ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, July 15, 1996 TAG: 9607150105
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: LOUDON, N.H.
SOURCE: Associated Press
Completing a remarkable struggle from near death, Ernie Irvan ended any doubts Sunday about his ability to reclaim a spot among NASCAR's elite drivers.
``Until you win, you never know if you're going to do it again,'' said Irvan, who won the Jiffy Lube 300 for his first victory since crashing at Brooklyn, Mich., on Aug.20, 1994. ``Maybe this will shut them up.''
Irvan was hospitalized several weeks and, after sitting out 14 months, returned for the final three races last year. He entered Sunday's race with eight top-10 finishes this year, including a second place.
``I never had any doubt in my mind that I could do it again from the time I started testing,'' he said. ``I had a lot of injuries, but I got hooked up with a lot of good doctors.''
Irvan took the lead on the 276th lap and easily beat teammate Dale Jarrett to the checkered flag by 5.5 seconds. It was Irvan's 13th career victory and first since May 1994.
Both Irvan and Jarrett drive Fords for the Robert Yates team, and it was Jarrett who filled in for Irvan when he was injured.
Jarrett called Irvan's comeback ``one of the greatest days in the history of NASCAR racing.''
``I can't express enough how glad I am to see Ernie win a race,'' Jarrett said. ``He did a great job and we're all happy for him and Kim [Irvan's wife] after all their family's been through and where he's come from.
``If I had to finish second to anybody, I'm glad it was Ernie. I think I'm as happy for him as I'd be if I'd won this race myself.''
Other drivers joined in congratulating Irvan.
``Hat's off to Ernie,'' Dale Earnhardt said. ``His team stuck behind him and he made it back to Victory Lane. He did a great job and it's great to see him back in the winner's circle.''
Irvan started sixth and led several times for short stretches, including when Jeff Gordon lost power on the 237th lap. Gordon, the defending points champion and third in this season's standings, was slowed by two ignition failures and wound up 34th.
That opened the way for Terry Labonte to overtake Earnhardt for the points lead. Labonte, who started the day five points behind Earnhardt, led until he had to stop for fuel on the 275th lap. He finished sixth.
Earnhardt was running second to Ken Schrader at the time, with Irvan third, but they also needed gas a lap later, putting Irvan in the lead.
Irvan last pitted on lap 244, and took on only two tires and some fuel.
``I didn't want to lose a lap,'' crew chief Larry McReynolds said about his decision to change only two tires. ``Seven, eight, nine, 10 seconds; that's all. Track position was as important as I've seen in any race.''
Earnhardt broke on the last lap, finished 12th and fell 18 points behind Labonte, who is seeking his first Winston Cup points title since 1984.
``We've got to keep running as good as we can and go on from here,'' Labonte said. ``We had a bad day and [the team] never gave up. They kept working on the car and we ended up with a decent finish.''
Gordon dropped 116 points behind.
``We had two ignition boxes, but we needed three today,'' he said. ``We broke the first and I switched over and we thought we were all right.
``We were right where we needed to be. The car was great. It looked like everything was going our way. Then the second ignition broke. We put a third one in there and went out and made some laps to get as many points as we could.''
Ricky Rudd finished third, Jeff Burton fourth and Robert Pressley fifth on the hot, sunny day before 82,000 fans, the largest crowd to jam the speedway since its first Winston Cup race in 1993.
Pole-sitter Ricky Craven disappointed his home crowd, finishing 26th as he had problems throughout the race.
There were eight caution flags for 49 laps. Thirty-three of the 40 cars were running at the end in the rugged race that featured a lot of bumping in the early going.
LENGTH: Medium: 84 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP Ernie Irvan had a lot to celebrate in Victory Laneby CNBon Sunday in Loudon, N.H., nearly two years after a crash in
Michigan nearly cost him his life. color. KEYWORDS: AUTO RACING