Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, June 25, 1990 TAG: 9006250035
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: BROOKLYN, MICH. LENGTH: Medium
Earnhardt didn't gloat when it happened.
"It wasn't good or bad. I didn't cheer or anything," Earnhardt said after winning the stock car race at Michigan International Speedway. "I just gave a sigh of relief. Bill looked like he had us covered.
"Then I knew there was the No. 4 car [Ernie Irvan] left to race. It wasn't over."
Elliott led 102 of the 200 laps on the two-mile, high-banked oval and appeared ready to wrap up his first victory of the year with ease. But a plume of smoke from the rear of the car signaled the end of his race on lap 186 with a blown engine.
That left the battle to three-time Winston Cup champion Earnhardt and winless Irvan, a rising star in NASCAR's premier stock car series.
Earnhardt's Chevrolet Lumina inherited the lead when Elliott blew his engine, but Irvan drove his Oldsmobile Cutlass into the top spot on lap 188 and held Earnhardt off for eight laps.
But in the end, the more experienced who driver asserted himself, moving on top to stay at the finish line on lap 195 and holding off Irvan the rest of the way to win by just 0.14 seconds.
"I wasn't pondering on what Ernie had done before, or what I had done," Earnhardt said. "I was pondering the race. He was just another car to beat."
Irvan, whose best previous finish was third at Atlanta in March in his first race with the Morgan-McClure team, said, "We had a good close run, but Dale had a good car. Who would have known that Dale could have come through there like that and win? He had a good strong car."
The disappointed Elliott, who had won seven of the previous 12 stock car races here, said, "That last restart [after final caution], it felt like it was vibrating a little bit, and the oil pressure was dropping a little bit. I didn't think it would last the race. That's just been our luck all year."
Earnhardt, who earned his fourth victory of the season and 43rd of his career, ended a string of poor showings that saw him drop from the Winston Cup point lead to fifth.
During that period, he finished 30th, 31st, 34th and 13th with a variety of mechanical and tire problems. That erased a 90-point series lead and left him 133 behind Martin heading into Sunday's race.
"You've got to be there all day," Earnhardt said. "That's been my problem the last four of five weeks. We were there all day today."
Earnhardt, who won $72,950, averaged 150.219 mph in a race slowed by just four caution flags for 16 laps.
Geoff Bodine passed Mark Martin for third place late in the race, with Harry Gant, the winner last week at Pocono, fifth.
Morgan Shepherd wound up 13th and Rusty Wallace 17th.
That left the top five drivers separated by 118 points in the Winston Cup standings.
Martin leads Shepherd by 94 points, and Bodine by another 13 points. Wallace fell to fourth, nine points behind Bodine, and Earnhardt is two points behind Wallace.
Rain washed away all but 30 minutes of practice Friday and Saturday, but Sunday was sunny with the temperature in the low 70s.
NASCAR put out a caution flag on lap 20 for a mandatory pit stop, giving all the teams a chance to check tire wear and make necessary adjustments because of the limited preparation time.
The only other caution period in the first half of the race began on lap 60 when Jack Pennington crashed in turn four, apparently because of a cut rear tire. He walked away without injury.
Hut Stricklin's blown engine sent him into the wall in turn four on lap 132 and brought out the third caution of the race. He was able to drive the car back to the garage area.
The final caution flag waved on lap 172 when Ed Cooper's engine blew, allowing the leaders to make their final stops. The green flag came out on lap 177 with Ken Schrader in the lead, followed by Earnhardt, Irvan and Elliott.
Elliott, still showing his Ford Thunderbird's muscle, quickly moved back to the front, taking the lead for the final time on lap 181.
The crowd, estimated at about 85,000, a track record, cheered wildly for Elliott. Five laps later, the fans were groaning as he slowed and Earnhardt and Irvan raced away.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB