THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, July 22, 1996 TAG: 9607220133
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LONG POND, PA. LENGTH: 75 lines
Since way back in March, Rusty Wallace has been forging one of the most consistently inconsistent records ever seen in the Winston Cup series.
He'd finish in the top 10 in one race, then break something in the next one. He'd win, then crash.
But Wallace's victory in the Miller 500 on Sunday at Pocono Raceway, which came on the heels of a seventh-place finish at New Hampshire, finally gave him two good runs in a row.
It was his fourth victory in 1996 and the 45th of his career.
The race was dominated by Mark Martin, who led 121 of the 200 laps. But three late-race cautions bunched up the field and Wallace took the lead for the time on lap 171 when he passed Ricky Rudd. He went on to win by 0.30 seconds over Rudd.
Dale Jarrett was third and Ernie Irvan fourth as Fords swept the top four spots. Johnny Benson was fifth in a Pontiac Grand Prix for his best career finish.
And finishing sixth, in the highest-finishing Chevrolet Monte Carlo, was Sterling Marlin. Needless to say, the Chevy teams were none too happy with the results.
``It was like going to a gunfight with a knife and they've got all the guns,'' Marlin said. They (the Fords) just drove off and left us today.''
But all is well in Wallace's world. He's having another big year and has moved to eighth in the Winston Cup championship, 418 points behind leader Terry Labonte. And as Wallace is concerned, all is finally well in the Ford-Chevy duel.
``We worked for a year and a half to get the rules close,'' he said. ``I think right now that the rules are close enough. It's time just to go racing now. The rest of the Ford guys might be saying we need more, but I think right now it's time to stop talking about it and go racing, because it's as equal as it's going to get.''
For the record, nobody in the Ford camp was complaining Sunday - except maybe Martin. He was crushed, and that was because he saw a golden opportunity go to waste after dominating the race.
After a crash on lap 2, the race went green for the next 155 laps, and Martin led the way. He was in front for 121 laps until the yellow flag flew on lap 161 because, according to NASCAR officials, there was debris in the first turn.
During Martin's pit stop, a lug nut became stuck in an air-wrench socket, and he had to pit twice to change all four tires. That relegated him to 10th. He finally finished ninth.
Wallace, meanwhile, charged out of the pits in second, trailing only Rudd. And on lap 171 he passed Rudd in the second turn and stayed in front the rest of the way.
``My problem was we kept going green-flag (racing) all day,'' Wallace said. ``I qualified bad (13th) again and I worked my way up. But there were no caution flags, and the leaders were way out there. When the caution flag finally came, it bunched us all up and put a race back into it.''
So Wallace finally put two good races together for the first time since he finished fourth at Darlington and fifth at Bristol in March.
That's when his roller-coaster finishes began. He was 33rd at North Wilkesboro, then won at Martinsville. At Talladega he was 30th; at Sears Point he won. He finished 34th at Charlotte, then was seventh at Dover. Five weeks ago at Pocono, he was 31st. Then he won at Michigan, only to finish 31st at Daytona before the series headed to New Hampshire.
``A lot of people just look at the finishes, but I just look at the performance of the car,'' Wallace said.
Can he still contend for the title?
``Absolutely,'' he said. ``There is still a chance. I've got a lot of good (tracks) coming up, so there's enough time. I've had enough time to lose that many points, so I've got enough time to gain that many.'' ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Rusty Wallace's win Sunday at Pocono Raceway was his fourth of the
season and the 45th of his career.
RESULTS
[For a copy of the list, see microfilm for this date.] by CNB