The Charlotte Observer from Charlotte, North Carolina • 21

THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER Monday May 29 1989 38 The 600 Patience Key In 60 Says Waltri 111 9 III 1 Attrition And Luck Also Help 1 -i 2: 1 I '''''g 1 "1-- --'-''''1: )0 r-- -c- 1 3: iA- 4 4 E- i411 41 41( Ilft -El-'i -5-- -6 11 '---r''-a t-: it 'fi'' NIKE EiE--- 141t 1 ''r' w- op 11 fr 4 4 4-' 1i- i0: ::4 4-7 '0-8- 'tti401v' ri I 4t 4 1' th: -0-el -t i 1-d 3--k 4'' I a0: i Iii :77:::: -4 Ati) Ns i'- Ag iptkikvoi r---7i i )fi'l 1A5- 7 14-t TE'7 1t --E 'E -i 14--- Itir 6::: 7 -L'- 7--- 4 ii-'441 -z- 1 L- A -ki 11 It4 It --tTtio gt 17 14 l' I- "4t tit 1rs1- 1 i i ''''S 0'e c-- 0 3 otov 0 10' '1 Aryl :) r4 tTIr rt A -4 0 -4i4- 1 I 1 iii-1) 43- 4 '-EAEE' -1f ot Al ::4 0 '0 p-- 4 5 k) 30 0- 1 PtikFtq 1 1 4' i'''- '1: It 8014 1 "'4: 4 L-) jhat7 HP 4 i -it144 Ltr A Fk: 8 -ye iijkript096 I 'i" :4 11 7---'-''' 0-i''''14': 6 ---r 't8814 'd -''Crl if tt4ii- P''" f54-' :0 t-" MARK EL SUMERStaff Darrell Waltrip checks in as the 600 winner Sunday at Charlotte Motor Speedway By TOM HIGGINS Staff Writer With a record five victories in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway it's obvious Darrell Waltrip knows what it takes to win the NASCAR Winston Cup Series' longest race And after his triumph Sunday he shared that knowledge This race is partly won by attrition partly by patience" Waltrip said "And I'm a patient guy" And during the four hours nine minutes 52 seconds it took him to run the 400 laps he was also one who saw a lot of attrition Among opponents Waltrip saw going to the garage area prematurely were Dale Earnhardt Harry Gant Alan Kulwicki Davey Allison and archrival Rusty Wallace In an indirect way Waltrip credited Wallace with giving him and his team incentive to win the 600 This came as a result of the contact on the next-to-last lap of The Winston race at Charlotte on May 21 a brush that sent leader Waltrip spinning and Wallace to victory lane "It seemed the fans really got behind me more than I ever dreamed they would" said Waltrip booed often in his career "I'm not stroking anybody They were great and it meant a lot in our determination to come back" Waltrip was asked how he felt upon seeing Wallace's Pontiac falling out of contention on Lap 306 He thought for a moment smiled and replied "I thought it was another guy going out that I might have had to race at the end I guess it took a little tension off of what might happen" The 600's summary showed Waltrip's patience Although his car had been fastest in Saturday's final practice by almost 2 mph Waltrip put his Lumina in front only five of the first 200 laps leading at the halfway point for a $10000 bonus Then perhaps partly because of a sway-bar problem and partly because of strategy he fell back to await the last fourth of the chase When Waltrip went ahead on Lap 321 he wasn't to look at anyone's rear bumper the rest of the way "When we got the sway bar fixed the car was so fantastic I just left" Waltrip said The victory earned Waltrip 42 a Charlotte Motor Speedway record $126400 and pushed his winnings at the track to $132 million Even Waltrip who insists he isn't motivated by money but by "winning races and pride in being the best team" whistled at that He also whistled when told the right front tire on has car had gone flat in Victory Lane "I guess that in addition to winning because of attrition and patience in this race you also win it because of luck" Waltrip said Waltrip Runs Away With 5th 600 Victory 4 fi 1 11 14:: 419 --lii' --tP!" t-- f-: 4sxtiti r4 8 1717717774'71:) :7 "'iv: 4 i it4v t-t-' i ii-sr -4- 'r la 1 t(4 ftl 114ti-41 ('''t) 'te71 A0 2- 10 i iir --i'i': tirr- 'Y4 '3(1 44 0 ki 4i 1 i trA'' '4 1 4 li': 1 fl se 4 1 I 1:1::::: 70' i 'r 'A ol 4- volt--'4' A 14 i ---1 4- i-- 1 kb )-77'' iixl 7-- 4 6-: Nsf 1 Waltrip's No 17 flashed to the top for keeps as his crew got him out of the pits first following stops during two subsequent caution periods "I was worried about both Alan and Mark Martin in their Fords though" Waltrip said "They looked pretty strong It's ironic they had problems about the same time "That left it pretty much to me and Sterling I knew he had a good car I had watched him and run with him in practice 1 knew 1 had to run hard and put him away" Waltrip did just that turning the final laps at 165 mph the fastest he ran in the 30th anniversary 600 He averaged 144077 mph the track's second quickest May event ever trailing only Richard Petty's 145327 in 1975 The victory gave Waltrip two more 600 triumphs than any other driver adding to those of 1978 '79 '85 and '88 Now Waltrip and his Harrisburg-based team can start contemplating Darlington but not totally Most immediately comes a tour that will take the teams to Delaware California Pennsylvania Michigan and Florida in the next five weekends Continued From Page 1B only its second race He also was the last driver to win in a Monte Carlo the car the sleeker Lumina replaced when he won the Pannill 500 at Martinsville (Va) Speedway on April 23 Waltrip led the final 80 laps and 87 of the 400 overall en route to a season-leading fourth victory and the 76th of his career including six at the 15-mile Charlotte track "It's a fitting end to a difficult week" he said "What happened in The Winston lit a fire under me and my crew guys that no extinguisher could put out "We started with a good feeling We felt if we run all 600 miles we'd be in victory circle and that's the way it turned out" However after leading Lap 200 the halfway point for a $10000 bonus Waltrip and his Hendrick Motorsports team led by crew chief Jeff Hammond experienced some anxious moments The right front sway bar became unhinged and it took several pit stops during a caution period starting on Lap 220 for the crew to find the problem and repair it Over the next I 00 laps Kulwicki appeared in control leading 80 of them But when he pitted under green for tires on Lap 321 Waltrip's crew celebrates victory in the Coca- mood after a controversial loss in The Winston Cola 600 It was a drastic turnaround from the on the same track a week earlier The Week That Rusty Turned Bad Continued From Page 1B 'Are you deaf?" he asked "I didn't hear any boos' Darrell Waltrip "I soon as he got out of his car He will stay booed too When race fans find a bad guy they don't let him go There aren't many to go' around Geoff Bodine gets some cheers but more boos Earn hardt gets as many boos as Bodine but his fans are as zealous as anybody's and he gets more cheers Bill Elliott gets some boos and some cheers but his season has been uneventful and he looks like a Rusty and he of Wallace late hasn't incited much pas Wallace late hasn't incited much too but for the first time at least in Charlotte there were more cheers Waltrip pranced across the stage They liked him They really liked him And he praised them Sunday after winning the Coca-Cola 600 "It's been so gratifying" he said There was no mandate but it was a heck of a start Fans put Tide boxes Waltrip drives the Tide car on their antennas They waved Tide boxes during the race One man wore a Tide box on his head And nobody beat him up Ah but when Wallace left the track to pull into his pit fans cheered And when with 94 laps left he pulled all the way Onto the infield they stood and screamed The evil Wallace was out of the race You know Rusty is a nice guy But that won't help He's the visitor And he'll stay the visitor until somebody knocks him out of a race driving is as smooth as a glass window but for his mouth Jaws they called him Waltrip talked And he won And that was enough He has been bad since He was asked after a race in Charlotte a few years ago if the boos bothered him "Are you dear?" he asked "I didn't hear any boos" But there were and Waltrip did not like them He worked to change his image but no matter where he went he was the visiting team Then Wallace bumped him And