Alabama. And it was the same car Ernie Irvan ran so well with here last year.
But for Jarrett on Sunday, it was just another car that ended up in the wall in the opening laps through no fault of his own.
He crashed at Dover in early June. At Pocono, Sterling Marlin got him. This time, Geoff Bodine was responsible, sending him into the wall on only the second lap.
``Dale, for what it's worth, he said he was sorry, he just messed up,'' Jarrett's spotter told him, relaying a message from Bodine.
``That does a lot of good,'' a disgusted Jarrett replied.
The car, No. 12 in team owner Robert Yates' stable, suffered front-end damage. Jarrett eventually finished 30th, four laps down.
EARNHARDT STUMBLES: Dale Earnhardt led the Slick 50 300 three times, running first as late as lap 170 after a dandy duel with Rusty Wallace.
But he wasn't at the front when it counted. He finished the race, but pit problems relegated him to a 22nd-place finish, two laps down.
``We didn't get the lug nuts tight and had to come back in to the pits'' after a green-flag pit stop on lap 230, Earnhardt said. ``Then we got a vibration in the car and had to come back in again. That's the way it goes sometimes.''
Earnhardt now trails points leader Jeff Gordon by 87 points.
A FEISTY PETTY: You could tell Kyle Petty was in a fully competitive mode by his angry reaction when he parked his Pontiac with engine troubles after 94 laps.
When he reached the garage and got out of the car, Petty told a Motor Racing Network reporter: ``I ain't going to talk, man, so you might as well get out of here.''
Later, Petty told team publicist Jon Sands: ``We were looking at two top 10s in a row. The motor just broke.''
BODINE'S TROUBLES: Geoff Bodine was behind the 8-ball all day.
He was penalized a lap by NASCAR for causing Dale Jarrett's crash on the second lap. But he battled back and passed leader Mark Martin to get back on the lead lap just as the yellow flag flew on lap 144 for Jeremy Mayfield's crash.
But when the green flag came back out on lap 149, Bodine was nudged into a spin by Bobby Labonte, causing a four-car crash that also involved John Andretti and Todd Bodine.
Then, on lap 269, Geoff Bodine spun in turn four and smacked the wall again. He rolled into the pits and out of the race.
``In the beginning, I bumped into Dale Jarrett,'' Bodine said. ``I apologized over the radio. The brakes weren't seated in. I didn't feel like it was worthy of a penalty, but that's NASCAR's decision.
``Then later, I got bumped by Bobby Labonte.
``After the last one, I parked it. No sense getting in anybody's way.''
Bodine finished 35th after completing 265 laps, while Labonte ended up 15th, one lap down.
BURTON ON SPENCER: After crashing in the first and second turns on lap 162, Ward Burton blamed Jimmy Spencer.
``We were just out there taking our time and we came up on a guy named Jimmy Spencer,'' he said. ``You just can't race with that fellow. He gets brain fade when he sits in an automobile.''
SAWYER'S RUN: It was another Sunday in the school of stock-car driving for Elton Sawyer, who finished 23rd, two laps down.
``It was my fault. We started the race too loose,'' Sawyer said. ``During the last 100 laps, however, we had lap times equal to the top 10 cars. But we ran all day, didn't wreck, kept the fenders on it and we learned a lot. And now we'll go to Pocono and learn some more.'' by CNB