From My Couch...

SAVEMART KRAGEN 350

Sonoma, CA, June 27th, 1999

(By Les Smirle, for Mr NASCAR)

(MY COUCH - OSHAWA, ONT - June 28, 1999)

"Twistin' thru the Vineyards"...
Turn 11/Gilligan's Island top right
Sears Point is an interesting road course that uses classic sweeping turns through rolling hills, plus portions of a well-used dragstrip. It's about 2 miles around, and has two main passing points - Turn 7, where you pass the guys who overcook it and run off the outside onto the sand, and Turn 11, a sharp 180 degree flat tight-radiused righthander around "Gilligan's Island", that you take at 40 mph max. The fact that it comes up at the end of a long series of fast downhill sweepers makes it especially interesting. This is the Primo passing point on the track. Trick here is to get the inside line on your victim, comin' into the turn, by the use of really late, smokey-tired braking, then force him to the outside, on exiting the turn. If all goes according to plan, you lead over the start-finish line, further up the track. Your car's handling characteristics while bouncing over rumble strips, and occasionally tires, is critical!
Questions of the Week: Would Gordon continue as RoadMeister in NASCAR? How would upstart rookie Stewart do on a road couse? Answer to Question One: Having won the last three road course events made Gordon a favourite, and winning the pole for this one sure couldn't hurt! Answer to Question Two: Lining up next to JG on the front row suggests Tony got it all figgered out!
The lineup behind those two began with Jerry Nadeau (an experienced roadracer, but one who embarrassed himself here last year on the opening lap), Rusty Wallace, Spencer (not bad for one who last week expressed an extreme lack of enthusiasm over comin' here!), Nemechek, Elliott, Schrader, Martin, Darrell Waltrip(!), Mike Waltrip, and Jeff Burton, to round out the top twelve. Bobby Labonte was 14th, and Points Leader Jarrett was back in 29th or so... WINSTON WEST guru, Butch Gilliland, put the 38 car in 27th place, and occasional shoe Tom Hubert had the 19 car in 30th.
No mention of the DNQ's, so I pulled this info from Henry Dubret's RAMBLINGS e-mail report from StockCarFans. There were 51 entrants, as a lotta WINSON WESTers threw their hats in the ring... Those hopefuls who had to sit this one out in the warm California Sun were Loy Allen (3 for 3...), Boris Said, R.K. Smith (in Marcis' 71 car), and a buncha WINSTON WEST guys - Murray, Portenga, Metcalf, Borkowski, and Austin Cameron... Joe Falk's #91, and Junie's #90 cars chose not to make the trek west...

Ricky's new paintjob...
A couple interesting notes on paint schemes - Nadeau had a new one, his third(?) for the Cartoon Network car this year; Kenny Schrader was in his "maroon" colours today; and Ricky Rudd sported a new colour scheme as well, promoting Tide with Peroxide... Rusty was still doin' the Miller/Harley thing on his Taurus. The rest of the field all looked familiar, except the red car of Gilliland, and Hubert's white #19 Pontiac...

Jeff 'n Tony lead em up into the hills...
The green flew, and Gordon got a good jump, with Stewart and Nadeau side-by-side as they headed into the hills. At the end of Lap 1, the leaders were single-file, with Gordon out front, Nadeau second - no repeat of '98's embarrassment, Stewart, Wallace, Nemechek, and Spencer as top six. By the end of Lap 2, we'd had a taste of what to expect, as Hamilton ran his KODAKmobile wide on turn seven, losing several spots, and Rusty stuck the nose of the M/H Taurus inside Stewart on Turn 11, outdragging him to the Start/Finish line for third place, as Lap three began. Tony was playin' it cool, getting a feel for the track under race conditions, and relearning roadracing after 12 years away from it.

