THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, May 20, 1996 TAG: 9605200149
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CONCORD, N.C. LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines
For Michael Waltrip, the real treasure in Saturday night's Winston Select triumph at Charlotte Motor Speedway was who surrounded him in Victory Lane: Glen, Leonard, Len and Eddie Wood - the legendary Wood Brothers team from Stuart, Va.
The Wood Brothers gave stock-car racing the modern pit stop. They turned the wrenches on the cars David Pearson drove to some of the most dramatic victories in NASCAR racing two decades ago.
And on Saturday they gave Michael Waltrip the car he needed to break his own personal jinx as the longest-standing non-winner in the Winston Cup series.
``I'm standing in Victory Lane and I've just won a race for the Wood Brothers,'' Waltrip said. ``If you was a kid growing up wanting to be a race car driver, well, you know it doesn't get a whole lot better than that.''
It was a big lift for the Woods, too, who hadn't won since 1993.
``After you've been around as long as we have, the only thing that excites you is a win, and we are definitely excited,'' said Glen Wood.
Waltrip's 1.052-second victory over Rusty Wallace was improbable if not dramatic. But the drama of Saturday night was that it was Michael Waltrip who won.
And as Waltrip stretched his lead to 15 car lengths over Wallace with five laps left in NASCAR's gaudiest spectacle, any race fan with warm blood pumping through his heart had to be saying, ``Just let him win. Don't let him lose it now.''
In the driver's seat, Waltrip was drawing strength from his Grand National victory here in 1993, in which he held off Ernie Irvan.
``I just reminded myself what I had accomplished with Ernie right behind me,'' he said. ``I told myself, `You did it once. You outran Ernie. Just be smooth and be steady. You can outrun these cats.' And I did.''
Still, this wasn't supposed to happen.
``In the minds of many, and me included, I don't think I ever said coming over here that I was going to win it,'' he said. ``If I did, I was lying. And I was never happy with the car, ever. It was terrible in the (Winston Select) Open and little better in the first segment. But I'll be darned if they didn't fix it.''
Waltrip had barely made the main show, taking the last spot with his fifth-place finish in the Open.
After the Open, crew members changed spring rubbers, widened the fenders, took wedge out, raised the track bar and changed tire pressure, all to no avail.
They made some more changes after the first segment. ``And that wasn't any good either,'' Waltrip said.
At that point, Waltrip more or less threw up his hands and left it up to the Woods.
``So for the last segment, we put a (spring) rubber in the left front, and if I'm not mistaken changed the air pressure and changed the track bar again,'' Waltrip said.
Bingo.
``It was awesome,'' Waltrip said.
But even as everyone celebrated for Waltrip, there was a strong undercurrent of discontent from the Chevy teams.
``It's over next week,'' Sterling Marlin said, referring to Chevy's chances in the Coca-Cola 600. ``We were loose all night. I couldn't drive it. The Fords would just drive by us and check out. It's so far out of kilter now.''
Waltrip was invited to respond.
``I'm not a big enough name or a good enough driver to be gettin' my dog in that fight,'' he said. ``I'll just take my $211,000 and go home.'' ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Michael Waltrip, bottom, shot from third to first, passing Dale
Earnhardt and Terry Labonte, top, with nine laps left.
by CNB