The Press Democrat from Santa Rosa, California • 19

C5 SEARS PODEUT 3D0 THf PRESS DEMOCRAT, MONDAY, JUNE 1 0, 1 09 1 Rudd 41 7 1 if fcfo The Incident on Turn 11 ended a consistent but unspectaculur day for Rudd, the polesitter, who was looking for his second victory In the race's three-year existence. Rudd, who finished third last year after winning in '89, led for the first 11 laps until being passed by Rusty Wallace and remained in contention all afternoon. He said his collision with Allison's rear end on turn 11, which sent Allison momentarily spinning out of control, was unintentional and perfectly legal. "Davey got in the corner too hot and went wide," Rudd said. "I went in there like I supposed to, and we clipped each other.

It wasn't anything intentional. This was a racing accident, that's all." Rudd said he had been planning on passing Allison on turn 2 of the final lap, where he had been running stronger all day. "If I was going to hit him, I would've done it somewhere else," Rudd yelled Into a private meeting of NASCAR officials. "I wouldn't have hit him if he was going to be able to come back." Allison came back to cross the finish line second, where both a black flag (for Rudd's penalty) and a checkered one were waving. Then the confusion began.

Rudd took a victory lap and waved to the crowd, while Allison quickly pulled a U-turn and shifted into the victory circle. When Rudd returned and saw Allison standing there, he could barely contain his anger. "I don't think he's much of a man to accept the win like he's done," Rudd said later. "I don't have any respect for him in that category. I know who won the race.

Davey knows who won the race." Guess who Allison thought won the race? "We feel like we deserve the victory, and we're going to savor it just like the rest of them," Allison said. "I don't think Ricky did it intentionally, but Ricky has enough road racing experience to know not to do that. If Ricky Rudd was in my shoes, he'd have been in victory lane celebrating, just like anybody else would." Instead, Rudd stormed out of a closed-door meeting with NASCAR officials and into a waiting rent-a-car. "I'm out of here," he said. "I've got to get out of here before I say something I regret." Continued from Page CI Rudd's sister, Carolyn Rudd Wax, whose marketing agency handles the Tide team's corporate accounts, said that representatives of Proctor and Gamble the corporation which makes Tide detergent were strongly considering withdrawing their sponsorship.

"A lot of high-level executives from Proctor and Gamble, people who had never been to a NASCAR race before, were with me in the hospitality tent," Wax said. "The question they asked me was, 'Carolyn, explain to us the investment we're making in this sport. With the amount of money we're spending, what are we getting out of "I said, 'I can't tell you. I don't have an answer for The Rudd team's central complaint was NASCAR's inconsistency regarding an earlier incident. Three laps before Rudd and Allison collided, then-leader Tommy Kendall made contact with Mark Martin, who was attempting to pass coming out of turn 7.

Martin spun out, and Kendall later apologized for bumping him. Kendall was not penalized, although he did puncture a tire during the crash and ended up in 18th place. According to Wax, Folgers Coffee, which sponsors Martin, also was contemplating a withdrawal from NASCAR. The two companies, whose combined annual contribution was estimated at $7 million by Wax, were among the first products not normally associated with motor racing to join the sport in the mid-80s. "Six years ago, before Folgers, there was nothing," Wax said.

"If these companies pull out, you're talking about a complete domino effect in this garage area. Proctor and Gamble opened that door. I'm afraid this will close that door." Les Richter, NASCAR's vice president for competition, admitted he was troubled by a potential effect on corporate sponsorship. "I would hope (they don't withdraw)," he said. "We have great concerns about corporate sponsors.

We all need corporate sponsors. We're very cognizant of the importance of that. But they were not really involved in the incident we're talking about." t- JtTt''fr'ii KENT PORTERPRESS DEMOCRAT The pit crew for Ricky Rudd looks on in disbelief after Rudd received a black flag for bumping Davey Allison on the next-to-the-last lap of the Sears Point 300. Rudd was penalized five seconds, which dropped him into second place. Sears 1 991 Sears Point 300 results Complete results from Sunday's Sears Point 300: Looking for dinner and a good movie? Smart shopping starts with DEMOCRAT To subscribe call 575-7500 or 1-800-696-5056 Sears Point in 1989)." But NASCAR official Les Richter thought otherwise and called the incident "unnecessary and avoidable." He indicated that Rudd's penalty could have been even more harsh.

Richter, who is vice president for competition, said Rudd should have come into the pits when he received the black flag. Had Rudd done so, he wouldn't have finished second, which was worth $41,975 and kept him close to Earnhardt in points. More likely, he would have finished around 15th. A stop-and-go pit would have taken as long as 20 seconds, because the speed limit on pit road is 25 mph. Had Rudd pitted, as he was supposed to, second place would have gone to Wallace.