Butch gets a push home...
We then came back from a commercial to the first caution, caused when Gilliland's machine blew its engine. None of the leaders came in, it being so early, and the green dropped once more on Lap 7, with JG still leadin' the pack.
Five laps later, order was unchanged among the leaders, except Martin seemed to be movin' forward, and Gordon was 2.5 seconds out front. A couple of laps later, Johnny Benson celebrated his 36th birthday with an incident that caved in the right side of the Cheerios car. No caution, and Johnny soldiered on.. don't know that we ever did see how it happened...
By Lap 20. Gordon was 4 seconds out in front of some spirited racin', as Martin, Nadeau, Wallace and Stewart were scrappin' for the next three spots. Martin had moved into second, followed by Nadeau, Wallace, Stewart, Nemechek - havin' a good run, Spencer, Jeff Burton, Schrader, Rudd, Mike Waltrip, and Elliott as top twelve. Bobby Labonte was 13th, and Jarrett had worked his way up to 24th. Four laps later, Tony seemed to be gettin' the hang of this, and was up to third behind Martin.

Steve Park goes into the tires...
The first major incident of the race occurred on Lap 25, bringing out the second caution. And it was a dandy! Steve Park had a failure (tire?), in the front end of the PENNZOIL machine, and went straight offcourse into a berm and tire barrier, when he shoulda been turning hard left. This was the same place Richard Petty crashed a few years ago. Steve was ok, but the car was finished. Replay showed a hard impact, then a full 360 barrel-roll in mid-air before comin' to rest on top of the tire barrier. As spectacular as it looked, the bouncin' and rollin' likely chewed up a lot of kinetic energy that Steve did not have to personally absorb, savin' him from injury. It's the ones where the car just stops instantly, like the J.D. McDuffie incident at Watkins Glen a few years ago, that are lethal! Park was out of the car checkin' 'er out in a few seconds, and seemed ok in the interview later... another testament to the design, and build quality, of these machines!
Under the full-course yellow, everyone pulled into the pits. Martin was first out, with Gordon, Stewart, Jeff Burton, Nemechek, Nadeau, Wallace , Bobby Labonte, Spencer, Rudd, Earnhardt and Schrader on his tail. The green flew on Lap 30, and a half-lap later, Earnhardt was facin' backwards, after some help from Schrader. There was no caution, the field streamed by, and Dale fell back in line in 33rd place. (Find a place to hide, Kenny!)
On Lap 31 Gordon retook the lead, with the now-familiar inside pass on Turn 11. By Lap 34, Bobby had got by Wallace for seventh, but got bit on Turn 11, when Spencer tapped him, sending him into a loop, that dropped him back to 21st, in Jarrett's neighbourhood.
Lap 47 had Gordon and Martin 2 seconds in front of Jeff Burton, Stewart, Wallace, Nemechek, Rudd, Hamilton, Spencer, Andretti, Irwin and Marlin to make up the leading dozen. Jarrett and Bobby Labonte were back up to 16th and 17th respectively. Nadeau had dropped out of the fray, and a lap down, with gearbox trouble, finally pitting, and getting it working again. Labonte and Jarrett continued to scrap, moving forward slowly in the process. By lap 50, they'd picked up a couple places, but Labonte was in front of Jarrett.

Jeff goes agricultural...
Lap 51 saw Gordon get all crossed up out of Turn 7, bouncin' through the fields... Martin grabbed the lead, and Gordon found himself back on course, goin' into Turn 11, with Burton all over him. Burton got inside on the turn, made it stick, and took second place. We heard at this time that the Dupont chauffer was not up to par, suffering from laryngitis, not feelin' too chipper. Talk of a relief driver began...
By lap 54, Martin had 7.75 seconds on Burton, who was 2.2 seconds ahead of Gordon. Rudd had taken fifth from Nemechek, and Stewart was in fourth. By Lap 56, both Gordon and Stewart were closed in on Burton, running nose-to-tail. Before the fireworks began, there was a caution - the third - around lap 58 for debris on the track. This was nicely timed to allow all the leaders to pit for tires 'n gas.

A helping hand from Kyle...
For Mike Waltrip, it was a tad late, as Kyle Petty was seen pushin' him back to the pits, out of gas. (Was that legal?) (Further note: Accordin' to Mikey, on INSIDE WINSTON CUP tonite, Kyle lost several positions givin' him a push back... truly, KP has an agenda all his own...)
Under the caution, the track officials came out and cleaned all the "marbles" off Turn 7, where there had been more than a few excursions into the back-forty on the outside of the track! This made for a rather lengthy stop.
The green finally came out again, on Lap 64, and Martin, Burton, Gordon and Stewart led the field into the first corner. This procession continued until Lap 68, when Burton got under Martin in Turn 11 (where else?), to take the lead. Burton began to pull away, and Gordon, sore throat and all, was all over Martin for second.
A couple laps later, Burton's EXIDE Taurus let him down once more, as he slowed, with only fourth gear functioning... NOT a Good Thing on a road course. Definitely NOT a Good Thing for his Points run!! Soon he was 'way back to fifth, as he chugged his way through the tighter corners...

