The Tennessean from Nashville, Tennessee • Page 41

C2 wwyvtennassean com THE TENNESSEAN Sonday, September 12, 1999 15C SPORTS: AUTO RACING Rudd OK following gastric problem y' BWItititiffiiliiiWmM MiftiiJmufmm JM'iliiii riil'rriiiifr'il Stewart notches 1st win Associated Press RICHMOND, Va. Ricky Rudd spent Friday night in a hospital being treated for an undisclosed gastric-related problem but was released to drive in last night's Exide 400. Rudd reported to the infield care center when he arrived at the track Friday, was released and then got sick again. A friend took him to Chippenham Medical Center, where he underwent a series of tests, a team spokesman said. The streak ranks third in NASCAR history, trailing Richard Petty's 18 and David Pearson's 17.

Rudd finished last night's race in 27th place, finishing four laps behind winner Tony Stewart Rudd's absence from the track-, almost all weekend spared him in- tense media attention with rumors continuing to swirl that he plans to announce Monday in Charlotte, NC, that he will replace Kenny Ir- win in Robert Yates' No. 28 Ford next seasoa Dick Trickle drove Rudd's Ford in first-round qualifying and put it safely in the field with the 31st quickest time. Had Rudd not been cleared to drive, his streak of 564 consecutive starts third longest active would have ended. Rudd also has only 10 races left to extend to 17 his streak of consecutive seasons with at least one victory. a I It firestone FR360 RADIAL SALE Save Thru Sept.

18th! AP FOR Ftsisait Rookie driver Tony Stewart hugs his crew chief, Greg Zipadelli in victory lane, after getting his first Winston Cup victory. FT70C With UNI-T Excellent Wet Stopping 70,000 Mile Limited Warranty' Black Letters Price P17570R13 $49.99 P18570R14 56.99 P19570R14 59.99 P17565R14 53.99 P18565R14 56.99 P20570R15 71.99 P20565R15 66.99 Whitewall. Call for other sizes. FR440 RADIAL Long Mileage, Quiet Ride Ttrestone 60,000 Mile United Warranty' Size P15580R13 -4For SIM-ALL 13" SIZES ALL 14" SIZES 4Fof $210 ALL 15" SIZES 80, 75 and 70 series size whitewalls. 50,000 Mile Limited Warrant Associated Press RICHMOND, Va.

Rookie sensation Tony Stewart, hampered early by slower pit stops than the rest of the leaders, made up for them with the best car of the bunch to win the Exide 400 last night, his first career victory. Matched against the pit crews of Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin and other premier drivers, Stewart's group was decidedly slower until less than 100 laps remained, when it put together one blistering stop that made the outcome a formality. The stop came during a caution with 95 laps to go. Stewart came in the leader, as he had several times earlier, and finally left first, too, even though Gordon's vaunted Rainbow Warriors put together a 16-second stop for tires and fuel Stewart then turned the race around a track where thrilling finishes are the norm into a mostly uncontested parade ending with the validation of a star. He became only the sixth Winston Cup rookie to post a victory in his first year.

"I love this Virginia race track, that's for sure," Stewart said in Victory Lane. "We never changed a screw all night. All we did was adjust air pressure." Stewart's Joe Gibbs Pontiac teammate, Bobby Labonte, took advantage of lapped traffic to close in on Stewart with about 20 laps to go, but the 1997 Indy Racing League champion used the slower cars to his advantage to keep Labonte at bay. Labonte finished second, 1.114 seconds behind, giving Pontiac its first one-two finish since Rusty Wallace and Kyle Petty did it in 1993 at North Wilkesboro. "Best run I've ever had here," Labonte said.

"We got right up to him at the end of the race, but he was just too good when we were clear of traffic." Stewart did several donuts after clinching the victory, then drove the wrong way around the track in the first victory lap of his NASCAR career. "This is one of the great nights. I'm so proud of Tony," Gibbs said ALL 13" SIZES -4 FOR $131 ALL 14" SIZES -4 FOR $151 ALL 15" SIZES -4 FOR $171 80, 75 series size whitewalls only. Excludes size P23575R15. SPECIAL PURCHASE 35,000 MILE LIMITED WARRANTY' FOR DOMESTIC CARS All 13" Sizes All W'Sizes All Our Lowest Priced Radial! 4 FOR JU For JiFor .4 For $89 $99 $109 with its new sponsor, Oakwood.

"He's just indicated that he's not going to fulfill the commitment he made to me," Petree said when asked what Schrader said he's planning to do next seasoa Schrader is widely rumored to be bolting for the Pontiac that Ernie Irvan was driving until his retirement Pit stops Richard Petty won seven consecutive Winston Cup races at Richmond from 1970-73 and visited Victory Lane 13 times here. The only other driver with seven victories for his career at RIR is Bobby Allisoa Waltrip and Rusty Wallace share the lead among active drivers with six career victories at RIR, but Waltrip hasn't won here since this race 14 years ago. Going into the Exide 400, Kenny Wallace was the only driver to have driven in every race this season without leading a lap at least once. Hendrick Motorsports had the top three finishers in the 1997 Daytona 500 with Jeff Gordoa Terry Labonte and Ricky Cravea but has not had two top-five finishers in any race this seasoa in Victory Lane. "I couldn't be happier.

It was one of the big thrills of my life." Points leader Dale Jarrett bounced back from two off weeks that cut his 314-point lead almost in half to finish third. He boosted his lead over Martin back to 270 points when Martin had engine trouble with 35 laps left and finished 35th. Gordon, who ran in the top five for the first 305 laps, lost his clutch after losing the race out of the pits with 95 laps to go and went to the garage shortly thereafter. He failed to finish for the sixth time this season and wound up 40th. Columbia's Sterling Marlin was fourth, followed by Kenny Irwin.

Nashville's Bobby Hamilton took seventh, and Franklin's Dar-rell Waltrip was 37th. Petrert (fish: Andy Petree, owner of the Chevrolet driven by Ken Schrader, said yesterday that Schrader is backing out of his contract after this season and that the team is looking for a driver to go FIREHAWK GTA SALE Save Thru Sept. 18th! RADIAL SR POTENZA RE91 0 With UNI-T l-Season, S-Speed RatedHandle The of Dry Lemgxs QttWQEsnsne 45,000 Mile 60,000 Mile P18S60HRH Limited Warranty' White Letters Price Black Letters Price mm 40.000 Mile Limited Warrant Black Letters SALE Black Letters SALE $64 99 71.99 74.99 73 99 96.99 106.99 119.99 17565R14 19565R15 20565R15 19560R15 22560R16 20555R16 24550R16 $39.99 42 99 47.99 4999 5999 49.99 63.99 P19570R13 P18560R14 P21560R14 P22570R15 P25570R15 P19560R15 P23560R15 P19570HR14 $51.99 P20560HR15 $57.99 P20560HR14 56.99 P22560HR16 74.99 P19560HR15 54.99 P20560TR15 51.99 Call for other sizes. Black letters. Call for otter sizes.

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See participating stores tor written limited warranty. Car Service BASIC MAINTENANCE iX LOWEST PRICE OF THE SEASON CI A nrikir orninrtr TMMC I ID NiirtT iirtr1 in ril Trhpnrn It I li OnttrC OCnvlOC I uiifur UIL unAIMat AIMU nLIEn orCUIML! C-yfQQ 99 179 man new mwr jf Gi(()S prune SEKKTUUC $11 99 I I PncfUKtm nf Includes refill of up to 5 sw.w 4 Install brake pads Visually inspect ignition qls. Kendall WW-30 oil Lubricate chassis or shoes Resurface drams wires aisiriuura wp utui, j. j. filters more Install new (if applicable) SAVE THRU OCT.

2nd I With Tim All! or rotors mjusi uiuiii brakes (on serviced axle) Bosch spark plugs Set timing idle (if applicable) Road test vehicle Road test vehicle Most models 1983-1998. At oarHcipating locations. "I've been a die-hard sports fan since I was a youngster, so to be inducted into a Hall of Fame with so many of the athletes that I idolized as a child is very, very special." Waltrip was a high school track star who set some state records before launching his NASCAR career. He is a three-time champion and the sport's winningest active driver. Behind doors Jeff Gordon and wife Brooke will be featured on ABC's Behind Closed Doors, scheduled to air Tuesday at 9 p.m.

Joan Lunden spent a week with the Gordons. ABC cameras followed Gordon through the spring Cracker Barrel 500 at Atlanta Speedway, and also captured his off-the-track activities. Return of AJ A.J. Foyt's planned return to NASCAR next season should add some spice to the sport. Foyt, considered by many the greatest all-around driver in motorsports, is forming a new Winston Cup team.

He expects to name a driver sooa Asked why he didn't buy an existing team, the crusty Foyt replied: "Because I didn't want to run a bunch of junk." Wives on board: When Stevie Waltrip began to follow her husband Darrell to races some 30 years ago, women weren't allowed in the garage or pit area of many tracks. Now Stevie and several other drivers' wives have been selected to represent General Mills and Betty Crocker in the company's growing role in NASCAR. "The evolution we've seen in the sport is incredible," Stevie said, noting that about 40 of today's race fans are women. Also Last night's race at Richmond was Dale Earnhardt's 603rd consecutive start The streak began at Richmond 20 years ago Nashville Speedway has only two weekends of racing remaining this season the Sat, Oct 2 Ail-American 400 and the Oct 26th Mark Collie celebrity race. The Ail-American 400 activities start on Sept.

