WINSTON 500 October 17th, 1999
Talledega, AL,
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WINSTON 500 October 17th, 1999 |
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| "White Knuckle Weekend"... |
But watch I did, and once again marvelled at the precision, and trust, these guys can demonstrate at near-200mph speeds, and under constant mental pressure, and physical threat. Whole different thought process than the short tracks...
Joe Nemechek once again - third this year! - put the Bellsouth Chevy on the pole, with a blistering 198+ run. Lined up for the rest of the Top Twelve were Rudd, Kenny Wallace, Schrader, Stewart, Marlin, Dallenbach. Terry Labonte, Martin, Rusty Wallace, Bobby Labonte and Mike Waltrip. Among those figgerin' in the Points Thang, Ward Burton was in thirteenth, with Gordon lined up beside him in fourteenth. Jeff Burton had the Exide Taurus right behind JG in 16th, with Jarrett in 17th. Team mates Skinner and Earnhardt were 26th and 27th. Steve Grissom reappeared in the Roush owned 01 TracFone car, Buckshot Jones was tryin' his hand in the Jimmy Dean (#30) ride, parking it 42nd, and Ed Berrier put the 90 car of Junie Donlavey in the field in last place. (Surprised they had enuff credits for these Provisionals!)
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Some spiffy new paint jobs were rolled out for this one... Mark had the multi-hued ZEREX colours, Marlin ran his Brooks and Dunn version, and polesitter Nemechek had one o' them multi-hue ChromAlusion@-type paint jobs.
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| Joe 'n Ricky lead 'em off... |
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By Lap 6 chaos still reigned, but the leaderboard had Rudd still out front, with Nemechek, Schrader, Marlin, Earnhardt(!!), Irwin, Waltrip, Rusty Wallace, Terry Labonte and Stewart makin' up the top ten. Five laps later, Nemechek was out front, with Kenny Wallace second, then Waltrip, Earnhardt, Rusty Wallace, Irwin, Stewart, Schrader, Dallenbach,Terry Labonte, Gordon, and Jeff Burton rounded out the top twelve... for few hunded feet... Rudd, who'd been leading, was now 14th...
A little more chaos in the ranks on Lap12, as Mayfield slowed, as his ignition packed in. Four wide around Jeremy, while he switched to the backup system, nearly falling out of the lead draft. Three laps later, the MOBIL 1 car was once again flyin' up the middle, between the two trains, as DE had done at the start. Strange days already... Lap 16 had Dallenbach, Waltrip and Stewart draftin' thru for the lead, and it as WILD behind them - 40 cars separated by 2.5 seconds! Lap 17 saw Mike Waltrip, in a very strong running car, take the lead, and Joe was back to fifth.
Over the next ten laps, Stewart found Gordon, and they led a train up thru the field. By Lap 26, Gordon was out front, with Stewart tucked in behind him, goin' to school on the Talledega line. Steve Park(!!!) was third, then Earnhardt, Hamilton, Rudd - gettin' back into it, Rusty Wallace, Skinner, Waltrip, Ward Burton, Marlin, and Mayfield rounded out the top twelve. Points leader Jarrett was stuck back in 31st, with an evil-handlin' car, and Martin had been shuffled back to 27th.
Twenty laps later, Lap 46, and things were settlin' down a bit. Gordon, Stewart and Marlin were the lead three, with Park Earnhardt and Waltrip next three. Top sixteen cars were all within a second of each other in some real Close Racin'...
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| keeps her outta the traffic... |
The green flew again on Lap 54, and Marlin led 'em off. Poor Sterlin got badly snookered by Gordon and his pals, as he got TOO FAR out front, and by the end of the lap, had been gobbled up by a freight train led by Gordon and Stewart, ultimately ending up fifth in line, behind Gordon, Stewart, Nemechek and Waltrip, but ahead of Hamilton, Terry Labonte, Irwin, Ward Burton, Skinner, Earnhardt, and Kenny Wallace in the Top twelve.
we now were into a ten-lap run with Gordon and Stewart in the lead, until about Lap 70, when Stewart had been shuffled back to about fifth, and Skinner and Marlin drafted by JG into the lead. Restrictoracin' bein' what it is, and JG bein' a little short on friends out there, he fell back to 7th before gettin' back in the train... Around this point we still had 31 cars all within 1.9 seconds of each other, with no sign of the pack breakin' up, or anyone breakin' away up front. Any time two or three would break out, they would either get reeled back in, or would lose discipline, breakin' out of line, and letting the pack re-attach to them.
