Alabama Journal from Montgomery, Alabama • 13

THE ALABAMA JOURNAL, MONDAY. MAY 3, 1992 Allison roars to Winston title 7eei charged in player's shooting Allison leads Earnhardt, front left, Elliott, front right, Irvan, back left and Marlin on last lap By Paul Nwbrry TALLADEGA Davey Allison insists that he's not in racing for the money. Maybe $1 million will change his outlook. Allison needs one more victory to claim the Winston Million after a dominating performance in Sunday's Winston 500 a race that was close at the end but really wasn't. Allison led 110 of 188 laps, including the final 71.

Four cars were within striking distance on the final trip around the 2.66-mile trioval, but his Ford Thun-derbird was simply too strong and pulled away to win by two car lengths. "When I started racing, I wasn't racing for the money," Allison said. "I've been fortunate enough to make a good living at it, but I'm still not racing for the money. I'm racing because I love it." If Allison can win either the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, N.C., in three weeks or the Southern 500 at Darlington, S.C., on Sept. 6, he will get a $1 million bonus that goes to a driver who wins three of Winston Cup's big four races.

Allison captured the first of those events with his February victory in the Daytona 500. "My goal is not necessarily the Winston Million," he said. "I want that million they put up at the end of the year" for the Winston Cup champion. Allison continued to move toward that goal with his third Winston 500 victory. He now has 1,399 points and holds a 67-point lead over Bill Elliott, who finished second Sunday.

Elliott so far is the only driver to win the Winston Million, back in 1985 in the first year the award was given. Allison had a message for those drivers who will be trying to prevent him from becoming the second Million Dollar Man. "I'm leaving my favorite track to go to my second-favorite track," said Allison, who has won three races at Charlotte. It's easy to see why Talladega Super-speedway is Allison's favorite. He is the winningest driver here with eight victories: three Winston Cups, four ARCAs and Saturday's stirring triumph in the International Race of Champions.

He joined his father, former NASCAR great Bobby Allison, and two other drivers as the only three-time Winston 500 winners. "I feel like I'm in pretty elite company," Allison said. "My dad has always been my hero and always will be. To join him in that situation and still be only 31 years old is something. I hope to Lakers' odyssey concludes ByTimDahlberg Associated Press writer LAS VEGAS A most unlikely season for the Los Angeles Lakers ended in a most unlikely place.

Seven months after opening the exhibition season in Paris, the Lakers closed it Sunday just off the glittering Las Vegas Strip, forced there by riots that turned much pf central Los Angeles into a war zone. In between, they endured a season marred by Magic Johnson's retirement after testing positive for the virus that causes AIDS and devastating injuries to James Worthy and Sam Perkins. "It's been disaster after disaster," guard Bryon Scott said. "The adversity situation is one we've been faced with all season long." A team transformed in one season from a glamorous playoff machine into a blue-collar collection of overachievers finally met its end with a 102-76 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers that knocked the Lakers out in the first round of the playoffs. But this team wasn't even supposed to have come this far.

This was a team that was forced to come from behind in overtime in the last game of the regular season against the Los Angeles Clippers to qualify for the playoffs by the slimmest of margins. It even impressed the Trail Blazers' Danny Ainge. "They turned what has been a nightmare into a pretty successful season," Ainge said. Said the Lakers' A.C. Green: "We accepted the challenge when all the chips were down.

Right how I'm very proud of how all my teammates played throughout the course of the year." That these were not the Lakers of the past was evident Sunday against the Trail Blazers, a team many pick to make the NBA Finals. The Lakers were 32-2 in first-round games since 1982, and hadn't lost a first-round series since 1981. But they lost three out of four to Portland, the only win coming in overtime at home in Inglewood, Calif. "You don't win championships off your past accomplishments," Green said. "There was just a big difference from last year's team to this year.

You can just look at the roster to see." In the foreign confines of the Thomas Mack Center on the UNLV campus, Lakers coach Mike Dunleavy wore almost a slight smile of relief that the difficult season had finally come to a merciful end. After the game, he said he had complimented the team on its effort AUOCKKM Plait CINCINNATI A 15-year-old boy faces murder charges in the shooting death of Indianapolis Colts defensive end Shane Curry, the 40th overall pick in the 1991 draft. The 24-year-old Curry, who played for Miami's national championship team in 1989, was shot in the head about 1 a.m. in the parking lot of the Armada Inn on the city's north side, police said. He was pronounced dead about an hour later at University Hospital, nursing supervisor Vivian Mulva-ney said.

