Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, July 3, 1994 TAG: 9407030105
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. LENGTH: Long
Wallace started 13th and promptly went backward. By the 40th lap, he was 34th. He didn't bend as much as a fender all afternoon, but his car drove so poorly that he ended up 29th, trailing fellows like Rich Bickle and Bobby Hamilton.
He finished a lap down, trailing four other lapped cars.
Even before the halfway point, he was telling his crew horror stories about how his car was handling.
"I drive into the corner and go to make my cut and the left front bounces like crazy," he said. "The shocks are just terrible."
When it was over, he said: "All week long, I just never, never could get the car to drive right. So we just decided to dump that car for poor performance.
"We can't afford to to go to Talladega behind, so I told them, `Hey, you'd better find somebody to sell that car to for a show car or something, because we can't sacrifice trying to run it again.'
"I had no idea I'd run this bad today. It was just embarrassing. I wanted to quit."
Wallace said his team probably will build a new car for the final superspeedway race at Talladega later this month. He remained in third place in the Winston Cup points standings but trails leader Ernie Irvan by 319 points and is only nine points ahead of Mark Martin.
\ EARNHARDT SLIGHTLY OFF: After leading 31 laps, Dale Earnhardt was slightly off at the end and finished third. The problem may have been that he burned a piston in the final Winston Cup practice on Friday.
"We were pretty good there at the end, but I just couldn't run with them," he said. "I thought something might happen in front of me, but it never did. We dropped a cylinder in the last practice yesterday and had to start the race on an engine we didn't have any laps on. It was pretty good, but it wasn't as good as the one we qualified with."
\ MAD MARLIN: Daytona 500 winner Sterling Marlin was in Jeff Gordon's face before Gordon had a chance to haul himself out of his car after the race.
Marlin, furious after getting spun out by Gordon late in the race, shouted at Gordon for a few moments but threw no punches before stomping off.
"I thought the Chevrolets were supposed to help each other, but that's not what happened out there today," Marlin said. "It was a bad deal. You have to work with somebody at Daytona, but some guys out there think they're one-man bands."
"I didn't mean to get into him," Gordon said. "We were racing hard. I was underneath him and my car was pushing. I got into him. He was all upset at me, and he was every right to be. But there have been some other instances.
"I never said one word to him at Martinsville [earlier this year] when he drove right in front of me. There was another time he got into us. It was nothing intentional. At the same time, he needs to take it like a man, grit his teeth and go on to the next one."
But this one was tough for Marlin to take. He led six laps and was among the leaders most of the afternoon. There was no yellow flag after his spin, and he lost two laps, eventually finishing 28th.
\ A LARGELY TROUBLE-FREE RACE: There were only four caution periods during the race and only one serious accident.
It happened on lap 119 when Derrike Cope slowed coming off turn 2 and Jeff Purvis lost control trying to avoid him. Six other cars were involved, including the one driven by Joe Nemechek, who slammed into Purvis' car and then hit Jimmy Hensley's before stopping. No one was hurt.
\ FAREWELL: Harry Gant finished 31st in his final race at Daytona. The 54-year-old driver plans to retire in November after 30 years in racing. He never won a Winston Cup event on the track, but he finished second twice (1981 and 1984) in the Pepsi 400. Gant competed in 30 races overall at Daytona, had seven top-10 finishes and earned more than $594,000.
"It was nice to see all the fans here for the race. I'm sorry things didn't turn out as good as we'd hoped for," Gant said. "We've struggled lately with our programs for Daytona and Talladega. The way we were running, I'm glad the race is over."
\ SOLID EFFORT: Morgan Shepherd had another steady, journeyman's afternoon on the track, leading no laps but bringing the Wood Brothers Ford home in ninth place to retain sixth place in the Winston Cup championship.
\ MAST IN 29TH: Rick Mast of Rockbridge Baths, Va., who needed a provisional starting spot to make the 400, was better in the race than he expected, although he finished two laps down in 29th.
"We ran better than I figured we were going to run when the race started," he said. "I could actually run with a couple of cars out there. This car will be tested before we run it at Talladega."
\ MOVIN' ON UP: Jeff Burton's 18th-place finish was not indicative of the strength of his run. He had moved from his 27th starting position into fourth after 50 laps and was near the leaders most of the day. Near the end, "we equalized a right rear tire," he said. "We just keep putting ourselves in good position, but we just can't seem to get that break. But I'm very pleased."
\ TOUGH RACE: Jimmy Hensley finished 32nd, three laps down, and was involved in the seven-car crash triggered by Jeff Purvis's spin. "We just struggled with the handling all day," he said.
\ TOXIC FUMES: Ward Burton, who brought out the first yellow flag after running out of gas in turn 2 on lap 55, needed oxygen and cold towels after the race after breathing fumes all afternoon.
"I had an air system that didn't work," he said as he walked to the infield care center for further treatment. "I never had any cool air and got a lot of carbon monoxide."
He finished 36th, nine laps down.
\ The Associated Press supplied some information for this report.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB