THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 23, 1996 TAG: 9610230397
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 55 lines
The hidden factor that seemed to help propel Ricky Rudd to his first 1996 victory last weekend at North Carolina Motor Speedway was anger.
``When he gets mad on the race track . . .'' said spotter Dale Cagle. ``. . Cagle's statement.
It was easy for them to smile in the afterglow of one of the most amazing Winston Cup victories in recent times. But until they won, the agony of the day's events in the pits was all but overwhelming.
Rudd won despite four botched pit stops. He benched Marshburn and fellow tire changer Dave Anthony after the third stop and let Derrike Cope's tire changers botch the stop instead.
So Rudd skipped the final pit stop, stayed out on the track, inherited the lead and then somehow still managed to win on his older tires.
Rudd's victory proved that even in today's ultra-competitive environment, you can still win when everything isn't just right and a lot of things are wrong.
``It was one of those things where anything and everything that could go wrong did go wrong,'' Rudd said.
It was excruciating for Rudd because he had such a good car. He finally blew his top. And he didn't disagree that his anger motivated him. ``I probably do my best driving when I'm fired up,'' he said. ``Probably the problems on pit road kept me fired up and helped me win that race.''
Marshburn and Anthony, by the way, did not seem particularly upset with the benching. As bad as things were going, they were just as happy to let someone else screw up.
In any event, after the race, as he celebrated in victory lane, Marshburn received vocal and spirited support from a number of crewmen on other teams, who shouted his name in salute as they passed by victory lane on their way back to the garage.
Rudd, by the way, says he's putting pit practice higher on his team's agenda and is looking to hire a pit practice coach as a consultant during the off-season.
``I'm probably as much to blame as anyone,'' he said. ``We haven't been pit practicing as much as we should be. Our pit stops have not been that bad throughout the year, but we haven't been as good as Gordon or (Rusty) Wallace or Labonte.
``When we're on top of our game, we're like a good college team. And when they're on top of their game, they're like a professional team. We've just got to step it up a little bit. And the only way to do that is training. We're not doing some of the procedures like some of the other teams are doing. Guys are spending a lot of time and money training pit crews, with pit practices and videos and other things.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
``I probably do my best driving when I'm fired up,'' Ricky Rudd said
after his victory Sunday. by CNB