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Lap 77, and, guess what? Terry and Bobby Labonte were runnin' 1-2!! Bobby? Bobby?? Where'd HE come from? (Apparently he'd been cruisin' midpack, hummin' away to himself, until after the first stop, then picked 'er up and headed towards the front...) Behind them, Nemechek, Irwin, Earnhardt, Skinner, Stewart, Hamilton, Gordon, Marlin, Waltrip and Shrader were the top twelve. Jeff Burton was up to 13th, and Jarrett, who'd had massive suspension changes on his stop, found his car looser, and more to his liking, and was sitting 14th.
From about 14th back, the racin' was still pretty wild, and four wide running was moving from the straights and into the corners.... not a good sign for the wellbeing of the midpackers' longterm survival out there....
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Once again, the lead pack hit pit road, and first out were Gordon and Stewart. Thus, when the green dropped on Lap 90, JG and TS led off Bobby Labonte, Earnhardt, Mayfield(! - 2 tires?), Hamilton, Rusty Wallace, Sadler, Waltrip, Ward Burton, Terry Labonte and Elliott as top dozen. Jeff Burton was 14th, and Jarrett and Martin were 23rd and 24th. Tony had a quick learning experience from Labonte, as he got hung out when the INTERSTATE car led a pack by him, quickly putting him 6th.
By Lap 93, things were sorted out into two trains, one led by Gordon, and the other by Earnhardt, back a few carlengths. After a few laps, the GOODWRENCH train seemed to get the upper hand, and about Lap 107, it chugged on by Gordon, but he slipped into second place. The crowd went nuts... this is NOT Gordon Country... Top Twelve order on Lap 108, then, was Earnhardt, Gordon, Skinner, Bobby Labonte, Nemechek, Terry Labonte, Martin, Irwin, Jeff Burton, Waltrip, Rusty Wallace and Jarrett. A lap later, both Childress teammates got buried, as Gordon led a parade of seven cars by them... such is restricoracin'...
Jarrett was now revitalized, and began to move to the front, settlin' into third on Lap 111, then swingin' under second-place Labonte to take the spot. About five laps later, we came back from commercials to find DJ out front, with Nemechek, Skinner, Terry Labonte, Earnhardt, Bobby Labonte, and Irwin in single file out front. Poor ol' Jeffie had been mugged, and was motorin' around in 12th place...
Gordon began to head forward again, and was up to ninth by Lap 119. But he kinda stalled in about there, his car, which seemed so superior earlier out front, now seemed "ordinary", and he had to be content to hold place.
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| the pack past DJ... |
Then, a lap later, just to show there is no favouritism, Bobby led an eight-car express train by his hapless brother, who'd likely thought himself in pretty good shape... Top Twelve runners on Lap 129 were Bobby Labonte, Earnhardt, Jarrett, Mike Waltrip, Martin, Rusty Wallace, Nemechek, Skinner, Terry Labonte, Ward Burton, Irwin, and Jeff Burton. Gordon was thirteenth, just hangin' in.
The front four broke away around lap 132, but just couldn't sit there until they'd opened up some space. Nope! Earnhardt led Jarrett and Waltrip past Bobby Labonte, then was himself run down by Jarrett and Waltrip, while the 5th-back pack closed up...then Bobby Labonte, Skinner and Ward Burton buried Mikey...
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| Confusion City!! |
Back to our boy Terry: turned out he'd bunted someone, and busted an oil line loose, engine A-OK.. got 'er repaired and got back out later, but ended up several laps down.
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| I don't understand... |
In all the sparrin' behind these two, Dale finally emerged as the lead car, and Schrader ultimately was lapped and faded out of the mix. Finally, on Lap 149, Dale led Jarrett, Waltrip, Gordon, Skinner, Bobby Labonte and Ward Burton by Marlin, who now kept over out of the mix.
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We came back from a commercial break, around Lap 154 or so, just in time to see poor Mikey's great run in the Philips Chevy end, as his SABCO-supplied engine began to blow funny-coloured smoke. He had to pit, and his day was done. Nemechek, in another blow, albeit more direct, to SABCO's fortunes, was forced in with a tire goin' down, got 'er changed, but lost a lap...
