ROANOKE TIMES

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, March 7, 1994                   TAG: 9403070037
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Medium


HOOSIERS FLAT AT RICHMOND

The tire war was another tire rout at Richmond International Raceway Sunday as Goodyear drivers swept the top 15 finishing positions.

Of the six drivers on Hoosier tires, Darrell Waltrip's 16th-place finish was the best result. And he wasn't happy about it.

"It just wasn't a very good day," Waltrip said, "and I'm not sure what was wrong."

Jeff Burton seemed to have the strongest Hoosier-shod car, staying on the lead lap for more than half the race.

But Burton's good day went sour on lap 280, when Rusty Wallace spun him out in turn 2 as Burton tried to stay on the lead lap. The spin flat-spotted his tires and he lost two laps replacing them.

"I feel like we had the best car on Hoosier tires," said crew chief Ken Wilson. "But it seemed like everything went to hell in a handbasket after that spin."

Burton finished 20th, three laps down.

Kyle Petty, who finished fifth, had high praise for the Goodyear tires.

"I went over there and told the guys at Goodyear that I was really impressed with the tires," he said. "They were all good. There was no such thing as a bad set on my car."

\ WHERE'S THE HELP?: The biggest crash of the afternoon occurred less than a minute after the race started when Dick Trickle and Geoff Bodine collided in turn 1 and spun to the wall.

Trickle's car then slid down the track into Harry Gant's path and the collision tore the side off Gant's car.

But the biggest apparent lapse in this incident was made by the officials controlling the rescue vehicles. Help arrived in reverse order, with the cleanup crews on the scene first and the rescue squad getting there last.

For the first three laps under the yellow - or almost three minutes - no one went to Trickle's aid. Luckily, he was not injured.

The first safety vehicle to arrive was a blower truck that blew dust and debris into Trickle's face as he inspected his wrecked car.

On lap five, a tow truck ambled onto the scene. And finally, on lap six, someone dispatched a rescue squad.

There were eight caution periods totaling 51 laps, including five for crashes or spins. No one was hurt.

\ MUSGRAVE'S FLAT: Pole winner Ted Musgrave led the first 45 laps, but saw his chances for a win end around lap 86 with a flat right front tire.

"It's all the way on the rim," Musgrave told his crew as he came to the pits for an unscheduled stop that cost him two laps. He made up one of those laps, however, and finished 13th, one lap down.

"Not bad," he said. "We started off pretty decent. The car got loose on the long run at the first there. So we tightened it up and got pretty good, but we got the flat tire and stayed a lap down for the rest of the day. So it's kind of tough."

\ MAST SEVENTH: Rick Mast had another strong run to finish seventh, continuing his best start ever in a Winston Cup season. He led for 30 laps after passing Ted Musgrave on lap 46 and remained on the lead lap throughout the race.

"We had a setup that felt good in practice, but obviously it wasn't that good in the race," Mast said. "We got it way off in the middle of the race, but we it was better toward the end. We're in with them. We just have to keep the car together."

\ WARD BREAKS: In his first Winston Cup race of 1994, Ward Burton dropped out after 71 laps when his engine broke. He finished 35th in the 37-car field.

"We either burned a piston or dropped a valve," Burton said. "At least we made the show this week."

\ HENSLEY BLOWS: Jimmy Hensley was the second car out of the race after his engine failed. "I really believe we broke a valve," Hensley said. "It started missing early in the race." He finished 36th.



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