Police Sgt. Lucian Guy said Curry had been trying to drive out of the parking lot but was blocked by another car. When the driver of the other car refused to move, Curry and the boy began to argue and Curry was shot in his car, Guy said. Two Chiefs retire KANSAS CITY, Mo. Kansas City Chiefs safety Lloyd Burruss and defensive end Mike Bell announced their retirements Sunday.

Burruss, 34, a Pro Bowl selection in 1986, joined the Chiefs as a third-round draft pick in 1981. In 145 career games, he had 628 tackles, 22 interceptions, seven fumble recoveries and 3lA sacks. Bell, 34, was drafted by the Chiefs in the first round in 1979 and played for 12 seasons. He recorded 52 career sacks in 136 games and had 492 tackles and 10 fumble recoveries. Agassi beats Sampras ROSWELL, Ga.

Second-seeded Andre Agassi won his first tournament of the year Sunday, beating top-seeded Pete Sampras 7-5, 6-4 in the final of the Challenge. In other tennis action Sunday, top-seeded Steffi Graf of Germany won her 63rd title Sunday, beating third-seeded Arantxa Sanchez-Vi-cario of Spain 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 in the WTA tournament in Hamburg, Germany. LeBlanc leads U.S. BRATISLAVA, Czechoslovakia Ray LeBlanc made 26 saves for his second shoutout of the tournament and Dave Jensen had two goals and an assist as the United States stayed alive in the World Championships with a 5-0 victory over Poland on Sunday. The United States (2-2) is third in Pool A with the top four teams advancing to the quarterfinals.

Lyle wins Italian MONTICELLO, Italy Sandy Lyle of Scotland shot a 4-under-par 68 for a one-stroke victory oyer compatriot Colin Montgome-rie in the Italian Open on Sunday. Lyle finished with an 18-under-par 270 total on the Monticello course. Mongomerie closed with a 66. American Mark O'Meara (67) and England's Paul May tied for third at 272. American John Daly shot a 71 for a 281 total.

Mansel I wins again BARCELONA, Spain Nigel Mansell of Britain splashed his way into the record book, winning the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday to tie a Formula One mark with his fourth consecutive victory. Driving a Williams-Renault, Mansell tied the record of defending series champion Ayrton Senna of Brazil, who opened last season with four consecutive victories. Mansell beat Michael Schumacher by 24 seconds, to claim his 25th career victory, tying him with Jim Clark and Nikki Lauda for fourth spot Mansell, fighting to keep his car spinning in the persistent rain, completed 65 laps the on the 2.95-mile Catalunya Circuit at an average speed of 99.017 mph. Only Schumacher, driving a Benetton-Ford, Jean Alesi and Gerhard Berger were on the lead lap at the completion of 191.727 miles. Frenchman Alesi finished third in a Ferrari and Austrian Berger fourth in a McLaren-Honda.

Andretti the fastest INDIANAPOLIS Michael Andretti, powered by one of the new Ford Cosworth engines his team unveiled this season, had the fast lap of the day at 226.18 mph Sunday as the opening weekend of practice for the May 24 Indianapolis 500 concluded. laps on the same set. "They need to get Goodyear to make tires like that for the street," Allison quipped. Earnhardt thought the result might have been different if he had been able to hook up with fellow Chevrolet driver Irvan. "I was just outnumbered out there," Earnhardt said.

"Ernie Irvan got up in there and tried to help me out, but he was worried about the 22 car (Marlin). If he had stayed with me going into turn three, I believe we could have passed Davey and all of them." Elliott bemoaned the fact that he and Marlin, both in Fords, could not get together at the end to put a double-team move on Allison. "I felt like I was as good as Davey, but track position hurt us," Elliott said. But as Allison, who won $89,325 for his victory and assured himself of a $100,000 bonus for winning two Winston Million races, put it: "It's every man for over Portland's Duckworth hand to do their thing, and actress Dyan Cannon led the movie crowd in exhorting the Lakers on from her courtside seat But it was Portland that jumped out to a big lead, and by the second half the crowd was entertaining itself by doing the wave as the Trail Blazers ran away with the game. "What's sad about it is our guys needed the home court," Cannon said.

But even the home court may not have made a difference in this game, which originally was to have been played Friday at the Forum. "How both teams played today it might have been tough for us to win at the Forum," said Green. "But I'd rather take my chances there." An estimated 25 percent of the crowd came up from Los Angeles for the game. For some fans, the move was welcomed because they wouldn't have been able to get tickets at the sold-out Forum. himself when the checkered flag starts flying." Richard Petty, the all-time Winston Cup leader who is retiring at the end of the year, stayed on the lead lap in his final Winston 500 and wound up in 17th place.

"It sure feels better to finish one," said Petty, who had run into problems in his previous four races. "We were right there with them. We just couldn't do anything about it." It wasn't a good day for another gray; beard on the NASCAR circuit. Defending Winston 500 champ Harry; Gant, 52, struggled all race in an Olds-mobile and finished two laps off the pace in 24th place. Jimmy Spencer was involved in the most spectacular wreck of the day when his Chevrolet was clipped on lap 177, lifted off the ground and became almost perpendicular to the track before it came down on all four wheels.

He didn't return. Trevino achieves 'three-peat' The Associated Press LAS VEGAS Lee Trevino found that taking it easy was the best way to keep his winning streak intact. "I was very relaxed out there," said Trevino, who became the first senior golfer in five years to win three consec utive tournaments with a one-stroke victory Sunday in the Las Vegas Senior Classic. "When you've won as many in a row as I have, or have played as well as I have, you just take it in stride," he said. "The; thing was not to give anything back -not to bogey.

I felt after five or six holes, nobody was going to move too much and I was playing with the guy I had to beat." That was Orville Moody, who was one stroke out of the lead when he put his approach to the 18th green within inches of the hole. Moody sunk the putt for birdie, but Trevino matched it with a birdie of his own. "He did what I expected," Moody said. "It was a perfect pitching wedge for him. And, of course, when he needs to make a 5-foot putt, he never misses.

-I've never seen him miss one." Trevino, who came into this event off victories in The Tradition and the PGA Senior Championship, averted a playoff when he put his 9-iron approach about five feet from the hole and rolled in the birdie putt Trevino finished at 206, 10 under par for three tours of the Desert Inn Country Club. Moody, who shared the 36-hole lead with Trevino, closed a final-round 68 with birdies on the last two holes. He was the only player in position to trouble Trevino over the last nine holes, but a bogey at 16 made the task more difficult. A birdie at 17 trimmed the lead back to one shot and the approach to within four inches assured another birdie at 18. But Trevino put his own approach close to the pin and, after Moody tapped in, ran in the putt to win the tourna-; ment "I absolutely caught it dead perfect" Trevino said of the second shot "The only thing that was going through my mind was, 'I can't If I make par and go to a playoff, at least I have a 50-50 chance or winning.

Three wasnt even, on my mind. I was just trying to hit a-shot somewhere in the area to makei. four, and then the shot came off." Dale Douglass shot a 68 to finish hi-209 and Larry Laoretti and Butch Baird were at 210. Laoretti finished with a 69 and Baird had a 67. With his three straight victories, Tre- vino has now won five of his lastsix' starts.

He won the Vantage at the Dominion and then teamed with Mike Hill to win the Legends of Golf event go on and win some more." Allison won on Sunday with an average speed of 167.608 mph in a race that was completed in just under three hours. There were only five caution flags and no serious accidents. Allison led four times before he took over the lead for good on lap 118. After the final caution flag was lifted on lap 181, Allison led a pack of six cars that broke away from the rest of the field. Pole-sitter Ernie Irvan made a gutsy move coming out of turn one on lap 186 to move from sixth to fourth and knock Morgan Shepherd out of contention.

On the final lap, Elliott had to worry about holding off Dale Earnhardt for second, which he did in a photo finish. Irvan, meanwhile, was trying to hold off Sterling Marlin for fourth, but Marlin got by him at the wire. In front of all that action was Allison, who cruised to victory with the help of several quick pit stops. He only had to change tires twice and ran the final 100 41 Lakers' Scott shoots layup "I told them how proud I was of them and their great effort. They have definitely been through a lot.

I was proud to be a part of them," Dunleavy said. "We have to take the positive from this season and take it to next season. To start off in Paris and end up in Las Vegas shows that it was a tough season." In Las Vegas, the Lakers learned there truly is no place like home, even if your hometown has been torn by rioting. "It wasn't like playing at home even though we were the home team," Scott said. "It was a negative for us because we were playing so well at home." A crowd of 15,478 fans turned out on less than two days notice to cheer the Lakers on in Las Vegas.

And cheer they did, in decibel levels Trail Blazer coach Rick Adelman said surpassed any at the Forum. Magic Johnson was doing television commentary, the Laker girls were on (1 4-.