Rusty Wallace Wins

Dura Lube/ Kmart 500 (October 25, 1998)
QUALIFYING: Ken Schrader won the Bud Pole with a speed of 131.234mph and a time of 00:27.432sec. Rusty Wallace started 6th with a speed of 130.180mph and a time of 00:27.654sec. Top Ten Qualifiers: 1st-Ken Schrader, 2nd-Kenny Irwin, 3rd-Kenny Wallace, 4th-Bill Elliott, 5th-Rich Bickle, 6th-Rusty Wallace, 7th-Rick Mast, 8th-Mike Skinner, 9th-David Green, 10th-Ted Musgrave. Notables in field: 11th-Mark Martin, 12th-Jeff Gordon, 20th-Dale Jarrett, 22nd-Jeremy Mayfield, 29th-Terry Labonte, 37th-Bobby Labonte, 38th-Jeff Burton, 39th-Dale Earnhardt. Starting Grid

RACE: The rain that shortened Sunday's Dura-Lube 500 couldn't shed any gloom on Rusty Wallace or Jeff Gordon. Wallace ended a 59-race winless string and Gordon all but clinched his 3rd NASCAR Winston Cup championship in the race which ended 55 laps early. Wallace, who hadn't won since March 1997 in Richmond, Va., now has at least one victory in 13 consecutive seasons, the 2nd longest such streak in the series. The 42-year-old former series champion was declared the winner after rain halted the scheduled 312-lap event after only 257 laps. NASCAR officials tried to wait out the weather, but eventually had to give in to the inevitable as rain continued, thunder boomed and streaks of lightning lit up the desert track. Mark Martin had just taken over second place on a pit stop when the race was stopped. Gordon came out of pit lane in seventh place. The rain ended Gordon's chance to extend his string of top-five finishes to 18, which would have matched the record set by David Pearson in 1968. Gordon, 27, needs only to finish 40th or better next week in Rockingham, N.C., or simply to start each of the last two races to wrap up another crown. Wallace picked up the 48th victory, tying him for 10th on the career list with NASCAR pioneer Herb Thomas. That's when Wallace took command, moving to the lead for the first time on lap 54 and leading all but eight laps thereafter. **Terry Labonte, who started a record 600th consecutive race, wound up 10th.** Top Ten Finishers: 1st-Rusty Wallace, 2nd-Mark Martin, 3rd-Dale Earnhardt, 4th-Jeff Burton, 5th-Ted Musgrave, 6th-John Andretti, 7th-Jeff Gordon, 8th-Kenny Wallace, 9th-Johnny Benson, 10th-Terry Labonte. Notables in the field: 22nd-Ken Schrader, 23rd-Bobby Labonte, 30th-Ricky Craven, 32nd-Dale Jarrett, 42nd-Jeremy Mayfield. Race Results


�2 - Rusty Wallace
�������Started: 6th ��������������Highest: 1st����������������Laps Led: 196
�������Finished: 1st�������������Lowest: 4th

3 - Dale Earnhardt
�������Started: 39th ������������Highest: 2nd�������������Laps Led: 0
������ Finished: 3rd������������Lowest: 42nd

5 - Terry Labonte
�������Started: 29th �������������Highest: 1st���������������Laps Led: 2
��� ���Finished: 10th������������Lowest: 29th

�6 - Mark Martin
�������Started: 11th� �����������Highest: 1st����������������Laps Led: 1
�������Finished: 2nd��������������Lowest: 11th

24 - Jeff Gordon
�������Started: 12th ���������������Highest: 7th���������������Laps Led: 0
� �����Finished: 7th������������Lowest: 14th

99 - Jeff Burton
�������Started: 38th �������������Highest: 1st��������������Laps Led: 1
� �����Finished: 4th��������������Lowest: 38th



RACE RECAP:
After 257 Laps (312 scheduled)
Leaders: 7
Lead Changes: 8
4 Cautions for 25 Laps
Cars Out of Race: 3
Average Speed: 108.211mph
Winner: Rusty Wallace
Margin of Victory: Under caution
Time of Race: 2:22:30
 �������������NEWS



This page was created on October 22, 1998. It was last updated on October 26, 1998.
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