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Not much talk today about anyone drivin' hurt, no standbys noted, so looks like everyone's back to 90%...
The top 24 qualifiers this week broke last year's record... no one knows why... same tires, same track... the "5 and 5" rule being lifted likely meant more downforce, and this is a fairly flat track, so that was the only explanation offered.
Fastest qualifier was the impressive Tony Stewart, with Martin lined up next to him. Rounding out the top dozen were Jeff Burton, Nadeau, Rusty Wallace, Kenny Schrader - sporting his blue livery this week, Irvan, Bobby Labonte, Gordon, Petty, Bickle, and Mast - in the still-unsponsored 98 car. (Is Cale still involved?)
Ol' DW made it in again on his time, in 20th - looks like things are comin' together for that team; Jarrett was 31st, and Earnhardt 39th.
Marcis, Shepherd and Jones were forced to sit this one out.
The green flew, and Wallace and Martin immediately rocketed into the lead, leavin' Stewart behind. Tony was slow off the mark, and created some confusion as faster cars got around him. He finally settled in after a couple laps in tenth place. Word was that, due to his lack of familiarity with this track in traffic, he was being very conservative. Dunno, he coulda caused a lot of trouble, not runnin' at speed right from the get-go...
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| start a traffic jam... |
The green flew again on lap 16, with Martin out front, followed by Wallace, Jeff Burton, Schrader, Nadeau, Gordon, Ievan, Bobby Labonte, Petty, Stewart, Mast and Brett Bodine making up the top 12 runners. Nadeau got himself caught on thr outside, and soon Gordon and Irvan were by him, followed a couple laps later by Labonte and Petty. At least Jerry was keepin' the car under him so far! During all this, Wallace got by Martin and took over the lead. Jeff Burton followed Rusty by Mark, and around lap 26, took the lead from Rusty. Mark continued to slide back, having Gordon take over third on lap 33. Thus, on lap 35, top ten order was Burton, Wallace, Gordon, Martin, Schrader, Irvan, Labonte, Petty, Brett Bodine, and Marlin.
By lap 45, the leaders were into lapped traffic, and Cope and Benson were down a lap. (At least Derricke got to race this week!)
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By this time DEsr had made it up to 27th. Gordon was all over Wallace for second, so Rusty pulled over and let him thru... smart move, as fighin' for psition this early will wear out the brakes real quick, and brakes are essential at Martinsville!
As in last week's race, Park played a part in the next sequence, as he fought to keep Burton from lappin' him. This allowed Gordon to close in on the Exide car, and on lap 57, Jeff passed Jeff to put the 24 car in the lead.
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It was now far enough in that all the leaders pitted. Gordon, Wallace and Burton were out first, and Jarrett and Geoffrey Bodine made up a whack of places by taking only two tires. A risky strategy, unless there is another caution in a couple dozen laps. Come to think of it, maybe not so risky at THIS track!!
Thus, when the green flew on lap 69, it was Gordon out front, followed by Wallace, Burton, Martin, Schrader, Irvan, Bobby Labonte, Geoffrey Bodine and Jarrett. A few laps in Nadeau looped in front of the leaders, after a nudge from Mayfield. He missed takin' out the leaders, jammin' up traffic just behind them. Again, no caution, as things got sorted out, the net effect was the top four had a bit of space to the rest of the pack.
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| bottle things up... |
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| a rough outing...... |
In spite of his best effort, Andretti was inable to beat Gordon to the line, and remained down a lap, startin on the inside next to Gordon when the green flew on lap 89. Gordon and Wallace immeditelt got clear of andretti, leavin' him still a lap down. By lap 97, only 29 cars were left on the lead lap. Top twelve were Gordon, Wallace, Burton, Martin, Schrader, Irvan, Marlin, Bobby Labonte, Brett Bodine, Geoffrey Bodine - still hangin' in on two tires, Jarrett - ditto, and Kyle Petty. Polesitter Stewart was thirteenth, Earnhardt was up to 21st, and DW was hangin' in in 29th! A real dogfight was happenin' from about 16th to 22nd, involving, among others, team mates Skinner and Earnhardt, and Rich Bickle. It's said Mike and Dale don't have much use for one another - they sure don't seem to work together on the track!
We now ran about 40 green flag laps. Gordon put a few more cars down a lap, and was constantly in heavy traffic. In an unusual occurrence, around lap 134, Andretti, who'd been hangin' tough with the leaders, managed to unlap himself in traffic, getting by Gordon. These thing usually only happen, and stick, on a restart. John had a GOOD racecar!
