ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, February 17, 1996 TAG: 9602190117
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: DAYTONA BEACH, FLA.
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
A LATE-RACE tire change leaves him in front and other drivers steamed.
It's a familiar February drill by now.
Dale Earnhardt and a bunch of other drivers race equally prepared cars in the International Race of Champions at Daytona International Speedway. And Earnhardt wins.
He passed Terry Labonte going into the first turn on lap 38 of the 40-lap race and held on to win his third straight IROC race. Behind him, Robby Gordon and Tommy Kendall battled side by side for second place, with Gordon prevailing.
Except in this race, ``equally prepared'' didn't mean equal.
Earnhardt and four other drivers took advantage of a change in the rules that permitted tire changing during the race. As a result, those drivers - Earnhardt, Gordon, Kendall, Sterling Marlin and Jeff Gordon - finished first, second, third, fourth and sixth.
Al Unser Jr., who was fifth, was the highest finisher who didn't change tires.
Those who didn't change tires were furious when the race was over, especially Mark Martin and Labonte.
They laid into IROC President Jay Signore on pit road, cursing and hollering. As Labonte unbuckled, he threw items around his car and tossed his ear plugs at Signore.
Later, Signore said, ``We'll get through that, fix up our problems and make everybody happy again.''
``For sure, tires were the story,'' said Unser.
Martin said: ``We were fine [until] they let Dale change tires.''
Signore said the tire rule was rescinded because there didn't appear to be any difference in the speed of the Pontiac Firebirds whether they had new tires or 40-lap tires.
The change was announced at the driver's meeting, he said.
``We told them in the driver's meeting there would be no penalty if they pulled in for tires,'' Signore said.
But there was a difference in tires, as Kendall explained: ``The old tires were as fast, but with new tires, we could run any line we wanted. When we passed all those guys, we were able to hold tight to the bottom and they drifted out.''
The opportunity to change tires developed when Steve Kinser brushed the wall on lap 30, bringing out a yellow flag.
``We were really fortunate ... that he hit the wall,'' Earnhardt said. ``The car was starting to push real bad and it gave up the right front real bad. I felt that our right front was unsafe and, as a driver, I made the decision to come and see if they'd give me right sides. I made a judgment call that worked out for me. Robby Gordon did. Kendall did. The other guys didn't.''
IROC Chairman Les Richter said the tire rule will be reviewed before the next race and might be changed to allow tire changes only if a driver has a tire problem.
LENGTH: Medium: 64 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP IROC winner Dale Earnhardt (right) shares a laughby CNBwith runner-up Robby Gordon on Friday. color KEYWORDS: AUTO RACING