By Lap 159, we again had some order at the front, as a 15-car train was leadin' the pack. Out front was Jarrett, and the rest of the fifteen were Skinner, Ward Burton, Jeff Burton, Lepage - who'd been hoverin' mosta the day in the mid-teens, Gordon - probin' for a way to the front, Martin - all set to follow JG, Bobby Labonte, Earnhardt, Hamilton, Irwin, Kenny Wallace, Sadler, Rusty Wallace and Mayfield.
Four laps later, Labonte had made a big move, and was settin' second behind Jarrett, and Earnhardt had followed him up and fallen in behind team mate Skinner in fourth. Gordon still was back in ninth, seemin' unable to make moves inside the pack.
Lap 167, and we're gettin' down to it... Earnhardt, Skinner, Irwin and Gordon had got by Labonte, and Earnhardt had used his momentum to put Jarrett into second. Running order of Top Twelve was Earnhardt, Jarrett, Skinner, Irwin, Gordon, Labonte, Kenny Wallace, Hamitlon, Ward Burton, Martin, Jeff Burton and Park, all nose-to-tail. During a commercial break, Jarrett had retaken the lead from Earnhardt, and Gordon was sittin' third, and Park had made a BIG move to fourth.
Twelve to go, and it was Jarrett, Earnhardt, Gordon, Park, Labonte, Irwin, Skinner up front. Gordon made his move, going by Earnhardt, with Park and Skinner followin' him thru, puttin' Earnhardt fifth...
A lap later, and Gordon and Labonte are side-by-side, fightin' for second behind Jarrett....
Seven to go, and we were three wide, and Lepage and Ward Burton had reappeared in the top five behind Jarrett, but in front of Earnhardt and Skinner... Man! How I wished about then I didn't know how it all came out! Thanks again, TSN!!
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| Mike Bumpdrafts Dale past DJ... |
Five to go, and Jarrett and Lepage were still out front, but behind, Earnhardt and Ward Burton were side-by-side, likewise, Skinner and Rudd behind them.
Four to go, and Earnhardt took a high line, with Skinner right on his bumper. Then it looked, from my couch, like the Childress team mates BUMPDRAFTED by a helpless DJ at 195+ mph, takin' first and second!! Now that's gutsy racin'!!
Three to go, and order was Earnhardt, Skinner, Labonte, Jarrett, Jeff Burton, Irwin, Lepage, Ward Burton, Kenny Wallace, Rudd, Stewart, Rusty Wallace and Mayfield.
But DE couldn't put 'er in cruise yet - most of those behind were three wide, settin' up to make a run to the front... Three to go, and Labonte passed Skinner, who began, unfortunately, to lose the leaders, after a great run with his team mate...
Two to go, and Labonte's attack on Earnhardt was stalled as he had to fend off Jarrett, who took a run low to get by him for second...
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At the chequered, it was Earnhardt by a carlength over Jarrett, for his third win this season. In the confusion behind, Rudd had squirted thru for third, with Ward Burton fourth. Kenny Wallace came in fifth, then Stewart, Labonte, Jeff Burton, Hamilton, Irwin, Rusty Wallace and Gordon rounded out the top twelve. Skinner, after his heroics on Lap 185, had to settle for 13th, with Park, Martin and Mayfield behind him. Green, Lepage, Petty, Elliott and Sadler rounded out the 21 cars on the lead lap.
All in all, a great race - typical Talledega, but even more so!! The top twenty cars were all within 2 seconds of each other as they crossed the line - what more could you want? At 193 mph, that's 20 cars packed in a space of about 550 feet, or about 30 carlengths... (do the math: 60 mph = 88 ft/second; a carlength = about 17 feet...)
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As Gordon was quoted at THAT's RACIN': "Earnhardt's the best there is and that's why he wins races. He knows how to position himself, how to use air, how to use the other cars and he knows where to be at the right time at the right place, I don't know how he does it. I watch him in awe."
Amen...
With his second-place finish, DJ further solidified his position at the head of the pack in the Points Race. With 4602 points, he's 246 in front of Labonte, pickin' up another passle over Bobby this week. Martin still sits third, but fading, ditto Gordon in fourth. As long as DJ insists in finishing in the top five, the 1999 Championship is his.
Man, can you believethere's only four races left?? Next week we visit "The Rock", for the second and final time in 1999, for the "Pop Secret Microwave Popcorn 400" ...No, really... Look it up...
See y'all there... From My
Couch!!
"Mr. NASCAR" |