But that's ok, any city that is hosting a NASCAR race is a Good Place in my books - at least from Thursday to Sunday....
Last year, I commented on the Huge Hype surrounding that first race - seemed even bigger than Indy in '94. And the race was a snoozer... This year the hype seemed muted somewhat, and we got a Hell of a good race.... go figger...
This was a "NO BULL" race, and the top five finishers from Daytona had a shot at
ten-to-the-sixth of them huge Amurrican Dollars - Gordon, Irwin, Mike Waltrip, Skinner, and Dale Earnhardt.
Since last year, we had a change in spoiler rules, which, once again, had everyone back to square one for this, the second race here.
Bobby Labonte and Mike Waltrip's teams got the best handle on this one for '99, and were rewarded with front-row starting positions after qualifying. Following them were Nemechek, Hubert(#19), Skinner, Craven - back to his Daytona yellow/purple plumage, Mayfield, Nadeau - sporting evil black WCW/NWO livery, Jarrett, Irwin, Gordon and Terry Labonte rounding out first twelve qualifyers. Jeff Burton was 19th, brother Ward was 30th, and Rusty and DEI were languishin' back in 37th and 38th place on provisionals, and Ol' DW was in his accustomed spot, bringin' up the rear with a Past Champion's Provisional. Five to go, and counting....
Free to roam Sin City without the bothers of runnin' a race this weekend were Musgrave, Kyle Petty, Pressley, Hornaday, Gilliland, Marcis, Davis, Burns (remember him from Motegi??), and Austin Cameron. With 43 cars and 52 entrants, somethin's gotta give - Petty was a surprise... No doubt all of 'em woulda rather been tryin' their luck on the asphalt....
The green dropped, and Bobby immediately scooted to the front, with Mikey, Joe, Mike Skinner, Jeremy, and Ricky Craven quickly out in single file. (Editorial Comment: After the "Amateur Night" start at Saturday's Australian GP - yup, I watch that furrin stuff, too - it was nice to get back to a professional-looking start to a race...)
Hubert had fallen back quickly, and was locked in a side-by-side battle with Jarrett for 7th. Dale slid up the track on the second lap, nearly collecting a large part of the field, as Irwin got under his spoiler, makin' him loose... (Holy Daytona!! - with a teammate like that who needs other competition?? To be fair, Kenny never touched Dale this time...). Dale chased it up the track, savin' himself, and a large part of the herd behind him, from disaster, but began to lose positions as he sorted himself out... By lap 5 he'd settled in about twentieth... and this weren't even restrictoracin'!
The first caution flew early, on lap 10, as Benson just plain lost the rear end, and spun into the wall, then a shocked Tony Stewart. Good avoidance, particularly by Chad Little, limited damage to those two.
Some of those at the rear, includin' Buckshot (Yep! He made the scene!!), Irvan and Marlin made pitstops, as they had little track position to lose.
We came Back From Commercial (BFC) to the race already restarted, about lap 13. A couple laps later, Mayfield took the lead from Bobby Labonte, with Mike Waltrip hangin' in third, then Nemechek. Behind them, Dallenbach, Skinner, and Irwin were mixin' it up good, runnin' three-wide, with Jeffie hoverin' to pounce on any slipup behind 'em.
I looked away (misplaced my beer) for a couple seconds... when I looked back, somehow, Jeff Gordon had snuck thru to about 6th, past the wild three-wide stuff.... Meanwhile, Mikey was beginning to fade, fallin' back to 7th by lap 25.
By lap 28, Bobby Labonte had retaken the lead, and running order was Labonte, Mayfield, Terry Labonte (how'd he sneak in there? Ain't that just like Terry??), Nemechek, Dallenbach, Ward Burton (up from 30th already!), Irwin, Gordon - slipped back a bit, Andretti, and Mike Waltrip.
A few laps later, lap 36, and Terry had gone into second, so we had the Labonte Boys leadin' the parade, and Ward Burton was up to fourth, just behind Mayfield. On lap 37, brotherly love be damned, and Terry moved into the lead. By lap 42, Ward Burton had passed Mayfield and Bobby Labonte, and had taken second place. VERY impressive run for the Caterpillar Pontiac!
Running order for top fifteen on lap 44 was Terry Labonte, Ward Burton, Bobby Labonte, Mayfield, Irwin, Nemechek, Andretti, Jeff Burton - just makin' his presence felt, Elliott, Dallenbach, Irvan - on a good run, Martin, Lepage, Gordon - big Fade, and Skinner. Next five were Geoffrey Bodine - good showin' for the Powerteam Chevy, Jarrett - slowly movin' back up towards the leaders, Little, Marlin, and poor Mikey Waltrip - still in Fade Mode...
Lap 45 saw Ward take the lead, and right behind him, Terry, Jeremy and Bobby in a three-wide dogfight for second! This of course, allowed Ward to pull out a couple seconds, and let fifth on back close up...
