THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, October 30, 1995 TAG: 9510300125
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C8 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PHOENIX LENGTH: Medium: 87 lines
Ernie Irvan is paying his dues again in the Winston Cup series, but for him it's far better than not racing at all.
After Irvan had led more than 100 laps of the Dura Lube 500 at Phoenix International Raceway on Sunday, the record crowd of more than 100,000 fans had to be wondering whether this would be the day he returned to Victory Lane.
But on lap 196, his Ford Thunderbird slowed and smoke emerged from the rear end.
Irvan tried the ignition boxes, but the car still wouldn't go.
Car owner Robert Yates speculated on the radio that the engine must have lost a valve.
``It feels like more than one cylinder,'' Irvan replied. ``I'll go right on to the garage.''
And that was as far as he went. After leading 111 consecutive laps, including a full 80-lap run following a two-tire pit stop, Irvan suddenly was done for the day.
His run was all the more impressive because it came in his backup car. Irvan had crashed his primary car in Saturday's final practice.
``This is the same motor we did all our practice with, so maybe we ran it just a little too long. But it was running great while it lasted,'' Irvan told reporters who flocked around him after he hauled himself out of his car.
Said car owner Robert Yates: ``He wore the field out and he wore my motor out. He just flat stands on the gas.''
``This meant a lot today,'' Irvan said. ``I was happy to see that I still had the patience I used to have to try to get to the front.''
After the two-tire stop on lap 76, ``I'm sure everybody thought we'd probably last four or five laps and then Earnhardt would go right by,'' Irvan said. ``But our car was really good. Our guys did a tremendous job getting this backup car ready. I don't think it had more than four or five laps on it.''
``I could be mad, but this is part of it,'' he said. ``There are so many parts in a car that can go wrong. Who knows what it was? The main thing is that we're racing competitively and I'm getting ready for next year.''
ONE WEEK LATER: For Ward Burton, the difference between a trip to Victory Lane and a steaming mass of broken engine parts was seven days.
One week after his first career victory, Burton's Pontiac engine blew up on lap 118 of the Dura Lube 500. He finished 42nd in a 44-car field.
``Back to reality,'' car owner Bill Davis said, munching the last of a handful of popcorn in the team transporter as the team leisurely packed up.
Earlier, as Burton's car slowed on the track and spewed smoke behind it, a crewman asked, ``Did it blow up?''
``I don't know what blew up,'' Burton replied. ``Something just tore something all to pieces. The power steering went out first, then all of a sudden the engine tightened up and acted like a grenade. The front hood came up and everything.''
Davis speculated that ``a hunk of rubber knocked the belts off and the motor locked up.''
INTO THE WALL: The first crash victim of the day was Bobby Labonte, who hit the outside wall in turn two after tangling with Ward Burton. Geoff Bodine and Dave Marcis also became involved before it was over.
``I was just going along and I guess the 22-car (Burton) was racing too hard and we got together, I suppose,'' a disgusted Labonte said. He returned to the race and finished 37th after completing 235 laps.
After Burton dropped out, he gave his side of the story: ``I was going down low and Bobby came down low, too, and I just couldn't stop. I want to apologize to the Interstate crew and Bobby. I stuck it way in there and he came down a little and I couldn't stop.''
There were seven yellow flags for spins or crashes, including one on lap 233 for Kyle Petty's crash into the turn two wall. Petty suffered the only injury of the race. He broke one of his thumbs in the crash, a crew member told Pontiac's Brian Hoagland. No further information was immediately available.
TWO-CRASH DAY: Elton Sawyer's school of hard knocks continues in the Winston Cup series. He was involved in two incidents Sunday, and the second one knocked him out after 298 laps. He finished 30th.
``Well, one Chesapeake guy did OK today,'' Sawyer said, referring to race winner Ricky Rudd.
Sawyer was able to continue after an incident with Rich Bickle in turn four on lap 72. But on a restart on lap 303, Sawyer was punted into the third-turn wall. The crash ended his day.
``Geoff (Bodine) just got into the back of me,'' Sawyer said, rubbing his neck. ``I don't know why. I was staying down on the restart. I think I'm OK.'' by CNB