Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, November 14, 1994 TAG: 9411150074
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: SPORTS EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: HAMPTON, GA. LENGTH: Medium
Gant's day, to be sure, was all but over anyway. His car was smoking and his engine was already well done. He finished 33rd.
But the old veteran, whose endurance was legendary, almost never ended races this way.
``I couldn't breathe any longer,'' he said. ``I told `em to get somebody else if they wanted to continue. Our motor had been getting weak all day and it kept stinking. It got so bad I couldn't hardly go, and then it started smoking up inside the car. I guess the bearings or pistons started coming out.''
``I'm just glad I don't have to smell any more gas fumes. I'm out of here. I'm done.
``Stick a fork in me.''
BURTON STILL TOP ROOKIE: There was no change in the rookie-of-the-year points standings after Sunday's race. South Boston's Jeff Burton still leads Joe Nemechek by 10 points.
But Burton's rookie title won't be official until today, after a vote by a NASCAR panel.
GORDON THE RICHEST: Although Dale Earnhardt won the Winston Cup championship and Rusty Wallace won eight races - the most of anyone - the driver who won the most money in 1994 was Jeff Gordon.
On the strength of his rich victories in the Brickyard 400 and the Coca-Cola 600, Gordon won $1,607,010. Earnhardt won $1,528,895, not including the $1.25 million champion's bonus.
HARD CHARGER IRVAN: Although his season ended at Michigan in August in a near-fatal crash with 11 races left to go, Ernie Irvan is still the leader at the end of the season in a couple of statistical categories.
In only 20 races, Irvan led 2,419.51 miles - more than any other driver. He also led 79 different times, which was tops for the year.
And he won the True Value Hard Charger award, a competition in which drivers win points for every lap of every race in which they are ranked fifth or better.
``This is really good,'' Irvan said. ``There wasn't a lot for us to look forward to for the remainder of our year.''
HENSLEY STRONG: Jimmy Hensley's 12th-place run in the Bill Elliott-owned Ford was one of the unsung performances of the day. He led a couple of laps and was headed for a top 10 finish until he was penalized for speeding on pit road late in the race.
``Bill Elliott is going to have a super car next year,'' said Hensley, who doesn't have a ride of his own yet for 1995.
BRIEFLY AWESOME: Rick Mast's season, highlighted by his Brickyard 400 pole, ended in another disappointment Sunday. He broke a rear end gear while leading on lap 135 and spent 33 laps in the pits before coming back out and finishing 27th.
``It was typical of the year, man,'' he said. ``I took it real easy at the start of the race. We had a pit stop and I finally unleashed it to see what I had. And that baby was awesome, I mean awesome.''
ALLEN, BODINE WRECK: Loy Allen received a mild head injury and bruises when he blew a tire and slammed the fourth-turn wall on lap 145. He appeared to be unconscious as he was taken from his car. Allen was taken by ambulance to Georgia Baptist Medical Center after complaining of pain in his right shoulder and side. He was examined and released.
About 100 laps later, Geoff Bodine had the same problem in the same place. Bodine's wreck looked worse. He also hit the inside wall and his car burst into flames. But his crew rushed across pit road and rescued him as other crewman put out the fire.
Holding an ice pack to his neck after the race, Bodine said his tire blew after he ran over a part that fell off Greg Sacks's car.
Inside the car immediately after the wreck, ``I wasn't breathing too good there for awhile,'' he said. ``I was a little confused at the time and it was getting difficult to breath.''
by CNB