Green Flag stops began around lap 60... poor updating by ABC made it vague.... Ward Burton tried a new line for his pit stop, barrelin' down from the racin' line at the last minute, and loopin' the car though the grass verge between pit road and the entrance. He regained control, and got 'er onto pit road before his stall. Technically, he was speedin', but was so far off the line NASCAR's radar never woulda caught it. Announcers opined that it may even have SAVED him a little time!
As the stops cycled thru, Irvan took the lead briefly, thanks to his Lap 11 stop, and on lap 70, order of top ten was a little odd - Marlin, Grissom, Irvan - having dropped back, Ward Burton, Mayfield, Jeff Burton, Buckshot Jones, Bobby Labonte, Dallenbach, and Elliott.
By lap 80, the pitstop cycle was complete, and Ward was back on the point, out front by 1.5 seconds over brother Jeff - who'd relegated Mayfield to third a lap or so earlier, Mayfield, Bobby Labonte, Irwin, Martin - dunno where he came from, Elliott, Andretti, Gordon and Dallenbach.
Since there is no restrictor plate at Vegas, the cars were able to get somewhat strung out, and we had a relatively long run into lap 88 or so, where little changed, except that during a commercial break, around laps 88 - 91, Jeff Burton took the lead from brother Ward.
This order largely held the next ten laps or so. A most interestin' duel was goin' on between Jeff Burton and Dale Earnhardt, runnin 25th, as Jeff had caught Dale, and spent several laps in tight side-by-side formation, tryin' to put Dale down a lap. The Goodwrench Gods smiled down, and just as DE was about to lose the fight, caution number two flew for debris on the track. I must say, the GOODWRENCH machine looked quite spiff in "No Bull" colours - Dayglow Red roof number, chin and rear spoilers - hard to believe this is Dale's first NB op!
Naturally, all 24 cars on the lead lap came in, and Ward Burton led Mayfield, Bobby Labonte, and Jeff Burton - crummy pitstop, back onto the track. The green flew on lap 108, and the above foursome led 'em off.
By lap 112, top fifteen running order was Ward Burton, Mayfield, Bobby Labonte, Jeff Burton, Irwin, Martin, Elliott, Andretti, Irvan, Jarrett, Gordon, Geoffrey Bodine, Dallenbach, and Skinner. Meantime, Ol' DW had, through attrition, and a couple passes, moved up to 25th, and Stewart and Benson had hauled the remains of their racers back onto the track, to potter around for points scraps...
Lap 116 saw Rudd go up in smoke... he would ultimately have the dubious hounour of finishing 43rd... and Earnhardt got by team mate Skinner for 15th place.
Mike Waltrip's promising-to-so-so day really went down the tubes on lap 118, as he brought out the third caution with a long solo spin, hitting the wall, and bangin' up the right rear sheetmetal real good. Unfortunately, he got in front of poor Grissom, whose 91 car had no place to go, but into Mikey real hard. Sadler "just panicked" (his words in a later PII) and locked up the CITGO Taurus, hitting something, and endin' his day... inside wall? Couldn't see contact thru smoke and dust. Poor Mr Sadler is havin' a rough initiation to this level of racin'...
All those on the lead lap came in, and this time, Mayfield and Jeff Burton were first out. Gordon picked up at least a half-dozen spots with an excellent stop.
Thus, when the green flew on lap 124, Mayfield was at the point, bein' chased by Jeff Burton, Ward Burton, Geoffrey Bodine (!-two tires?), Gordon, Terry Labonte, Irvan, Bobby Labonte, and Joe Nemechek. Martin was outside the top ten, having had a disastrous stop, due to a missed communication - he thought two tires, team planned four - he had to come back in a second time. Within four laps, Gordon and Terry Labonte had gotten by Geoffrey, then the fourth caution came out on lap 130.
This was caused by Irwin slidin' up the track chasin' his rear end, and into a hapless Kenny Wallace, whom Irwin was tryin' to lap. The "Clash of the Kennys" ultimately involved at least four other cars, including Buckshot Jones, Bill Elliott, Cope, and Nemechek. Looked like Irwin just lost it, tryin' to get by Wallace. We spent much of this yellow in commercials, so it was hard to see who'd pitted. The green flag flew during one of the breaks, so we came back around lap 140, with Jeff Burton still out front, followed by Mayfield, Ward Burton, Gordon, Terry Labonte, Bodine, Bobby Labonte, Rusty Wallace, Dallenbach, and Martin.
We now got into a long green flag run, featuring Burton openin' up a couple seconds, while Gordon moved into second place. Further back, Jarrett was movin' towards the front again, as was Martin. Lap 156-157 saw Burton still in the lead, then Gordon, Mayfield, Ward Burton, Martin, Jarrett, Bobby Labonte, Terry Labonte, Bodine, Earnhardt, Irvan, Skinner, Dallenbach, Wallace and Mast - in the "Jellybelly" Taurus, no less, roundin' out the top fifteen.
Once again, the field began to string out, and the leaders began puttin' some good cars down. Twenty laps later, order was largely unchanged, except Earnhardt had moved past the Labonte Boys and Bodine into seventh place.
Around lap 180, a second round of green flag stops began. Among the first of the leaders in were the Burton Boys, Mayfield and Gordon, which presented them a problem - with 87 laps left, none could go the distance. We then heard from Roush that Martin had come in under the last caution, and had a few miles left in the tank!
It became obvious who else had come in under that last caution, as by lap 195, Martin was in the lead, followed by Wallace, Jarrett, Skinner, Bodine, Terry Labonte, Andretti, Dallenbach, Little and Schrader.
Around lap 196, Terry Labonte and Bodine were in, followed a couple laps later by Martin, Earnhardt, Skinner and Jarrett. Once again, Jarrett's team had left it a lap too long, as he had to coast into the pits Sans Power, as he'd run outta gas on the backstretch. This cost him many positions on the track!
Around lap 212, after all the stops had cycled thru, Jeff Burton was back out front, followed by brother Ward, Gordon, Mayfield, Martin, Bobby Labonte, Irvan, Skinner, Wallace and Earnhardt in top ten places. Kenny Wallace's Square D car finally succumbed to its injuries, and he retired.
Eight laps later, we were once again treated to the spectacle of Dale earnhardt fightin' to keep from goin' down a lap, as Jeff Burton overtook him, in tenth place, the last car on the lead lap. For several laps they ran an excellent side-by-side duel, that was still unresolved as we broke away to flog motor oil and hamburgers.
We came back from commercials around lap 232, to a caution, the fifth, caused when Geoffrey's Powerteam Chevy lunched its engine, presumably coating part of the racing line with oil. This effectively took any gas mileage considerations out of the picture, as all the leaders came in for tires and fuel. Now they could RACE to the finish!
The green flew on lap 236, with Ward Burton in the lead. He got out in front of Gordon, and put the lapped cars of Andretti and Jarrett between hinself and the Dupontmobile. Jeff Burton was third, and Skinner, Mayfield, Martin, Bobby Labonte, Irvan, Earnhardt, Wallace and Terry Labonte comprised the eleven cars on the lead lap. Two laps later, Gordon was clear, and set off after Burton. In a show of sportsmanship, and likely anticipating a favour returned down the road, Jarrett let Jeff Burton through after Gordon, without impeding his progress, as Dale was out of the hunt anyway.
With 26 to go, Gordon had closed on Ward Burton, and you could see the writin' on the wall... But not so fast! Jeff could not make a pass stick, and during the side-by-side stuff, Jeff Burton closed in on them both, and when Gordon drifted high, took away second from him. Now we had Gordon fightin' Jeff for second, givin' Ward some breathin' room up front....
This dandy fight continued... until lap 246 (22 to go!), when ABC took a looooong commercial break! Arghhh!!
BFC, lap 250, 17 to go, and Ward was still out front, and Martin had faded to 9th, havin' only seven functional cylinders...
Fourteen laps to go, and The Burton Boys was nose-to-tail...
Thirteen to go, and the Burton Boys was side-by-side, and Gordon closin'... "Here we go again." thought I...
Three laps later, Jeff Burton managed to clear his brother, and build up a few carlengths lead. Once Ward had the whole track to himself again - no side-by-side stuff to wreck the racin' line - he began to pull away from Gordon. Mayfield lost a few positions as he had to come in with blistered tires...
With seven to go, Ward made one more run for the lead, but his brother held him off, and at the chequered flag, it was Jeff Burton, well out in front of brother Ward, with Gordon coming home in third place. Fourth went to Skinner, then Bobby Labonte, Irvan, Earnhardt, Terry Labonte, Wallace and Martin rounded out the ten who finished on the lead lap. Jarrett came in eleventh, a lap down, and Andretti, Dallenbach, Little, and Marlin rounded out the top fifteen.
In The POINTS Chase, Skinner maintained first, by 51 points over Rusty Wallace, with Bobby Labonte third, Jeff Burton in fourth, then Gordon, making a nice recovery after Rockingham.
So next week we're back to Scary Old Atlanta, again hosted by our friends at ABC... I will be out of town on the weekend. My wife Noreen and I are takin' in the sights and sounds of Toledo, Ohio, at the Lucas County Fairgrounds, where car modellers' "March Madness" will be occurring - the Fenders 'n Friends Contest on Saturday, and the Toy Show on Sunday. Might even enter a model or two, so I can hobnob with the real modellers! (Pity poor Noreen, who thinks even a weekend in Toledo is a pleasant break...)
Anyhoo, I'll set the tape on the New Infernal Machine - it'll be my first solo - and if all goes well, get the report up by Tuesday night for the CrackerBarrel 500.
"Mr. NASCAR" |