THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 8, 1995 TAG: 9509080639
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines
The Winston Cup boys showed the truck drivers a little something about oval-track racing Thursday night as Terry Labonte edged Geoff Bodine by about 18 inches after a side-by-side final lap in the NASCAR SuperTruck series' debut at Richmond International Raceway.
Bodine and Labonte were next to each other all the way around the final three-quarters of a mile, but Labonte got a slightly better run off the fourth turn and edged his bumper in front of Bodine's as they flew under the checkered flag.
``I thought I went into turn three a little too high, but I was able to get back in the throttle and beat him back to the line,'' Labonte said.
The official margin of victory was 0.006 of a second.
``I'm really disappointed,'' Bodine said. ``I thought I was going to get him.
Much of the second half of the race was punctuated by side-by-side racing for the lead, and it got a little too close on lap 142 of the 150-lap race, as Bodine and Ron Hornaday Jr. touched going into the first turn. Hornaday spun and hit the second-turn wall, eventually finishing 15th after running with the leaders throughout the event.
Hornaday, who is chasing Mike Skinner for the series points lead, was not happy. He tapped Bodine's truck after the race and then argued with Bodine about who was at fault.
``Just looked like Geoff missed his brake pedal or something,'' said Hornaday. ``It's a shame. I've been thinking about this one. I don't know if I want to go Winston Cup racing or not.''
Said Bodine: ``We have a difference of opinion of what happened down there.''
Skinner finished third, followed by Joe Ruttman and Ken Schrader.
The biggest crash of the night occurred on lap 84, when Scott Lagasse got loose coming out of turn two, fishtailed down the backstretch and finally stopped in front of a large group of oncoming trucks.
Gary St. Amant slammed into the front of Lagasse's truck a split-second before Walker Evans slammed into the back. None of the drivers was injured, but three trucks were turned into junk.
MORE BAD LUCK: Don't be surprised if David Green starts growing a new mustache.
Green shaved off his old one last week to improve his luck. The immediate result was more bad luck.
Green was on the pole throughout a long qualifying session Thursday - until the last driver's last lap. On the second of his two qualifying laps, Randy LaJoie stole the pole for tonight's Autolite 250 with a speed of 119.846 mph in his Chevrolet Monte Carlo. LaJoie was the last of 59 drivers to attempt to qualify.
``We had a good tailwind going down the backstretch and it was nice and cool,'' Lajoie said.
The first 25 places were set Thursday night, with the remaining 11 spots in the field and two provisional starters to be determined today. The race starts at 7:40 tonight.
JAPANESE CONNECTION: Kenji Momota was introduced to the racing world Thursday as NASCAR's first Japanese driver.
``I love NASCAR racing,'' Momota said in broken English at a news conference. ``Japan knows very little about NASCAR, but I believe it's the most competitive racing in the world.
``They say NASCAR is a small world and it's pretty hard to get into, but I don't think so, especially if you work hard enough to do it.''
Momota, 33, who has moved to Charlotte, plans to drive in two SuperTruck races this year in a truck owned and prepared by driver Randy McDonald. He wants to run a full truck schedule in 1996, add some Grand National races in 1997 and run for Grand National rookie of the year in 1998. ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Jack Sprague, left, Butch Miller and Scott Lagasse tangled on the
first lap of Thursday night's NASCAR SuperTruck race at Richmond
International Raceway. All three drivers were able to continue.
by CNB