Rudd's penalty, said Richter, cannot be appealed and is irreversible. Richter said a similar incident, when Kendall bumped Martin off the track at the hairpin Turn 7, wasn't acted on by race officials because Kendall cut a tire in the incident and fell out of contention. "Chances are we would have black-flagged Kendall, but we didn't have to," said Richter. Another tangle, this time with Martin pushing Ernie Irvan off the course as the two roared out of the pits on lap 25, also failed to draw a penalty. Irvan, who lost 20 positions before he could get back on track, did not blame Irvan for spinning him out.

Rudd, who sat on the pole, led for the first 11 laps before Wallace took the lead until pitting for fuel and tires on the 16th lap. Except for trailing Dale Jarrett briefly, Wallace dominated until his Pontiac broke a cylinder and Kendall moved into the lead on lap 61. Kendall, 24, driving for injured Kyle Petty, looked like he might breeze to victory circle after pushing Martin off the course with four laps to go, but the collision slashed Kendall's tire, dropping the former Trans-Am champion to 18th place. Continued from Page CI (via radio) that Rudd had been black-flagged for the incident, Allison quickly got back on track before Wallace could catch him, but he was unable to catch Rudd. While Rudd made a hopeful victory lap, waving to the tors, Allison quickly turned around, drove against traffic and parked in the victory circle.

And the controversy was on. While Rudd raged in the garage area and NASCAR officials met to determine what penalty to give him, Allison accepted a champagne bath from his crew and then discussed the Turn 1 1 incident. "I had the line (inside track around the corner) and the next thing I got hit real hard from behind," said Allison. "It picked up my back tires and spun me around. I think justice prevailed in the end." Although NASCAR had not penalized other drivers for causing spin-outs, including Tommy Kendall, who pushed leader Mark Martin off the course on Turn 7 of lap 71, Allison said the penalty to Rudd was fair.

"If the rolls were reversed, I would have raced him clean," said Allison, whose hot streak has earned him nearly $500,000. "It (the spin) could have been avoided." Rudd claimed the "rub" was not intentional and that he shouldn't have been penalized. "It wasn't like I was trying to take somebody out" said Rudd, who has the reputation as one of the smoothest road racers of the Winston Cup drivers. "We got together. This wasn't even to the point where we got to racing each other and rootin' and gouging.

This was just a racing accident. "It wasn't that we were trying to out-muscle each other and rub each other off the race track like Rusty (Wallace) and I got into each other on the last lap before (at I'iu v. Pos. Name Car Laps Earnings I. Davey Allison Ford Thunderblrd 74 $61 ,950 x-2.

Ricky Rudd Chevrolet Lumina 74 $41 ,975 3. Rusty Wallace Pontiac Grand Prix 74 $34,975 4. Ernie Irvan Chevrolet Lumina 74 $20,350 5. Ken Schrader Chevrolet Lumina 74 $17,225 6. Terry Labonte Oldsmobile Cutlass 74 $17,225 7.

Dale Earnhardt Chevrolet Lumina 74 $14,400 8. Geoff Bodine Ford Thunderbird 74 $7,650 9. Mark Martin Ford Thunderbird 74 $16,850 10. Michael Waltrip Pontiac Grand Prix 74 $10,600 II. Brett Bodine Buick Regal 74 $10,100 12.

Lake Speed Pontiac Grand Prix 74 $9,600 13. Bill Schmitt Ford Thunderbird 74 $7,300 14. Mickey Gibbs Pontiac Grand Prix 74 $6,600 15. Bill Sedgewick Chevrolet Lumina 74 $6,400 16. Rick Wilson Buick Regal 74 $7,450 17.

AlanKulwicki Ford Thunderbird 74 $11,275 18. Tom Kendall Pontiac Grand Prix 74 $12,450 19. Rick Mast Oldsmobile Cutlass 73 $7,225 20. Bill Elliott Ford Thunderbird 73 $13,700 21. Bobby Hillin Jr.

Pontiac Grand Prix 73 $4,100 22. Bobby Hamilton Oldsmobile Cutlass 73 $5,775 23. Stanley Smith Buick Regal 73 $4,050 24. Dave Marcis Chevrolet Lumina 72 $6,830 25. Darrell Waltrip Chevrolet Lumina 71 $4,820 26.

Sterling Marlin Ford Thunderbird 71 $4,650 27. Harry Gant Oldsmobile Cutlass 70 $6,600 28. Chad Little Ford Thunderbird 67 $3,850 29. Jimmy Spencer Chevrolet Lumina 65 $6,490 30. Derrike Cope Chevrolet Lumina 64 $12,210 31.

JoeRuttman Oldsmobile Cutlass 64 $6,350 32. Hershel McGriff Pontiac Grand Prix 61 $3,675 33. Scott Gaylord Oldsmobile Cutlass 61 $3,625 34. Richard Petty Pontiac Grand Prix 59 $5,200 35. Hut Stricklin Buick Regal 59 $5,575 36.

Irv Hoerr Oldsmobile Cutlass 58 $3,565 37. Ted Musgrave Pontiac Grand Prix 58 $3,795 38. John Krebs Pontiac Grand Prix 57 $3,525 39. Robert Sprague Ford Thunderbird 54 $3,500 40. Mike Chase Ford Thunderbird 53 $3,475 41.

Dale Jarrett Ford Thunderbird 46 $5,475 42. Morgan Shepherd Ford Thunderbird 39 $10,475 43. R.K.Smith Pontiac Grand Prix 2 $3,475 A new king of the road The Rusty Wallace-Ricky Rudd domination on the Winston Cup road racing tracks came to an end on Sunday as Davey Allison won the Sears Point 300. Until Sunday, the last six Winston Cup road races at Sears Point or Watkins The Weekend Package For People With A Giant Attitude. The Westin Hotel, San Francisco Airport, gets you out to the ballgame in style with a great weekend at a great price.

And all these pluses: th la Free transportation to and L- from Candlestick Park Glen In New York had been won by the two. tt Jr nnlv five minutes down Time of race: 2 hours, 33 minutes, 20 seconds. Margin of victory: 1 second. Caution flags: 5 for 14 laps. Lead changes: 10 among 7 drivers.

Lap leaders: Rudd 1-11; Wallace 12-16; Krebs 17; Sprague 18; Wallace 19-45; Jarrett 46; Wallace 47-59; Kendall 60-71; Allison 72; Rudd 73; Allison 74. Year Track Winner Sno; JpJ 1991 Sears Point Allison Rudd Wallace 1990 Watkins Glen Rudd G. Bodine B. Bodine 1990 Sears Point Wallace Martin Rudd 1989 Watkins Glen Wallace Martin Earnhardt 1989 Sears Point Rudd Wallace Elliott 1988 Watkins Glen Rudd Wallace Elliott 1987 Watkins Glen Wallace Labonte Marcis 0 gV the road. Your choice of weekend meals, at two-for-one prices! Either our packed-to-go "Ballpark Meals" or entrees in our classic '50s Bavshore Diner.

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The celebrated Benchmark THE WESTIN HOTEL Padecky Continued from Page CI the winners' car looks like it was dropped from a five-story building. "It's one thing to make contact and jostle for position," said Ken Clapp of NASCAR. "But you don't take the man out." While that's common sense, it will not be warmly received. Drivers are creatures of habit, and they like the habit of anything goes in the last lap of a race. "Do you want us to drive like we are going to the supermarket?" Wilson said.

NASCAR was right in giving Allison the victory but in trying to make its sport more appealing to the mainstream, it ironically was alienating the very attitude it wants to attract. The Proctor and Gamble Company said they may be pulling its sponsorship of its two cars on what it saw Sunday. They have a reason to be upset. Rudd's TIDE car, a Chevrolet, was penalized for clipping Allison but a few laps earlier, Mark Martin's Folgers car was clipped by Tommy Kendall but Kendall was not penalized. Will it work, this NASCAR thrust at fair play which it hopes will attract more sponsors over the long haul? Or will NASCAR surrender because the short term is too chaotic with drivers and sponsors raising a big stink every Sunday? We don't know the answer, but we do know that whoever loses won't go quietly.

He'll go the NASCAR way, punching and kicking and screaming. "Ah," said Ricky Rudd, "NASCAR just wanted a Ford in victory circle anyway." Bar Grill for steaks San Francisco Airport The way Marcis saw it, NASCAR made a huge mistake. "Davey ran that corner too hard and got himself sideways," Marcis said. "Ricky bumped him after that, but Davey got pretty damn sideways on his own before he got bumped. I don't know what else Ricky could have done." Marcis, who finished 24th, was asked if most of his fellow drivers agreed with his assessmenL By MICHAEL SILVER Staff Writer SONOMA All 62,000 people who attended Sunday's Sears Point 300 have an opinion on the controversial collision between Davey Allison and Ricky Rudd, but only one man had an up-close-and-per-sonal view of the incident.

Veteran driver Dave Marcis, who was running a lap behind the field at the time, was right there when Rudd bumped Allison from behind, causing Allison's car to spin out and ultimately prompting NASCAR officials to award him the victory. and seafood. Free parking. Call now so you don't strike out! Additional night awilahle at Special Weekend Rate. Subject to availability.

For more information, call us at (W) 62-? 500. Westin Hotels Resorts said. "Every- "Definitely," he body's (ticked) off.".