THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, September 23, 1996 TAG: 9609230139
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MARTINSVILLE, VA. LENGTH: 64 lines
Terry Labonte lost only five points to teammate Jeff Gordon in the battle for the Winston Cup championship Sunday at Martinsville Speedway, and it was remarkable the loss was that slight.
While Gordon was on his way to his ninth victory of the season, Labonte was struggling with a bad clutch. He lost a lap getting it fixed, then regained the lap and battled his way back through the field to finish second.
Labonte also led a lap, which meant that Gordon gained only the difference between first and second - five points. Labonte is now 81 points behind Gordon.
``The clutch rod fell off of it there and we didn't have a clutch,'' Labonte said. ``We had a decent run going, but on that last restart, the clutch rod fell off again.''
Dale Jarrett, who was third in points before Sunday's race, trailing Gordon by 97, fell even farther back after a 16th-place finish. Jarrett said he never found the right setup for the race, which was the same problem Dale Earnhardt had. Earnhardt finished 15th.
Jarrett is now 162 points behind Gordon, while Earnhardt fell a distant 341 points back.
``We've got five races to go and you can lose a lot of points fast,'' Labonte said. ``I've been there before. It's easy to lose 80 or 100 points in a race if something bad goes wrong.''
But if Gordon holds true to form, he's going to be impossible to beat. He's won three of the last five races and has finished second in the other two. The last time he stumbled was at Indianapolis on Aug. 3, when he crashed and finished 37th.
``I don't know what the last five races will be like,'' Gordon said. ``But I think there's a little less pressure this year. We're calm, we're really focused and things are gelling.''
HE FELT GREAT: John Andretti was understandably upset after losing two positions on the final lap, but until then, he was having as much fun as he's had in a long time.
Andretti was having an awful year until September, but he has a new lease on his racing life in the No. 98 Ford Thunderbird owned by Cale Yarborough. This is his third race with the team.
With about 40 laps to go, a crewman called Andretti on the radio and asked, ``How are you feeling?''
``I feel great,'' Andretti said. ``I've got a headache. I'm getting a lot of fumes. But I feel great.''
``Can you stick your hand out?'' the crewman asked, hoping Andretti might be able to direct fresh air into the car.
``Nah,'' the diminutive Andretti replied. ``My hand is too small.''
ANOTHER SHOT: Sterling Marlin, after spinning in turn 4 on lap 454 following a bump from behind by Ernie Irvan, took another poke at Irvan's eyesight.
``I don't know what happened,'' Marlin said. ``You'll have to ask that blind man driving the 28 car, I guess. It's a give-and-take deal, and he just ran dead in my back bumper.''
OUT EARLY: Rusty Wallace, the prerace favorite, was the first out when his water pump failed and his engine burned up.
Wallace was running in fifth on lap 147 when trouble struck.
``Smells pretty bad. It's starting to seize up. It's probably blown,'' he told his crew.
Crew chief Robin Pemberton took a look on pit road and said simply, ``Blown up. Motor probably just cooked, man. Let's load this stuff.''
Wallace finished 36th, which is last place. by CNB