THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, October 2, 1995 TAG: 9510020128
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. LENGTH: Medium: 78 lines
As Ernie Irvan hoisted himself out of his Ford Thunderbird after finishing sixth Sunday in the Holly Farms 400 at North Wilkesboro Speedway, the scene looked little different than it did here 18 months ago.
Irvan looked fresh. He looked happy. He looked ready to race some more. He looked almost the same as he did when he finished third in the First Union 400 in April 1994, his last race at Wilkesboro.
He's thinner now. He's fitter. And he's racing now with only his right eye. His left eye is still damaged from his near-fatal accident in Michigan in August 1994.
But Irvan answered all the tough questions Sunday with his solid and skillful drive on a short track that was full of traffic all afternoon. Not a single car dropped out of the race.
In all that mayhem, Irvan even managed to drive to the front and lead 31 laps. Even more impressively, he held off the leaders for dozens of laps during the second half of the race when he was in danger of getting lapped.
After it was over, the fans in the backstretch grandstands here let out a huge cheer when Irvan hoisted himself out of his car. And the first question to him was: ``How do you feel?''
``Good,'' he chirped.
Then he was asked about the traffic and he said, ``I'm glad I didn't have two eyes because it would have been tough to see with both of 'em.''
Same old Ernie Irvan.
``I think we answered a lot of questions anyway,'' he said. ``I had a ball the whole time, especially trying to chase Mark (Martin) down. That was the funnest part.''
Martin, who won the race, was leading around lap 60 when Irvan came charging at him.
``He drove right up behind me,'' Martin said. ``I thought he would pass me and I thought, `Yep, Ernie led his first lap coming back from getting hurt by driving by me.' I decided to make him earn it. And he did.
``He's been ready for awhile; he proved that today. It's about time.''
Irvan never got around Martin, but he took the lead on lap 125 during a round of green flag pit stops and held it for 31 trips around this 5/8-mile oval.
``I wouldn't have done this if I didn't think I could do it,'' Irvan said. ``Normally we wouldn't be happy with a sixth-place finish, but I tell you, this is like winning.
``Everything seems the same. I still made the stupid moves I used to. I bounced off the fence with about 20 to go, but that's about normal. It was just like I was racing last week.''
It wasn't quite like he was racing last week.
After Irvan lost the lead, he dropped back rather quickly, sometimes getting passed by four or five cars at a time. Irvan became a bit frustrated with his spotter, saying several times, ``You gotta tell me (about oncoming cars) way before that.''
Other than those small frustrations, Irvan sounded like the Irvan of old on the radio - calm, collected, nonchalant.
Most importantly, he sounded strong and fit throughout the race, shattering pre-race speculation that he had purposely dropped out of Saturday's truck race at the halfway point because he was tired.
Irvan said he became emotional only with about five laps to go, when he knew he had done what he set out to do - finish the race and finish in the top 10.
With Wilkesboro behind him, will he race this week at Charlotte?
``We'll just have to take a good close look at it today, and probably tomorrow, and make sure we have the equipment (and) that the guys can be there and do the job like we did today,'' he said. ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS
A crew member gives Ernie Irvan a hand as he pulls into the North
Wilkesboro pits Sunday. The feeling was shared by the fans, who let
him know how much they liked his 400-lap, sixth-place run.
by CNB