Derricke's Corn Dog machine...
off course...
The fourth caution came on Lap 72, as Derricke Cope, in one his rare starts this year (6 DNQ's in 14 races!) stuffed the "State Fair Corn Dogs" Pontiac (quit spinnin' in your graves, Joe 'n Fireball!!) into the tire barrier. Poor DC - on top of the DNQ's, when he does make the field, this is a too-frequent result! All the leaders pitted, and on the restart, on Lap 79, Jimmy Spencer was leadin' a road race! And doin' pretty well!!
He apparently had chosen NOT to come in on this yellow... Behind him, Martin and Gordon were squabblin' over second, with Jeff finally takin' it, then closin' on Jimmy for first. Jimmy blocked as best he could, but Gordon did an outside sweep thru the esses to take the lead. Next, Martin was all over, then by, Spencer, followed by Stewart. By the end of Lap 80, Jimmy's no-tire-stop strategy was an obvious error, and, just to punctuate that, both Wallace and Nemechek got under the usually-aggressive Mr Spencer in Turn 11 on Lap 82... and Rudd was sizin' him up...
Running order on Lap 84 of top ten had Gordon 1.3 seconds out front, then Martin, Stewart - with Wallace beatin' on him, Nemechek, Rudd, Spencer - steamin', I'll bet, Geoffrey Bodine(!), Jarrett(!!) and Andretti. Poor Jeff Burton was mired in 30th, but Bobby Labonte was movin' up on the top ten, usin' Turn 11 for all it was worth to get under, and by, everyone in his way. Lap 90 saw the first six unchanged from above, but Jarrett was seventh, and Labonte had passed Bodine for eighth.
On lap 91, Spencer gave up, coming in for tires, and Geoffrey Bodine had his transmission get all cranky as he entered Turn 7, sending him off course, losing several spots.

Kenny's BIG HIT...
outdid Steve Park!!
And so we cruised, until Lap 94, when the second major incident occurred, to bring out the fifth caution. This time it was Kenny Schrader, taking a Big Hit, goin' off track in the same area as Park had earlier. Unlike Steve, however, Kenny ended up on his roof, which looked badly crushed. After some anxious seconds, and good work by a track official, it was a relief when Kenny had been pulled feet first from the window, and stood lookin' over the still-steamin' SKOAL hulk... Again, a strong testament to the inherant safety of these machines, and the quality put into their construction. As the shots to the right show, this was another one for the mainstream news services!!
Took a while to clean this one up. We got to watch as Kenny walked back to the pits (talk about insult to injury...), giving an interview on the way. Everyone pitted again. Just before the green was to drop on Lap 99, disaster struck Tony Stewart, as he had a tire go down, just as he entered Turn 11. So while everyone else took the green, he motored in for a tire change...
Gordon, Martin, and Wallace led the charge over the line, and a lap later, top twelve order was Gordon, Martin, Wallace, Rudd, Bobby Labonte, Jarrett, Nemechek, Marlin, Ward Burton, Irwin, Skinner and Kenny Wallace, with Earnhardt thirteenth. Lap 101 had Martin snappin' at Gordon's heels, with Wallace on HIS tail, as Gordon, in a slower car (or affected by fatigue?), protected his line. On lap 102, there was a big mess in infamous Turn 11. First, Martin nearly lost it tying to get under Gordon on the approach. This kicked up dust, which may have impacted what happened next.

Bobby 'n Joe get together
with some tires...
What happened next was that Labonte, usin' the move that had served him so well, tried to get under Nemechek. Both carried too much speed into the tight turn, slidin' into one another, then takin' out some tires for good measure. Joe looped, losin' a lot of places, Bobby carried on, but eventually both had to come into the pits for surgery...
None of the leaders came in, so, under the yellow, on Lap 103, running order among leaders was Gordon, Martin, Wallace, Rudd, Andretti, Jarrett, Marlin, Ward Burton, and Dale Earnhardt. Labonte and Nemechek, after stops to try and repair/remove tore up sheetmetal, ended up on the back end of the lead lap, in 29th and 30th.

