The Charlotte Observer from Charlotte, North Carolina • 17

Sports ale Charlotte Observer Monday February 20 1989 Section Score Phone: (704) 379-6535 Tar Heels' IL I Not Pre North Carolina Keeps Maryland At Arm's Length Buzzer-Beater Jay Edwards hits a three-pointer at the buzzer Sunday as No 9 Indiana beats No 13 Michigan 76-75 College Basketball Page 4B itt 41 i 4 4 -iklk 41 0- tw 1i' 44 at 4 4 't '4544 it i I i JO i'L: fa4t t' Ill) tif 4' 41N- l'''i t5o i ''Neo 1 1:: 1 A l'-': 1114'' ii4i1 3: 1 i ::407:: tr 7 i 1 1 4vs: r1A mk ::::::1::::: ::4:5 :1 ---a 4 1 7t7-': fl: -A 4:::::: i 4 1 it $'' 1 4 oN 4': 'r '4 4 :4 I It I': 1111 4 '1 :1 1C-K4 "4k By LEONARD LAYE Sports Editor COLLEGE PARK Md As televi- sion fare goes it might have been better suited for the late late show rather than prime time Sunday afternoon Watching North e17' Carolina basketball 1I'i these days with some '0 of the lead characters still getting reac- quainted is at times 1t like sitting down to a t'14 Grade 4 '4 award-winning performances and a pre' dictable plot --4 That was the case Sunday at Cole Field Reid House as the Tar Heels came up with some smart offensive execution and a disruptive defense but seldom played them at the same time Nevertheless the result was an 86-75 victory over Maryland North Carolina's 22nd in 27 games "We didn't play sharp at all but we were very competitive at the end" said Tar Heels forward JR Reid who led North Carolina with 17 points "We've been winning and that's the bottom line" of the season with a stress fracture to his foot and center Scott Williams hampered for a brief period by a sprained ankle And it was a reprieve of sorts after the team spent all day Saturday trying to get to College Park and didn't have its usual time to watch tapes and prepare After a snow storm forced cancelation of two flights the Tar Heels hoped to take they opted for a bus and finally reached the College Park area at 10:45 pm Saturday "We didn't get mentally prepared and we had missed two days of practice" said forward Steve Bucknall "I guess we thought we'd pick up where we left off (in a 99-76 Thursday victory over Wake Forest) I know I did But that was a mistake" The first half was sloppy with North Carolina's defense forcing the Terrapins to turn the ball over 14 times But the Tar Heels lost it 10 times themselves shot 382 to Maryland's 464 and took a 36-29 halftime lead by hitting eight of nine free throws while the Terrapins didn't get a chance at the line In the second half North Carolina picked it up offensively getting more good shots and hitting half of them to See NORTH CAROLINA Page 43 The victory kept the Tar Heels (8-3) a half-game behind leader NC State (9-3) in the ACC race and left the Terrapins 1-10 and 8-16 Maryland which outshot the Tar Heels in each half but was most effective offensively in the final 20 minutes was within four with only 53 seconds remaining But North Carolina put it away with five straight free throws the last of 12 in a row they hit down the stretch before the teams exchanged meaningless baskets in the final 10 seconds For one of the few games this season North Carolina had everyone healthy Guard Jeff Lebo forced by a foot injury to sit down after missing earlier games with a sprained ankle returned to play 19 minutes and score 10 points in a relief role His comeback followed earlier ones by Reid who missed nine games at the start Associated Press JR Reid during Sunday's ACC basketball game in College Park Md Maryland's Dave Dickerson (23) takes a rebound away from North Carolina's AktD Iltrcip Trii1111 phtst 1 44 1 I ylt1 4 tt4 APAW'''''' tEE Ron 0 O5C1131 1 -4 i 0-- I -ti Green Gamble on Fuel Pays Off Waltrip Adds Name To List Of Greats k4f7) 771- 47' 717 t-'''' -s i (14' (7--1k ii: I O)is' 2 -4 4 i "I4:) '4' A iiiiisicItErigZ141 'sk ye tik1 si 07A 9-' 4- 'tomie ti3O03' rsf r' '1 "'i io'l 14i 1 i 7 Tivii- 9A 14' jti: '12'-' 1Ze4' i i 04" 'siif-: It i1Eszf-: I- iE zi'7 tr' 't l'! a' 4 'A '1 4' 7 4It i'1 -) jci '4' i vti 1 :4::: 1: MARK SUMERSte Pit crews for Darrell Waltrip (17) and Geoff Bodine scurry to service the cars during the Daytona 500 Sunday Schrader Knew Waltrip Had His Number By TOM HIGGINS Staff Writer DAYTONA BEACH Fla Darrell Waltrip snatched victory from the depths of a seemingly empty fuel tank Sunday and at long long last won the Daytona 500 stock car race Shunning a final pit stop in a dramatic gamble on gas at Daytona Inter- national Speedway