30 with practice, followed by next-day qualifying and local-division races. Larry Woody covets motorsports tor The "fenoessean. He can be reached at 250-8019 or Iwoodydtennesseancom. Something smells about the flower flap in Gladeville. Just as construction was about to begin on $125 million Nashville Superspeedway, an anti-track group suddenly developed an appreciation for the cone flower which grows in abundance around the track site.

Claiming that they don't want anybody tiptoeing through their tulips, the track protesters are trying to use flower power to help block the development. Connie Black, a leader of the "I Back the Track" movement, has a question for the suddenly flower-friendly faction: "Where have they been for the past 39 years?" Black, in a letter to one of the anti-track's spokesmen, points out that's how long she has lived on the property adjacent to the track site. "I have pretty much grown up with the cone flowers echinacea," she writes. "I've talked to local farmers and developers and they can vouch for every cone flower in the area. They assure me that they can survive most anything, even being mowed down each year by farmers.

They are hardy little plants." Black goes on to note that a golf course is being built nearby, a junk yard exists in the area, and in recent years acres and acres of farmland have been cleared for homes. "How many flowers were destroyed then?" Black asks. "Why was the echinacea not taken into consideration then? If they the anti-track forces were true environmentalists they would be concerned with any environmental issue, not just the speedway." Interesting, as Black said, that none of the flower children spoke up over other plant-paving developments. Could it be that the anti-track folks are simply using the cone flower to prop up their personal agenda? "During all the years of development in the area, no one ever mentioned the cone flower until Dover Downs purchased the property," Black said. Black said that even though cone flowers are common around the area, the track developers have agreed to set aside a 50-acre plant MM 4 ntn mttflir igMW mat i 1 cytr sugwi Ho tinnm trMAXrtwtmrcecrn.

Hot wftdM noun smi-Mttlic Prm lor nKmalwHSF bstMiNBa nM twing repatt ufii. n-- attempt to defeat the project. From the start, the anti's have been unable or unwilling to simply argue their case on its merits: Yes, the superspeedway will increase traffic on race days. It will create some noise in the immediate area during races. It will disrupt the tranquility of the countryside for a few weekends a year.

On the flip side, the disturbance won't be constant. Go to Talladega Superspeedway this weekend and you'll find the rural area virtually deserted. The traffic will flow smoothly once new access roads are built. Unless you're standing next to the track, the noise is not that bad The tradeoff for some inconvenience is jobs and hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue for the county. Wilson County officials pondered the pluses and minuses and voted overwhelmingly iniavor of the track.

That should have been the end of the debate. Instead, the anti-track folks some of whom don't even live in Wilson County are trying to throw up some environmental road block. No fair fighting with flowers. Waltrip honored: Darrell Waltrip tomorrow will become the first race driver inducted into the Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame, joining such legends as Muhammad All Pee Wee Reese and Paul Hor-nung. The induction will take place at the Gait House in Louisville.

The Hall of Fame is located in Freedom Hall at the Kentucky State Fair and Exposition Center. "It's quite an honor," says Waltrip, a native of Owensboro, Ky, who for the last 30 years has made his home in Franklin, Term. 'AIRPORT -1192 Murfreesboro Rd 361-3094 'HARDING MALL 4044 Nolensville Rd 833-9330 AHTI0CH 5308 Hickory Hollow Ln.731-2831 'HERMITAGE Lebanon Rd. in front of Wai-Mart885-2556 BELLEVUE CENTER 764 Hwy. 70 So.662-7401 HILLW00D 6618 Chariotte BOWLING GREEN 866 Broadway502-842-2493 2Z SS MELR0SE-2529 Franklin Rd 386-3396 'BRENTWOOD -15127 Old Hickory Blvd.781-3746 MURFREESBORO 303 College St 833-5733 'CLARKSVILLE 61 1 Riverside Dr.931 -645-4521 RVERGATE Rivergate Mall 859-6567 'DOWNTOWN -1212 Broadway 255-6627 Mafe Dealer 'EAST NASHVILLE 406 Gallatin Rd 228-3405 'HENDERSONVILLE -1 1 1 1ndian Lake Rd.824-9005 GALLATIN 242 Main St 452-2371 'COOL SPRINGS 7219 Bakers Ridge Rd.377-9060 OPEN WEEKDAYS OPEN SATURDAYS OPEN SUNDAYS i i omvucut mo an nnvcv un mrrOKTV Nn ANNUAL FEE! Mon-Fri Sat.

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