GOODY's 500
Bristol, TN, August 28th, 1999
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GOODY's 500 |
Let's start at the beginning...
Stewart did an excellent job in qualifying, taking the pole, with the rest of the Top Twelve comprising Rusty Wallace, Kenny Wallace, Gordon, Ward Burton, Skinner, Martin, Nadeau -subbin' for Irvan - still out - in the M&M's car, Terry Labonte, Marlin, Irwin, and Pressley. Bobby Labonte was 21st, Jarrett 25th, Earnhardt 26th, and Jeff Burton 37th. Close racin'? You bet!! The whole field from first to 43rd, were separated by 0.25 seconds!
A couple changes on the scorecard tonite, as, as noted above, Nadeau, havin' been released earlier in the week from the Melling (#9) team, took over for Irvan. Steve Grissom found hisself a ride in the 9 car for this race... permanent? - not sure... Likewise, Todd Bodine got his first start of '99, taking over the #30 car, whose new owners, Eel River Racing, had released incumbent Derricke Cope. Todd responded well, gettin' into the field in 20th, just behind brother Brett.
Smaller'n usual car count this week, only two had to do the trailer thing, those bein' Trickle and Bickle (guess they're both in a pickle...sorry..)
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The first caution flew on Lap 2, as Pressley got a little tap in the right rear quarter from Schrader, just enough to send him into the wall. The green flew on Lap 10, with Rusty once more leadin' the pack, Stewart, and Gordon snappin' at his heels.
Rusty held on until Lap 24, when Tony Stewart put the HOME DEPOT Pontiac into first, and began to get some space. Was this the night?? Three laps later, as Rusty had the handlin' go away, Gordon got by into second, and went after Stewart.
But goin' after Stewart on this day was not a sure thing. Gordon chased him until Lap 44, but made no dent (figuratively..) on the gap.
Lap 44 running order of Top Twelve was, at that point, Stewart, Gordon, Wallace, Martin, Ward Burton, Irwin, Kenny Wallace, Marlin, Terry Labonte, Little, Mike Waltrip, and Bobby Labonte. This remained largely unchanged, as they were spreadin' out around the track. We ran this way until the next caution, around Lap 78.
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| in his own mess... |
Elliott's car punched a hole in the right side of Jarrett's Taurus, which meant time lost on pit road for repairs. The green flew again on Lap 85, with Stewart leadin' Gordon, Wallace, Martin, Marlin and Bobby Labonte. IT was soon evident the 88 car had some handlin' problems, and DJ settled into a groove to salvage as much as possible from the night.
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NASCAR hadn't liked what they saw, and penalized Nadeau TWO LAPS... file that fact away for future reference...
The green flew once more around Lap 108,and Stewart and Gordon scooted out front.
Running order on Lap 128 had Stewart comfortably out front of Gordon, then Martin, Marlin, Wallace, Labonte, Little, Earnhardt, Spencer and Ward Burton roundin' out the top ten. This order held for the next 20 laps, with Stewart lookin' good out there...
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| into the wall... |
Over the next 50 or so laps, this largely held. Wallace slid back to seventh, and Earnhardt and Spencer picked up spots on Bodine and Little. Around Lap 224, Marlin got by Gordon for second. Stewart was well out front, by over a second, and was slicin' through the backmarkers, and had eliminated all but himself and eighteen others from the lead lap...
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All the leaders pitted, and thanks to a 17" stop compared to 20+" for Stewart and Marlin, came out in the lead.
Thus, when the race restarted on Lap 256, Gordon led off Martin, Stewart, Marlin and Bobby Labonte. Wallace was sixth, then Ward Burton, Mike Waltrip(!), Bodine, Earnhardt, Spencer and Park filled out the first twelve spots.
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Running order on Lap 275 was Gordon, Martin, Stewart, Marlin, Bobby Labonte, Wallace, Earnhardt, Ward Burton, Mike Waltrip, Spencer, Park and Terry Labonte as top twelve. The next lap saw Rusty's day go flat, along with his tire. He slowed dramatically, trapped at the top of the track, takin' about three laps to get down onto pit lane. This little setback cost him at least two laps.
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| get all tangled up... |
We also had Stewart develop a flat, losin' spots as he dove in for another tire change..
So, on Lap 326, Terry Labonte, Earnhardt, Spencer, and Rudd led off Gordon, Bobby Labonte, Stewart, Bodine, Marlin, Ward Burton - recovered from the incident previous, Mike Waltrip and Schrader as top twelve. Mike's brush with glory was brief, as he punched someone with the nose of the PHILIPS chevy, and had to pit for a new rad...
Again, this order largely held for the next fifty laps, until Lap 377, when Earnhardt, who'd discovered a high line, made a daring high-side pass on Terry for the lead, to the cheers of the crowd. Great racin'!!
So, on Lap 386, Dale was out front, followed by Labonte, Rudd, Gordon, Spencer, Stewart, Martin, Bobby Labonte, Marlin and Ward Burton on the lead lap.
