MBNA GOLD 400
Dover, DE, September 26th, 1999
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MBNA GOLD 400 |
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Many stories - one being RE wanted to move up into management at Hendricks, but when Tommy Baldwin turned down the "opportunity" to move to the Dupont team, he was forced to stay put, causing friction with "head office"... true? Who knows? Neither party are sayin' nuthin'... which to my mind lends some credibility... But as JG said, you put all that right out of your mind, once the green drops... Although his results this weekend would belie that...
For a moment, put yourself in Baldwin's shoes - movin' in to one of the most successful teams in the history of the sport... one bobble. and the railbirds are sayin': "Uh huh, just as we thought...", and one promising crew chief's career is done. Maintain the status quo, and same railbirds will say: "Well, look what he had to work with, why shouldn't he win??" A bit of a no-winner situation.
For Jeff Gordon, this would be like losing that big brother who could always steer you thru the tough parts.... Should it come to pass that Ray does move on - the 36 car has been touted as a destination - it will be interesting to see how they fare apart rather than as team mates...
Oh, yeah - the race... guess I got distracted...
Stifle a yawn - Rusty took another pole on concrete... Jerry Nadeau took second-fastest, and behind them, Stewart, Mayfield, Geoffrey Bodine, Elliott, Gordon, Martin, Andretti, Park, Skinner and Kenny Irwin Jr made up the Top Twelve. Matt Kenseth put one of Roush's spare cars, dolled up in DeWalt livery, in thirteenth place. Ward Burton was 17th,Bobby Labonte lined up 20th, and Points leader Jarrett lined up 26th, with Jeff Burton two back in 28th. Earnhardt and Terry Labonte were FAP (First Among Provisionals), lining up 37th and 38th. Ed Berrier put Junie's #90 in the field, in a respectable 23rd place.
The list of those missing the cut was familiar, if you saw last week's race - Cope, Darrell Waltrip, Trickle, Belmont, and, this week, add Todd Bodine. (Cruel Thought: What kind of Farewell Tour can DW have in '00, if he only makes 50% of the races?? Maybe NASCAR needs a special "Farewell Tour" provisional...)
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| qualifier... |
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Thus, on Lap 14, top ten were Stewart, Gordon, Wallace, Mayfield, Martin - havin' moved up nicely from eighth, Elliott, Bodine, Park, Irwin and Andretti. Lap 16, and Gordon was under Stewart for the lead, and it looked like another JG Romp at Dover.
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Lap 28 had Gordon still in front of Stewart, then Martin - still stealthily movin' up, a la Labonte, one might say... Mayfield had begun to fade, droppin' back to sixth, behind Wallace and Park. Meantime, Jeff Burton was up to 13th, and Jarrett to 15th. They were on the move...
On Lap 31, a little chink in the Dupont car's armour developed, as, due to a little slip by Gordon, Stewart took first, and a lap later, Martin had put Jeff back to third.
Behind them, Jeff Burton, and Jarrett were relentlessly comin' forward, and on Lap 44, Top Twelve were Stewart, Martin, Gordon, Wallace, Park, Bodine, Jeff Burton, Jarrett, Irwin, Mayfield - fadin' quickly, Little, Rudd, and Andretti. Ward Burton had the CAT Chevy in 13th, and there were 36 cars on the lead lap.
we learned what Mayfield's problem was: too tight-"It's even tight on the straights!" quoth a frustrated Jeremy... Concern here is that this translates into excess right front tire wear, a daunting situation on a high-banked, high-G track like Dover, which loads the right front at over 3G's in every corner...
Conspicuous by his absence among the Big Dawgs was Bobby Labonte. He was mired back in 21st or so at this time, goin' nowhere.
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All the leaders pitted, and Stewart, Wallace and Martin were first out.They led off Gordon, Jarrett, Park, Jeff Burton, Irwin, Andretti and Bodine when the green flew - around Lap 70. (Not sure if this is correct - TNN are not too concerned on gettin' back for the green flags, it seems, they missed at least two in this race... They were also lax in displaying scoring, especially early in the race.) Spencer and Hamiton, who'd been a lap down on the inside at the restart, both managed to get in front of the leaders and back on the lead lap. They then commenced to race each other for position... think it through, boys! In the confusion, Rusty snuck by Tony for the lead, but on Lap 76, Tony retook it, and managed to relap Spencer.
Around Lap 80, Stewart, Wallace, Martin and Jarrett were out front, with Park, Gordon, Irwin, Jeff Burton, Mayfield, Bodine, Andretti and Ward Burton rounding out the Duelling Dozen...
Four laps later, Gordon had faded to tenth, as the handling went completely away. In the previous stop, they'd removed a spring rubber to free up the car, but it did not work, and made things worse, and the car was pushing wallward on every corner.
We had a second caution on Lap 87, as "Monsieur Debris" had paid a visit. TNN saw a great chance to run lotsa ads, so we did not see, nor were we told, who had pitted. As it was 17 laps since the last stop, I assume the leaders all came in.
Anyhoo, the green flew on Lap 92, with Wallace out front, keepin' Spencer down a lap. Hamilton had successfully made his back up, and got to come around to the back of the lead pack under yellow... Spencer and Petty put a big move on Rusty, both gettin' back on the Tail End of the Lead Lap. Again, in the confusion, the lead changed, as Martin and Steweart shuffled Rusty back to third...