the bump made Waltrip a victim And it turned him good Waltrip was cheered Sunday He was booed passion either way The only bad guy was Waltrip Waltrip became bad when he started winning races back in the late 1970s Not for his deeds his Sunday's Results Fin St Driver Cm Laps Earnings Reason Out 1 4 Darrell Waltrip Chevrolet 400 $126400 Running 2 18 Sterling Marlin Olds 400 61675 Running 3 3 Ken Schrader Chevrolet 400 44275 Running 4 13 Geoff Bodine Chevrolet 499 30950 Running 5 15 Bill Elliott Ford 399 32350 Running 6 2 Mark Martin Ford 399 29675 Punning 7 25 Neil Bonnett Ford 399 17800 Running 8 10 Brett Bodine Ford 398 16900 Running 9 27 Bobby Hi ilin Buick 397 15200 Running 10 9 Ricky Rudd Buick 397 16925 Running 11 22 Derrike Cope Pontiac 396 9300 Running 12 41 Rick Mast Chevrolet 396 12307 Running 13 31 Phil Parsons Olds 395 11725 Running 14 26 Hut Stricklin Pontiac 395 7625 Running 15 36 Ernie irvan Pontiac 394 9115 Running 16 42 Dave Marcia Chevrolet 394 9650 Running 17 33 Kyle Petty Chevrolet 392 6400 Running 18 39 Chad Little Ford 392 5650 Running 19 11 Richard Petty Pontiac 391 6400 Running 20 30 Ben Hess Olds 388 5775 Running 21 35 Terry Byers Chevrolet 379 4700 Running 22 21 Larry Pearson Buick 377 5450 Running 23 1 Alan Kulwicki Ford 371 58500 Engine 24 20 Lake Speed Olds 364 6800 Running 25 29 Tracy Leslie Olds 360 3925 Engine 26 37 Jerry O'Neil Chevrolet 353 3100 Running 27 7 Michael Waltrip Pontiac 333 6150 Engine 28 24 Dale Jarrett Pontiac 331 5200 Engine 29 16 Dick Trickle Buick 330 4975 Engine 30 19 Greg Sacks Pontiac 320 4800 Crash 31 6 Rusty Wallace Pontiac 306 13950 Engine 32 23 Morgan Shepherd Pontiac 303 10000 Engine 33 17 Davey Allison Ford 298 10550 Engine 34 32 Allan Once Pontiac 294 1900 Engine 35 5 Rick Wilson Olds 292 6975 Running 38 40 Eddie Bierschwaha Olds 242 2400 Crash 37 38 Jim Sauter Pontiac 236 1775 Engine 38 14 Dale Earnhardt Chevrolet 223 10750 Engine 39 12 Terry Labonte Ford 186 8725 Engine 40 8 Harry Gant Olds 148 10600 Engine 41 34 Jimmy Means Pontiac 113 1700 Burned Piston 42 28 Butch Miller Chevrolet 24 2200 Engine Average Time of hours 9 minutes and 52 seconds Margin of victory: 99 seconds Caution flags: 7 caution flags for 36 laps Lend changes: 23 among 12 drivers Lap leaders: Kulwicki 1-5 Marlin 6-58 Gant 59 Schrader 60 DWaltrip 61-63 Greg Sacks 64-65 Gant 66-114 Wallace 115-124 Elliott 125-164 Wilson 165-179 Kuivrickl 180-192 Elliott 193194 Marlin 195-198 DWaltrip 199-202 Wallace 203-214 Kulwicki 215-221 Earnhardt 222-223 Elliott 224-233 Kulvacki 234-257 Allison 258 Marlin 259-271 Kulwicki 272-320 DWaltrip 321-400 Money Modem I Darrell Waltrip 5605385 2 Rusty Wallace 568530 3 Ken Schrader 488085 4 Dale Earnhardt 409210 5 Davey Allison 284759 6 Terry Labonte 284300 7 Alan Kulwicki 280985 8 Geoff Bodine 266900 9 Sterling Marlin 249217 10 Bill Elliott 213907 Points standings: 1 Darrell Waltrip 1479 2 Geoff Bodine 1458 3 Dale Earnhardt 1430 4 Alan Kuivocki 1375 5 Swing Marlin 1374 6 Mark Martin 1368 7 Rusty Wallace 1313 8 Davey Allison 1291 9 Ken Schrader 1238 10 Bill Elliott 1211 Ll Rick Wilson 1170 12 Dick Trickle 1159 13 Ricky Rudd 1151 14 Harry Gant 1138 15 Neil Bonnfttt 1128 I Progress Chart At 50-Lap Intervals 1 Laps 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 Avg 165543 152241 150922 153693 147235 144398 143682 144077 1 Martin Gant Kulwicki Waltrip Kulwicki Ku Waltrip Waltrip 2 Wallace Wallace Wilson Allison Elliott Martin Schrader Marlin 3 Gant Kulwicki Elliott Speed Wallace Wallace Marlin Schrader 4 Schrader Martin Earnhardt Waltrip Bodine Shepherd Ku Bodine 5 Kulwicki Bonnett Bodine Wallace Marlin Waltrip Bodine Elliott 6 Labonte Bodine Allison Earnhardt Martin Marlin Elliott Martin 7 Wilson Waltrip Wallace Ku Iwicki Allison Schrader Martin Bonnett 8 Waltrip Earnhardt Waltrip Elliott Schrader Bodine Bonnett Bodine 9 Marlin Elliott Marlin Bodine Shepherd Bodine Bodine Hi Ilin 10 Bodine Wilson Labonte Wilson Speed El Holt Earnhardt Rudd.