Point of interest: due to his qualifying, Earnhardt, among the leaders, had the disadvantage of havin' to pit on the backstraight. This is a wash under green conditions on a short track, but can cost several spots if pitting under yellow... so, Dale and crew were prayin' for it to stay clean 'n green until the chequered flag...
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| Marcis cut a tire, hit the wall... |
The green dropped on Lap 417, and Labonte and Gordon jumped out front. Things got a tad hairy for the Goodwrench group, as DE rubbed tires with Bodine, who was tryin' to stay on the lead lap. By Lap 420, Gordon was all over Terry Labonte, Earnhardt third, closin' on them, then Stewart, Bobby Labonte, Martin, Rudd, Spencer, Marlin, and Ward Burton made up the lead lap. Geoffrey had thankfully faded out of the picture...
With 75 to go, Earnheardt brought the crowd out of their seats with a repeat move, passin' Gordon on the outside for second, then settin' off after leader Terry Labonte.
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Thus, runnin' order on lead lap, on Lap 436, was Earnhardt, Terry Labonte, Stewart, Gordon, Bobby Labonte, Rudd, Martin - who'd repassed Spencer, now in eighth, and Marlin. Ward Burton, in tenth, had gone down a lap.
But Earnhardt's lead did not last, he seemed to run out of tire, slipped high, and Terry retook the point, with about 55 to go.
Well, this was all pretty excitin' and typical Bristol... little did we know the Madness was only about to begin...
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| get together... |
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In an event that may or may not have been related, Dallenbach and Mayfield got together, the upshot of which was Jeremy stopped facin' backward along the inside pit wall just into Turn One. Whether or not this was due to oil from the 18 car was unclear.
All this, of course, resulted in the tenth caution. Upon seeing the chaos, Terry Labonte (race leader, remember?) checked up, only to have the blissfully unaware, down-a-lap-or-two, Darrell Waltrip ram him, punting him into a slide, then spin, and nearly into the wall!
This put Labonte at the back of the lead lap pack... Under the yellow, Martin, Marlin and Terry Labonte came in, Martin and Marlin takin' two tire, Labonte four...
During all this, brother Bobby added to the confusion, as his overheated differential ignited, creating quite a spectacular fire, until his crew doused it with an extinguisher... and that pretty well took Bobby out of contention...
Terry left the pits in a cloud of tire smoke, obviously an angry man on a mission.
The green flew on Lap 496, five to go, with Earnhardt leadin' Stewart, Gordon, Martin, Terry Labonte, Spencer and Marlin over the line.
Lap 497, four to go, and Terry had disposed of Martin and Gordon...
Lap 498, three to go, and Labonte was past Stewart into second, his sights set on Earnhardt...
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| with contact... |
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| a cloud of smoke... |
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| the lead lap...... |
Behind him, all Hell broke loose, as Stewart, Gordon, Martin, Marlin, and Spencer got tangled up tryin' to avoid the wreckin' Kellogg's car.
Ultimately, Spencer made the best choices, and took second place. Behind him over the finished line, came the freshly-battered cars of Rudd, Gordon, Stewart, Martin, and Marlin, with Terry Labonte bringin' up the rear....
Unbelievable... this was a calculated takeout by Earnhardt of the potential, and deserving, winner!!! The Kellogg's team was stunned, the broadcast crew speechless, and Yr FthFl Scrbe fit to be tied!!
Not that Terry is a particular favourite, but this was just too blatant!! Would NASCAR step in and make this right? They'd done it to Rudd a few years back.. Hell, remember earlier this race?? Nadeau's penalty for punting Jarrett???
But Nadeau is not Earnhardt; NASCAR was in a no-win situation, so, as of this writing on Sunday, I've heard nuthin' of any sanctions...
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| winner??? |
It was interestin' that the crowd also seemed to feel he'd gone over the line, as he was being booed to an extent that is normally only reserved for Jeff Gordon!
OK, time to calm down, and mop up the rest of the race:
Behind Terry, a lap down, came Ward Burton, Schrader, Kenny Wallace, and Brett Bodine., roundin' out the Top Twelve. DW, in spite of his Kellogg's Encounter, finished 14th. Todd Bodine brought the ex-Cope #30 car home in 15th, a promising start, Jeff Burton (where was he, anyway?) took seventeenth. Rusty salvaged an 18th, and poor Bobby Labonte limped home in 27th.
So, after the dust had settled, Jarrett lost 100+ points, and is now a mere 213 points ahead of second-place Martin. In spite of his problems, Bobby Labonte still held third, 40 points up on Gordon, who is a further 26 up on Stewart.
So, the blood pressure's down, and, after all, it's controversy like this that keeps the NASCAR opera excitin' in the Dog Days! Will Terry seek revenge next week? Why did Jimmy try to ram Dale AFTER the chequered?? Why didn't Gordon consent to an interview??? Will Tony pull it off next week??? Cain't hardly wait for the next installment, the PEPSI Southern 500, from that grand old lady, Darlington, next Sunday! Let's hope everyone behaves in the presence of "The Lady in Black"!!
See y'all there... From My
Couch!!
"Mr. NASCAR" |