Ricky, Ward and Jeremy
come together
The green flew again on Lap 107, with 6 to go, with Gordon getting a good start. Behind the first four, lots of side-by-side racin' was going on, but trouble erupted from among the leaders to cause the sixth, and final, caution. Looked as if Rusty messed up in the esses, and took a scenic route through one of 'em, emerging back on the track right in front of a shocked Ricky Rudd. Rudd, tryin' to avoid Rusty, went off-course on the outside, clipping some tires, and bouncing back onto the track into an equally surprised Ward Burton. Big Hit, spinning and wrecking Rudd, and sending Ward off-course in an explosion of white retaining tires. Poor Mayfield got caught up as "collateral damage" as the out-of-control CAT car slammed him as he tried to weave thru... And that's roadracin' WINSTON CUP style! There were enough tires and car bits on the track that, in an effort to finish under green, NASCAR redflagged the event. While we watched baseball, the track was cleared up.
After about 20-25 minutes, the field was rollin' again. The green flew on Lap 110 , three to go, with Gordon, Martin, Wallace - none the worse for his excursion, and Andretti leading the pack. Jarrett was fifth, then Marlin, Mayfield, Spencer, Earnhardt and Petty rounded out the Top Ten.
Mark could not close the gap
on the last lap...
Again, Gordon got a good start, but Marlin had him reeled in in a half-lap. Behind them, Andretti took third from Wallace. For the next three laps, Martin was all over Gordon, tryin' to get under him in Turn 11 for the lead. Mark's best shot was on the penultimate lap (An F1 term for second-last lap... courtesy Murray Walker, O.B.E.), but Gordon was vigilant in taking a slow, tight line through the corner, not giving Mark a space to stick his nose into. And Mark, bein' Mark, he did not do the obvious, i.e. create a "racing incident" on Jeff's right rear corner...
And so, Gordon hung on to take the win, with Martin on his tail, but unable to find a way around the Dupontster. Good defensive driving by Gordon, who really bounced 'er over the curbing on the last lap, desperate to stay out front - and a clean finish by Mark. Others mighta "found a way" around Jeff at Turns 7 or 11, but that's not the VALVOLINE driver's style, for better or worse. (However, it might also get you a lot of "almosts", but no firsts, in the Championship wars over the years!)
An impressive effort for an ailing Gordon, who won his fourth straight roadrace; a feat unmatched in "The Modern Era".
And thus ended the coverage - we went straight to baseball...
Final finishing order (from www.thatsracing.com) was Gordon, Martin, Andretti, Wallace, Spencer, Jarrett, Mayfield, Petty, Earnhardt, Mike Waltrip, Hamilton and Darrell Waltrip as the first twelve. Stewart salvaged a 15th place, Nemechek, a 19th, and Bobby Labonte ended up in 27th, second-last (penultimate... that word again...) car on the lead lap ahead of Geoffrey Bodine. Jeff Burton was 24th, and Ward Burton and Ricky Rudd ended up 35th and 38th, well off the lead lap.
In the Championship Race, Jarrett remains in front, with 2494 Points. Unchanged, in position, but losing ground at 157 points behind, is Bobby Labonte. Martin snuck into third, droppin' Burton to fourth, and, even with the win, Gordon is still stuck in fifth, 69 points ahead of Stewart. Looks like DJ is firming up his control of 1999! Go, DJ!! (Ooops, forgot - I'm s'posed to be impartial...)
And so next week, we get into the second half of the season, as we head back to Daytona for the Firecracker 400 on Saturday night. Remember last year? Lotsa smoke, and it wasn't from tires! Wildfires made the holding of the race untenable, and it was moved to October. And Daytona and NASCAR got kudos for opening up the track for a staging area/gathering place for firefighters brought in from all over the U.S.
From what I've heard, 1999 will go without a hitch, so, as the "Land of Bulls--t and Brass Bands" gets ready to celebrate its Independance Day, I'll be gettin' primed for the race!!
See y'all there... From My Couch!!

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