THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, September 25, 1995 TAG: 9509250158
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C8 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MARTINSVILLE, VA. LENGTH: Medium: 84 lines
To Dale Earnhardt's resume of NASCAR accomplishments, add his one-handed victory in the Goody's 500 on Sunday at Martinsville Speedway.
So much for close competition in the Winston Cup series. Earnhardt can still beat these guys one-handed.
``I was relaxin','' he said. ``I didn't do it much, did I?''
Heck you didn't, Dale. From the press box, Earnhardt could be seen driving one-handed even while racing side-by-side with Rusty Wallace or Terry Labonte for the lead.
``Had my arm on the roll bar, had my leg propped up on the dashboard, had the CD on . . . ,'' he said.
And so it went as Earnhardt led 251 of 500 laps and won by 1.3 seconds over Labonte for his fourth victory of the season.
The race-winning pass came in turn four on lap 492, when Earnhardt eased under a fast-fading Wallace and took the lead for good. Wallace finished third, followed by Bobby Hamilton and Geoff Bodine.
Six other drivers finished on the lead lap, including Jeff Gordon, who was seventh.
About the only thing Earnhardt didn't do Sunday was put much of a dent in his points deficit. With five races to go, Gordon has a healthy 275-point lead over Earnhardt. Sterling Marlin, who finished 23rd after losing his brakes, is now 400 points back.
``I haven't given up,'' Earnhardt said. ``But luck is going to have to be a part of it. If he finishes in the top five and you finish in the top five, ain't no way you're going to beat him that way. Right now, it's not anything but a game of numbers.''
A game of numbers in the one-handed game of racing.
A reporter asked Earnhardt: ``What is it with the one-hand thing?
``Relaxin','' he said. ``Do I look like I've been in a race? I do it some - not every race.
``The car was real good and I was relaxed, and I didn't see no reason to drive with two hands. Do you drive with two hands all the time? Don't you drive with one hand and hold your coffee in one hand?''
He was asked: `What was on the CD player?''
``Brooks & Dunn,'' he said. ``Played a little Alabama, too - `I'm In A Hurry And Don't Know Why.' ''
While Earnhardt was enjoying a leisurely afternoon cruise, Wallace could have had four arms and it probably wouldn't have helped.
Things started to go bad on lap 86, while Wallace was leading. He bumped Ward Burton in the backstretch while putting a lap on him. Burton then tapped Wallace in turn four, Wallace spun and they collided. The incident brought out the first of 10 yellow flags and prompted a flurry of frantic activity in Wallace's pit to keep him on the lead lap and get bent sheet metal away from his tires.
Later, Wallace had to come to a dead stop in turn four to avoid hitting a sideways Elton Sawyer. Wallace's crew then messed up the subsequent pit stop.
It was not an easy race for Wallace, and his postrace comments reflected that.
``We just had so much problems throughout the day, it was just ridiculous,'' he said. ``Gas getting dumped on crew guys, jack dropping, tires rolling out of (Terry Labonte's) pit and running into my pit - just a bunch of crazy things.
``I was a little better (than Earnhardt) all day long, but I just kept having to come back from behind ALL DAY LONG.''
Wallace attributed most of his pit problems to the new pit rule reducing the number of air wrenches that teams can take over the pit wall from three to two.
``This new rule they've got just sucks,'' he said. ``It's just the worst, most disastrous, unsafe thing they ever could have done. Guys were getting soaked with gas, getting run over. It was just a mess.
``The impact wrench broke one time, and we couldn't use the spare (because of the new rule). That cost us a bunch. It's real dangerous, and a lot of stuff was breaking out there. We're going to get all these drivers together and campaign against this deal.''
Wallace finally got back up front by skipping a tire change. It was a good gamble, because he went from fifth to first. But on old tires, he was no match for Earnhardt, one-handed or two-handed.
``We didn't put tires on it and got beat at the end because we were out of rubber,'' Wallace said.'' by CNB