THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, September 11, 1995 TAG: 9509110131
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines
Rusty Wallace did himself a big favor by winning the Miller 400 at Richmond International Raceway on Saturday night, but his victory could not have warmed the hearts of his fellow Ford Thunderbird drivers.
Wallace drove his Ford to Victory Lane in a season so dominated by the Monte Carlo that Chevrolet already has won the manufacturer's championship.
``There's no question (the Thunderbird) has a handling disadvantage,'' Wallace said after finishing 5.6 seconds ahead of Terry Labonte. ``But me winning the race today didn't help any.''
No kidding. If you're Jack Roush or Robert Yates, how are you going to complain to NASCAR president Bill France now?
Said crew chief Robin Pemberton: ``I still think we're a little short. We just beat them on long handling runs today. We hit on some stuff in practice that made our car exceptional.''
ANYTHING BUT THE TITLE: Jeff Gordon and his team are still trying to think about anything but the championship battle, and car owner Rick Hendrick is leading the way.
``I've been here with 'em for three days and we never even talked about it,'' he said after Gordon finished sixth. ``It's something we decided to let take care of itself.
``Dale (Earnhardt) is going to play some head games. I'm sure of that. He tried that with me this morning. He said, `Hello, champ.'
``And I said, `Yeah, right. Go play with somebody else.' ''
Earnhardt's third-place finish Saturday allowed him to overtake Sterling Marlin for second place in the points race. Marlin dropped out with mechanical problems and finished 33rd. But Earnhardt is still 279 points behind Gordon. Marlin trails by 308.
ORDERLY WITHDRAWAL: Even with a record crowd of 88,000, the normally horrifying postrace traffic was remarkably smooth and efficient Saturday night.
Give most of the credit to the fans. Thousands left early, taking some of the pressure off, and many thousands more simply hauled out folding chairs and lounged in the parking lot for a couple of hours before leaving. The result: A remarkably orderly withdrawal.
WELL-DONE: ``I know what steak feels likes now. Right now, we're just debating if it was mesquite or hickory,'' John Andretti said after finishing seventh despite a smoky driver's compartment.
A piece of wood used to hold the lead weights in the frame rails caught fire with about 100 laps to go.
``Brain surgeon that I am, I took off the air hose to my helmet, thinking that would help,'' Andretti said. ``When I realized what a mistake that was, I couldn't find it to put it back on. So I was tearing real bad.
I probably passed Ricky (Rudd) out of blindness and gasping for air rather than really racing him.'' by CNB