By Lap 100, Gordon was off the screen, as he fought to get thrugh the corners, "Climbing the White Cliffs of Dover", as Eli put it... Top Twelve running order on Lap 105 was Martin, Stewart, Wallace, Jarrett, Park, Mayfield, Jeff Burton, Bodine, Irwin, Rudd, Ward Burton, and Andretti. Earnhardt had worked his way to 13th, and Gordon was back to 15th, with Kenseth's DeWalt machine all over him. Last week's miracle, Joe Nemechek, was sittin' 17th, back to reality... Finally, on Lap 109, Spencer went back down a lap, after a tenacious fight. Petty had folded laps before...
Stewart took the lead on Lap 111, and a long green run ensued, highlighted by Jeff Burton movin' up to fourth, Park fadin' outta the picture, and Nemechek workin' up to 10th by Lap 134. No significant changes next several laps. Kenseth was up to 12th, havin' a strong run in prep for next year's RotY run, and the pace had only seventeen cars left on the lead lap.
Likely due to the extended run, Bodine and Wallace pitted with right front tires going or already flat around this time. No problem, as we were just into the pit window anyway.
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| according to Buddy... |
By Lap 178, Martin had repassed Jarrett, and behind them, Ward Burton, Nemechek, Kenseth, Jeff Burton, Earnhardt, Stewart, Hamilton, Marlin, Irwin and Elliott completed the top twelve.
By Lap 190, Martin and Jarrett had nearly seven seconds on the field - one third of a lap... Jeff Burton was third, and the Amazing Mr Kenseth had settled into fourth, ahead of Ward Burton, Nemechek, Earnhardt, Hamilton, Stewart - who was calling his handling "wicked. wicked loose", Marlin, Irvan and Dallenbach. Gordon's woes continued; he was now back in 32nd.
At the halfway point, Stewart gave up and pitted for tires and adjustments. Around Lap 204, Jarrett retook the lead from the Valvoline Machine, and Eli and the boys speculated Ol' Mark had gone into Tire Conservation mode...
Thirty laps later, not much change - except by Lap 230, Bobby Labonte was poppin' up on the radar, running in about fifteenth. Lap 237 had Mark retake first, and behind him, Kenseth slipped into third! By Lap 252, there were 10 cars on the lead lap, with Martin leading Jarrett, Kenseth, Jeff burton, Hamilton, Ward Burton - puttin' up a good fight considerin' he was down a cylinder, Nemechek, Bobby Labonte - still movin' forward, Marlin and Earnhardt. Stewart was down a lap, in 24th, Gordon was 28th, and Rusty Wallace 32nd.
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Lap 250 saw the start of another round of green flag stops, with Jarrett among the first of the leaders in on Lap 251. The rest of the leading players followed suit over next several laps. Martin had a slight miscue in the pits, that cost him the leadon the track. Once all the wrenches had cooled off, around Lap 266, the order had been reestablished with Jarrett in front, then Martin, Kenseth, Jeff Burton, Bobby Labonte, and Ward Burton the sole inhabitants of the lead lap. Down a lap were Nemechek in seventh, then Stewart, Earnhardt, Marlin, Elliott, and Sadler for the top twelve.
By Lap 285, order was unchanged among the leaders, but Ward Burton had gone down a lap, leaving five on the lead lap. On lap 300, Bobby Labonte took fourth from Jeff Burton, and Stewart made a scheduled stop. Martin moved around Jarrett on the 313th lap for the lead, and looked real strong. After ten laps, he had a lead of almost 1.5 seconds on Jarrett.
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Lap 340, and the lead lap quintet remained unchanged. Down a lap were Earnhardt, Irwin, and Sadler, then in tenth, down two, was Petty. Behind him, however, Stewart had suddenly loomed into view, back in eleventh place. two laps down, but one of the fastest out there...
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| with this spin... |
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Thus with the restart around Lap 360 (with TNN, its hard to know...), Martin, Jarrett, Kenseth, Stewart, Jeff Burton, and Labonte, who had to pit late in the yellow for a cut tire, led off the field. Stewart immediately took third from Kenseth, using a bit of the "chrome horn", and set out after Jarrett. On Lap 370, he caught and passed DJ, and looked down the track towards Martin. Running order on Lap 373 was Martin, Stewart, Jarrett, Kenseth, Jeff Burton and Labonte on the lead lap, then Little (no, I don't know where he came from...), Earnhardt, Irwin, Park, Ward Burton, and Sadler, all down a lap, rounded out the top twelve.
And things pretty much stabilized there. Tony got to within two seconds of Mark, but could make no further dent, as his tires' wear made them less of a factor.
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A good race, surprisingly calm by Dover standards. Matt Kenseth is ready! A look at the multicar teams finishes is real interesting. Roush had Three of six cars on the lead lap, and five of six in the Top Dozen. Both Gibbs cars finished on the lead lap, and Yates took the second and tenth spots. Dallenbach was the best finisher on the Hendricks team, in 14th. Childress' team had the Goodwrench car in eighth, and Skinner in 20th, and Richard whined about downforce in an interview after the race.
In the Points thing, Jarrett is still out front, but Martin repassed Labonte, and trails DJ by 257 points, with Bobby seven back of him. Stewart is fourth, twenty behind Labonte, and Burton and Gordon, at over four hundred behind the leader, round out fifth and sixth. If this were baseball, we'd put all the subs in on Jeff and Jeff's teams... and begin to think of '00...
And Ray did not leave the 24 team, as of noon Monday, anyway...
Next week we're back at the asphalt and concrete paperclip known as Martinsville. a bumpy little track, in more ways than one - we'll see some more bunts 'n shunts in another great short track venue. Brakes! Brakes!! BRAKES!!!
See y'all there... From My
Couch!!
"Mr. NASCAR" |