after rivals Ken Schrader 'rir and Dale Earn- 'it hardt came in to refuel Waltrip milked enough mileage from his Chevrolet to make it Waltrip to the check- ered nag "Thank God! Thank Waltrip shouted in delight while crawling from his car "Don't lie to me!" said Waltrip grabbing crew chief Jeff Hammond and car owner Rick Hendrick "This is Daytona isn't it? I won the Daytona 500! I won the Daytona 500!" Waltrip shut out in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series' biggest race in 16 previous starts won by running the last 53 laps or 1325 miles on 22 gallons of gas He finished 764 seconds ahead of runner-up Schrader who sped across the line just in front of Earnhardt and Geoff Bodine as Chevy scored a sweep of the first four positions and Hendrick cars took one-two-four Phil Parsons was fifth in an Oldsmobile Finishing sixth through 10th and completing all 200 laps at the 25-mile track were rookie Rick Mast in another Chevy Alan Kulwicki Rick Wilson Terry Labonte and Kyle Petty who took over early in the race for Eddie Bierschwale Here's how the 31st running of the classic ended: With 20 laps or 50 miles to go Schrader and Earnhardt had hooked up in a tight aerodynamic draft to take a 72-second lead over the next pack of cars On Lap 190 the two leaders pitted together for fuel only Earnhardt's stop took only 4 seconds Schrader in for 62 seconds lost more time by spinning his rear tires leaving pit road and emerged See WALTRIP'S Page 5B -2'1 1 --i- 1'H--: Is 1711i '''4''r-- e4r''''''' iiili: 4 A-4: I DAYTONA BEACH Fla They have been running the Daytona 500 since 1959 and the list of winners reads like a fast lane hall of fame Lee and Richard Petty Bobby Allison Cale Yarborough Fireball Roberts AJ Foyt Junior Johnson Buddy Baker Bill Elliott Thoroughbreds only A stock car racer's career no matter how glittering cannot be certified great without a victory in this one Darrell Waltrip's name belonged there but it took 17 years and a few laps that seemed like a lifetime for him to put it there Sunday Seventeen years a lot of them heartbreaking for a man who has won 51 other Winston Cup races and more money almost $9 million than any other race driver "I'm slow but I'm diligent" he said Sunday after he out-tortoised the hares and finally crossed the finish line first Waltrip won because he and crew chief Jeff Hammond decided to gamble on going the last 53 laps around the 212-mile track without stopping for gas Risky business but it was Waltrip's only chance of beating Ken Schrader and Dale Earnhardt who were running away from everyone until they had to dash in for quick gulps of fuel "For about the last five laps I would think I was running out of gas then the gauge would pop up a little then it would drop again" said Waltrip "I was telling Jeff on the radio I'm out I'm definitely out I'm coming in' and Jeff was saying 'Shake it baby shake it' I'd shake the car to wash a little more fuel into the line and then I'd start yelling again 'Be ready I'm coming in' and he'd say 'Just hang in there' "You can know one thing for sure I did a lot of praying And when I came out of the third turn on the last lap I knew I had made it" Somewhere between the finish line and the backstretch on the victory lap "between down here and over yonder" Waltrip's car finally ran out of gas By then it didn't matter of course Then he was On the radio shouting "I won the Daytona 500! I won the Daytona 500!" The risk he took was carefully plotted before a final decision was made He knew from fuel consumption comparisons after the Busch Clash a week ago that his car got better mileage than most of the others And at age 42 he's a little more the sly fox Rather than push his car to the limit trying to stay with Schrader and Earnhardt whose cars were getting around the turns more easily he stayed back and drafted with slightly slower cars saving precious ounces of fuel That was his margin In the victory circle he told Schrader who finished second "Old gu-s don't use as much gas as young guys They don't push as hard on the pedal" For years now Waltrip has been asked why with all those other victories (51) he hadn't won the Daytona 500 Why he had won 14 events on this track but never a Winston Cup event a major-league event He said Sunday he had begun to hate that "stupid" question It was a legitimate question but he hated it because he had tried so hard He had been hurt badly trying to win the Daytona 500 in 1983 crashing so hard he had memory lapses for a long while And last year he had had the best race car he ever drove only to have something break and deny him again But this time he felt lucky It was his 17th Daytona 500 His daughter Jessica was 17 months old on Feb 17 And his car number is 17 He told his crew members to be patient with him He felt this track owed him something and he meant to collect it "Don't let what Schrader and the others are doing dictate how we prepare" he told them "Be patient" They were He was And he rode a fume and a prayer to victory By the numbers By TOM HIGGINS Staff Writer DAYTONA BEACH Fla Ken Schrader knew his number was up when he saw the numbers on the scoring pylon at Daytona International Speedway The lights glowing against the gray of a low-hanging fog showed No 17 Darrell Waltrip's Chevrolet leading the Daytona 500 And they showed that 197 of the 200 laps in the Daytona 500 had been run "I realized when I saw those numbers on the board that Darrell was going to go for it and that we were in trouble" said Schrader "He had been legging it and I knew that was his strategy to gamble on going all the way without a last stop for gas" That's just what happened And when the pylon's lights showed 200 laps completed they also blazed the news that nominal Hendrick Motorsports teammates Waltrip and Schrader had finished one-two The outcome proved once again that victory doesn't always go to the swift as Schrader was overwhelming in leading 114 laps in his Chevy And it showed that sometimes the tortoise tops the hare "We had to stop to refuel" said Schrader who pitted with 10 laps or 25 miles to go dashing into the pits along with Chevy rival and pal Dale Earnhardt The two had tucked tightly together to draft away from the field in a sizzling run from Laps 155 through 189 "No way we were going to make it" Schrader came off pit road 352 seconds behind Earnhardt "I felt I could pass Dale" said Schrader "His car was crippled having some kind of problem It was Darrell staying out there that was the worry See SCIIRADER Page 5B FRED WILSONStaff Stevie Waltrip wife of Daytona 500 winner Darrell Waltrip watches the pit crew as it tries to solve a tire problem during Sunday's race in Daytona Beach Fla Groh To ecome Giants Assistant NBA Trading An expected trade of Indiana's Wayman Tisdale to Sacramento for LaSalle Thompson and Randy Wittman will have a mixed effect on the Charlotte Hornets' trade efforts Page 2B Graf Rolls franchise that has both great tradition and current excellence" said Groh who interviewed for the Giants job last Wednesday "(Giants coach) Bill Parcels is a good friend of mine I've known him for a long time" Groh 45 was head coach at Wake Forest from 1981 through 1986 He had just finished having a new home built in Columbia Asked if he was leaving because of the current upheaval in the football program Groh laughed and said "I'm very pleased to go to the Giants The opportunity to get in a quality organization transcends anything else" Groh has coached linebackers in the See GROII Psge 38 looking beyond the current staff although assistant head coach and defensive coordinator Joe Lee Dunn has expressed interest Since NC State coach Dick Sheridan turned down the position Thursday Gamecocks athletic director King Dixon has interviewed Furman coach Jimmy Satterfield And Sunday Appalachian State coach Sparky Woods and Marshall coach George Chaump were seen on campus Other names being mentioned include Air Force coach Fisher De Berry Pittsburgh coach Mike Gottfried Syracuse coach Dick MacPherson and Southern Mississippi coach Curley Hallman Groh is the fifth South Carolina assistant to leave since the end of the season "I'm extremely pleased to go to a By STAN OLSON Staff Writer South Carolina football offensive coordinator Al Groh has resigned and will become an assistant coach for the New York Giants The NFL team was expected to announce Groh's hiring today He will coach linebackers Groh had been considered by most observers to be a strong candidate for the Gamecock? head-coaching job which became open when Joe Morrison died of a heart attack Feb 5 But he had not been interviewed for the post "I was not part of the process" he said Sunday Instead the Gamecocks appear to be Steffi Graf wins the Virginia Slims of Washington tennis tournament with a victory over Zina Garrison Nation Page 69 Hawks Stunned Rookie Grant Long scores 30 to lead Miami past Atlanta NBA Page 23.