THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 17, 1995 TAG: 9509170160
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C8 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STAN CREEKMORE, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: DOVER, DEL. LENGTH: Medium: 53 lines
A victory is worth a lot more than just money.
Johnny Rumley, driving a Chevrolet owned by Richmond businessman Don Beverly, picked up more than the $23,174 check after winning the MBNA 200 Busch Grand National race Saturday at Dover Downs International Speedway. He picked up his confidence and self-worth.
``This means I am worth something,'' Rumley said, contrasting the victory with the team's failure to qualify for the previous week's event at Richmond.
``It's a 3 1/2-hour ride home for me from Richmond, and all the way I felt like the dirt of the earth,'' the 37-year-old driver from Winston-Salem, N.C., said. ``Sure, I doubted myself. I know it doesn't sound right, but you can see it on pit road. People just don't think you can get the job done, but this team doesn't come down on me. And today we got the job done.''
An early gas stop was the key. Rumley stopped to top off his gas tank on lap 94 of the 200-lap race, losing a lap in the process. But the strategy paid off when the other leaders had to make gas stops in the late going.
Rumley took the lead with 11 laps left, when Mike Wallace made his gas stop during the last of three caution periods in the race.
Rumley left the final decision on whether to pit with 13 laps left to crew chief Sammy Houston.
``He asked me what I wanted to do and I told him to do what he thought,'' Rumley said.
Houston kept the car on the track and in the lead as the field went back under the green on lap 193.
``With less than 10 laps to go, I thought the tires might be important, but not that important,'' Houston said. ``It is so hard to pass at this place, and track position is everything that late in a race.''
Rumley felt the heat on the restart from Mike Wallace, but after three laps, Wallace was in his own battle for the runner-up spot, leaving Rumley free to run unchallenged for the victory, the second of his career.
``We were just tight all day,'' Wallace said after fading to fifth over the final two laps.
Hermie Sadler of Emporia, Va., finished second, 0.79 seconds back, followed by Phil Parsons and Steve Grissom.
Series leader Johnny Benson finished ninth, extending his lead from 206 points to 220 over runner-up Chad Little with three races remaining. Little finished 13th.
Chesapeake's Elton Sawyer finished 17th, three laps off the pace. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Johnny Rumley
by CNB