Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 13, 1994 TAG: 9403130153
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: E-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: HAMPTON, GA. LENGTH: Medium
After the green flag fell, pole winner Shawna Robinson and Nemechek, who was on the outside pole, raced side-by-side through the first and second turns and down the backstretch of this 1.522-mile speedway.
As they went into the third turn, Mike Wallace dove below Robinson and made it three wide. Robinson's car wiggled slightly and Wallace hit it, sending her crashing up into Nemechek. Somehow, everyone else in the 45-car field missed them as they spun off the banked turn and onto the apron.
Nemechek, the winner last week at Richmond, dropped out.
"[Wallace] should have been penalized right there and then and kicked out of the race," Nemechek said. "He told a lot of people before this race started that he was gonna take some air off her spoiler and get her loose. He was talking about that stuff in the garage - about shooting down under Shawna and pushing up into her. That's wrong."
Robinson said she didn't know about any plot by Wallace against her, but "all I can say is I don't think it showed lot of class."
"If his plan was to take me out, that was definitely the way to do it," she said. "Mike dove in there, but at this kind of speedway, especially on cold tires, you don't do that. What are you going to prove doing something like that on the first lap?"
Wallace defiantly denied any wrongdoing.
"If Dale Earnhardt does the same thing, then he's a hero," he said. "I didn't touch anyone."
As to Nemechek's allegations, he said, "That is the silliest statement anybody can make in the world. I didn't do anything wrong. I've crashed at Atlanta before. I know how much it hurts."
Immediately after the crash, NASCAR officials warned Wallace that if he made one more move like that, they would park him. After reviewing videotapes and talking with the three drivers, NASCAR ruled the crash "a racing accident" and said no disciplinary action would be taken, spokesman Andy Hall said.
Robinson said she was in control while running side-by-side with Nemechek.
"How many fans up in the stands were taking bets on whether the girl was going to crash on the first lap?" she said. "Obviously, I didn't want to crash on the first lap."
Robinson finished 36th after leaving on lap 63. The official reason for her departure from the race was listed as overheating.
As for the race, Gant, riding on Hoosier tires, led 86 of 197 laps and breezed to a 2.08-second victory over Larry Pearson after his chief competition, Mark Martin, dropped out with engine failure. Randy Porter was third, followed by Terry Labonte and Tracy Leslie.
Martin led 75 laps and had chased down Gant and passed him on lap 120. Martin was still leading on lap 155 when his engine quit.
Gant said he thought he would have had something for Martin at the end.
"I really felt like our car would have won," he said. "After 15 laps [under green], it seemed like I could pick up on him a little bit."
In the tire war between Hoosier and Goodyear, there was no agreement on who had the better rubber. Gant said he thought the Hoosiers "would run longer," and Martin said Hoosier had a good tire but that Goodyear "had a better tire."
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB