The Herald from Jasper, Indiana • 32

Page 32 The Herald, Tuesday, October 6, 1992 Bodine's Monday loneliness takes place on track Driver Geoff Bodine of Chemung, N.Y., raises his arms in a victory sahrte after winning Monday at the rain-delayed Holly Farms 400. The By TOM FOREMAN Jr. AP Sports Writer NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. (AP) Normally, Geoff Bodine would be at home by himself at this time. It wasn't that much different for him at the Holly Farms 400.

Bodine won his second straight rain-delayed race Monday, dominating the field in his Ford to take the accident-free event. "Usually, I don't sleep Sunday night," he said, noting that his wife goes bowling and his son goes to school. "Then I get up pretty early Monday. I'm home alone." This time, Bodine was ahead of the field and virtually alone, challenged only occasionally after taking command in the first quarter of the race. Bodine won his previous race at Martinsville, in the Goody's 500, an event that was postponed because of rain eight days ago and then delayed four hours before NASCAR could drop the green flag.

Despite that win, Bodine was ready to put his Ford on the junk heap. "Last week, we were ready to cut this car up before the race. We weren't happy with it in practice," Bodine said. "We were barely happy with it after we ran it "We came here and we still did't know what to expect," be said. "It certainly worked absolutely perfect today.

I wouldn't have wanted a car any better today." This week, after two days of ideal conditions in qualifying, rains drenched the five-eighths mile banked oval at North Wilkesboro Speedway and forced officials to move the race to Monday. That action was in jeopardy until the rain finally subsided and allowed speedway personnel to dry the as-phalt Monday morning. It was just what Bodine needed. "I never dreamed Mondays were going to be mis good to me," be said. The bent sheet metal that marked the race at Martinsville was not in evidence at North Wilkesboro, and neither were the caution flags.

Nothing even resembling an accident occurred during the cool and partly cloudy Hue's i a row. The race dM not have a single i flag. rarity in auto (AP photo) during the pace laps, Darren Wal- out his Chevrolet in the run by Chevrolet. Points leader Bill Elliott bad a poor showing on the course where his team owner, Junior Johnson, has claimed 18 victories. At the midway point, Elliott was seven laps behind, and be finished the race 26th.

Elliott replaced Bodine as the driver on Johnson's team this wason Davey Allison did better, finishing llth and gaining 55 points on Elliott with four races left. Elliott has 3,575 points, with Allison next at 3 508. Pole sitter Alan Kulwicki, third in the points race, finished 12th and also picked up some ground on Elliott. He baa 3,431 points, gaining 47 points on the leader. afternoon, the first time that's happened in a Winston Cup race since August 1984 at the Champion Spark Plug 400 at Michigan International Raceway.

It was the sixth caution-free NASCAR race in the circuit's modern era, and the first caution-free race at North Wilkesboro since 1971. "I'm sure all the fans are disappointed. That's what makes it exciting. We know that," Bodine said. "We were glad there weren't any cautions today." The biggest excitement, such as it was, occurred when a tow truck dragging tires to dry the track ran into the rear of a flatbed truck and spilled oil in the fourth turn.

Also, trip in the 1983 Holly Farms 400. "It looked easy," Bodine said. "It was a lot easier race than last week at Martinsville. "What made this race easy was that we didn't have any cautions, we didn't get grouped up," Bodine said. "We didn't get bunched up on those restarts and have to do mat slam-bang racing to get away from everybody." Martin finished second in a Ford, S.4 seconds behind.

Kyle Petty was third in his Pontiac, followed by Wallace's Pontiac and Martin's Ford. Petty, Wallace and Martin were one lap down. Ford clinched its first NASCAR manufacturers championship since 1968, and ended a nine-year Bodine started in the third position, and dropped back to fourth before taking over from Kyle Petty on lap 72. Petty and Sterling Martin would only briefly interrupt that run in the first 122 laps, and Mark Martin would catch Bodine on 244. That edge would last only one lap, and Rusty Wallace would take the lead briefly as the leaders pitted.

Bodine caught Wallace and kept the field in pursuit for the rest of the day. He led for 312 laps of the 400-lap event, and his average speed of 107.980 mph broke the mark of 100.716 mph set by Wal- Athletics will feel right at home 1 992 not good year in court for owners in Sky Dome as playoffs begin NFL By PETE IACOBELLI Associated Press Witter This is one time NFL owners might favor instant replay. It seems all the calls at toast in court are going against league management, which desparately wishes these decisions could hMMF viewed further. Several rulings this year have gone against league owners, some which could change the way NFL business has been done since the time of Jim Thorpe and George "Papa Bear" Bates. The latest court decision came Monday in Washington when a federal jury awarded damages of $30 million to 235 practice players who accused the 28 teams of fixing their wages.

In a separate action Monday, the National Labor Relations Board affirmed a ruling made 18 months ago mat the NFL broke federal labor law during the 1987 player strike and must pay $30 smarting from the period of 1988-90, when they won three AL pennants and believed they were the best team in baseball each time, But won just one World Series. The only time Oakland made it all the way was 1969, when Henderson was MVP of the playoffs and Dave Stewart and Mike Moore dominated the earthquake-torn World Series against San Francisco. Stewart and Moore will pitch the first two games this year against Toronto, but Oakland also will bring a different team both in athletes and attitude. Gone is the Bash Brothers mentality. Canseco is out, Ruben Sierra is in right field.

Henderson's strut is slowed by back spasms. Dave Henderson's smile is sagging because of hamstring problems. "Rickey bad a great series in 1989," Oakland manager Tony La Russa said. "If you look at all the great stuff we had going that season, you can understand why we won." This year, because of all the injuries, a new cast has helped carry the A's. Mike Bordick, Lance Blankenship, Scott Brosius, Jerry Browne and Eric Fox all have played key parts.

In turn, the Athletics have gone from a team that bragged in 1989 about overpowering opponents to a club that prides itself on overcoming adversity. "They're not the same team," Gaston said. "The pitchers may be older. They don't throw as hard as they did once. But they know bow to pitch." By BEN WALKER AP Baseball Writer TORONTO (AP) The setting at SkyDome will be familiar for the Oakland Athletics, and that's about all that is still the same as they prepare to play Toronto in a rematch of the 1969 AL playoffs.

Three years after Rickey Henderson and the A's ran away in five games, the Blue Jays have completely revamped their team. In fact, no team has changed so much as Toronto in such a short time without changing its winning ways. Just look at the lineup the Blue Jays fielded back in October 1989: Fred McGriff, George Bell, Tony Fernandez, Lloyd Moseby, Moo-kie Wilson, Lee Mazzilli, Nelson Liriano, Ernie Whitt and Kelly Gruber. Recognize that team? Only Gruber will be on the field Wednesday night for Game 1. The A's will be a little different, too, mostly because Jose Canseco was traded away in August.

"This is a better team than we had back then," Toronto manager Cito Gaston said. "We certainly have more power, and our pitching is better. But, it's not at all the same team we had." Jack Morris, signed along with Dave Winfield as a free agent, will pitch the opener for Toronto. David Cone, acquired in August from the New York Mets, will pitch Game 2. Juan Guzman appears to have the edge for starting the third game.

In 1988, Toronto's rotation was completely different Dave Stieb, AL baseball now injured, started twice and Mike Flanagan, Todd StotUemyre and Jimmy Key each pitched once. Even though Toronto is the only team in the majors with 10 straight winning seasons, a streak that includes four AL East championships in eight years, the Blue Jays have never advanced to the World Series. "People have labeled us chokers, and I know (Milwaukee manager Phil) Garner said a couple of times, 'We'll get them, we know their and this and that," reliever Tom Henke said. "Hey, we stayed focused and won the games. ''This is my fourth time winning the division," he said.

"I want to go to the next step." Not many of the Blue Jays have been beyond that first step. The current Toronto players have combined for 43 appearances in the playoffs, but have won only five pennants and three World Series. Morris has been on two World Seris winners he won the MVP award last October and Alfredo Griffin was on one. By comparison, Oakland's players have totaled 55 appearances in the playoffs and advanced 42 times. The result has been 16 World Series rings.

"They have experience," Win-field said. "They've done these things before." The A's, however, also have something to prove. They're still Protected players could not sign with another team without giving their old team the first chance to sign them or forcing the new club to compensate the cM cM Nearly two weeks later, the NFL felt the effects of the land- russrsBfts agency. On Sept 24, four of 14 holdout players protected under Plan but unsigned when Plan was annulled tight end Keith Jackson, wide receiver Webster Slaughter, defensive lineman Garin Veris and running back D.J. Doaier were declared free agents and given five days to sign with any team.

Everyone but Dozier changed clubs in that span. But that's not all mat's gene wrong for NFL owners this year. In February, they lost a Supreme Court appeal in their bid to avoid paying approximately $18 million to a pension fund for players. In March, a Minneapolis judge ruled against them, saying the NFL Players Association did not violate federal antitrust laws by sharing salary information with agents and players. In July, before the final stages of the McNeil trial in Minneapolis, a test ditch effort to reach the first collective bargaining agreement in five years between owners and the NFLPA fell through, stalling over the question of free agency.

million to the 1,100 players who too part toe walkout. These setbacks follow the decision last month in Minneapolis that struck down Plan the NFL's form of limited free I agency. Led by New York Jets running back Freeman McNeil, eight players brought the case before a federal jury and four were awarded I $1.6 million in damages. Plan was the league's system of each team freezing players and allowing the rest a two-month period to change clubs without compensation to the old team..