Lap 147 found Gordon closed in on, and tryin' to find a way by, Earnhardt, to put him down a lap. DE wasn't havin' none of it, and Gordon was thwarted, while Wallace closed on him. The next lap, Wallace took the lead, and tried his luck on the 3 car, who was in his own little war with Mast. Things bottled up real quick, with Martin and Burton closing in. By lap 152, the four leaders, Wallace, Gordon, Martin and Burton were stacked up behind Dale, Finally after a dozen laps, Wallace got by on lap 162. DEsr then let the rest thru, as he'd lost that fight...
By lap 164, there were 23 cars on the lead lap, with Gordon out front. Jarrett was the 23rd and final car on the lead lap, and was gettin' a rearview mirror full of the leader, as his two-tire strategy had begun to unravel in the long green run.
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| dodged a bullet... |
All the lead lap cars pitted for tires and fuel, and when the green flew on lap 194, Gordon led off a dozen, including Wallace, Martin, Burton, Schrader, Bobby Labonte, Petty - another good run this week, Marlin, Skinner, Brett Bodine - also a good run, Hamilton and Kenny Wallace. Stewart was still mired in thirteenth, and Andretti had fought his way back to an impressive 14th. Twenty cars were on the lead lap.
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All the leader came in again. We never did see how this shook out, but we came back from commercial to havin' had the green fly, then another caution, caused by Cope havin' spun out Mast on lap 238...
When the green flew again, on lap 243, Wallace and Burton led Gordon over the line, with Petty, Martin and Schrader makin' up the top six. By lap 249, Petty had dropped to sixth, followed by Labonte, Marlin, Bickle, Skinner, Kenny Wallace, and Brett Bodine. Nineteen cars were on the lead lap.
Four laps later, on lap 253, Ward Burton spun again, after rubbin' with Geoffrey Bodine through a corner. Only a few cars on the tail end pitted this time. The green flew again on lap 262, with Wallace, Burton, Gordon, Martin and Petty leading them off.
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| mix it up...... |
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The green came out again on lap 279, with Wallace beside the lapped car of Earnhardt. Rusty was able to clear the 3 car quickly, while Burton was fightin' Dale to lap him. Wallace led Burton, Gordon, Martin, Marlin, Schrader, Petty, Kenny Wallace, Brett Bodine, Skinner, Darrell Waltrip(!), Andretti, Jarrett, Terry Labonte, Bickle, Bobby Labonte, Little and Stewart, 17 cars on the lead lap. On lap 285, Martin took third from Gordon, but Jeff quickly retook the spot.
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We now ran over 60 caution-free laps, until lap 382, with the front runners largely holding position. On lap 382, caution number ten resulted when Cope tapped Little, spinning the John Deere Taurus. All the leaders pitted, Rusty had a poor stop, losing a couple positions. When the green flew on lap 389, Gordon was in front, leading Martin, Burton, Andretti-(!)(two tires), Wallace and Schrader. Burton quickly got around Martin for second, and Rusty was all over Andretti for fourth.
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| note glowing disk... |
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| for the lead! |
On lap 286, with 14 to go, Andretti was all over Gordon, two laps later he was past, and settin his sights on the leader, Burton. We watched a great drive by Andretti, as he closed in remorselessly on the leader Burton, who had no traffic of any signifigance to deal with over the next half-dozen laps. With 8 to go, John was on Jeff's tail, and they were into some lapped traffic. All the lappees were careful to move over and let the two by, not wishing to affect the outcome. Fron 7 to go, until 3 to go, they went at it side-by-side, Finally, with three to go, Andretti cleared Burton, secured the lead, and held it for the remaining two laps to take his second victory.
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Final running order on the lead lap was Andretti, Burton, Gordon, Skinner, Martin, Kenny Wallace- GOOD run, Rusty Wallace, Jarrett, Schrader, Petty, Bickle, and Darrell Waltrip. Well done, DW!!
We got a rare look at The King, obviously pleased with the outcome, even sayin' John drove like Richard Petty! Quite the compliment! So now the Points chase has Burton still out front, with Jarrett keepin' second. Martin is third, Gordon moves to 4th, and Bobby Labonte, who had a miserable day, drops to fifth.
Next week we get back to the REAL SERIOUS stuff, as we leave this track, the shortest and slowest in the circuit, and move to the longest and fastest track, spooky-scary Talledega. This is often a pivotal track, and can crimp many a run for the Points, if not a career!
See y'all there... From My
Couch!!
"Mr. NASCAR" |