The Charlotte Observer from Charlotte, North Carolina • 25

Charlotte Observer 4 Monday February 18 1991 SECTION Victory A -G's Tom Sorensen UNCC Needs A Bigger Home To Call Its Own Sputtering Car Wins Daytona 500 il 444" '''N' 1 7 l' i i 4'' Z' r' Su 7 4'1 iit0144i e--- r6 1: 0--'' i 6 r-- ii 12- 14k 1 4- 01 1 49e-s0 :1 t-: "Ni' A i '4' '-1444 le4 k' 14 -----'4 ---J N14))' 1 1 '1 47e 1 '1 1 1 1 i 1 44 tf 4 f-' '''''P 'V 1: 'f 1 I 4 4: '447 ''''N 3 -i i -v' ---3 4''' Cit: viqt ''i'' 14' '1' St 1 I 1 1 1 vik'1 41 't 7 1 4 irt-: 1 riV A---k'-' 7: --4-- -4 iii k1-4- '''''-'NI ''''r '00 4i- 1 -'--14- s' -''''''i- -kg '1'04 l'''' -5: r' r' 4 It 7 )i -'1-- ''''i'' 'C 'it --'5 i f' i i-4 1 -1 It ''''k '-Z 4: ii: 1: '4 7" 200: I 't :4 1 -1 :1 'f i "Y-44isio :7 rf 40 1'1 Nt 0 i 1 N''' 'P lt if'-' A) '7tge- ti-A A 'ir'' i '7'' 4' '-4 -'-'t ite sit filk jr iv 1'''' 4' 's 1 tp I ''''yif 1 1 1 k' 4 r4 '1 4 4 I 't -t 1 1 is -it 01: I 4 ot 4 4'V 'e' et -44 it 4 14 i 'y 0011 4 I Y'y jl- 4 I rtw i st: i i 44440AL 14ym1 3 kr tit 4 -ir 41''" i'i' By TOM HIGGINS Staff Writer DAYTONA BEACH Fla Ernie Irvan his Chevrolet almost out of fuel and sputtering although running slow under caution conditions Sunday won a Daytona 500 that turned from boring to bizarre as three accidents altered the outcome in the last 40 miles "I ran out of gas under the last yellow flag with still about a lap to go" Irvan said after the stunning finish in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series season opener at Daytona International Speedway "I said This can't be true This can't happen to me' It didn't although runner-up Sterling Marlin alongside Irvan in a Ford thought it might "Ernie's car was sputtering so had when we got to Turns 3 and 4 I thought it was going to stop" Marlin said "I was saying 'Quit! Quit! But it didn't" Joe Ruttman in an Oldsmobile finished third on the lead lap in the race in which new pit rules kept the top contenders strung out far apart much of the way Rick Mast was fourth in an Oldsmobile followed in fifth by Dale Earnhardt's Chevrolet The race's twists and turns also undoubtedly left Earnhardt Darrell Waltrip Davey Allison Rusty Wallace and Kyle Petty uttering "this can't be happening" For the second time in three years it appeared that Waltrip would win stock car racing's premier event by getting superior gas mileage in his Chevy Waltrip was running third and positioned to go the distance on the 25-mile track with 16 laps to go while Allison and Wallace one-two at that point faced pitting for gas No one behind Waltrip was close enough to catch him When Richard Petty and Robby Gordon spun on the 184th of the 200 laps and forced a yellow flag however Waltrip's edge was erased and the field was bunched for a restart on Lap 189 in this order Wallace Waltrip Earnhardt Irvan Kyle Petty Mast Rultman Marlin and Derrike Cope Earnhardt a heavy favorite surged ahead in Turn 3 followed by Irvan Behind them the Pontiacs of Kyle Petty and Wallace touched entering the homestretch triggering a crash that damaged the Wallace Waltrip Cope Hut Stricklin and Harry Gant cars Again the yellow flag showed Earnhardt led the restart on Lap 194 but Irvan whipped by going into Turn 1 on Lap 195 and pulled away to a five-car length lead as Earnhardt and Allison raced abreast behind him On Lap 198 Earnhardt's car lost its aerodynamics and Spin out of control off Turn 2 wrecking both the Ford of Allison and Kyle Petty This created another caution period and with just two laps left Irvan was home free if he had enough gas He did Barely MARK SLUDERStatt triumph in Winston Cup racing's biggest event gave Irvan his second career victory UNCC students painted their faces chests and stomachs wore giant UNCC and ESPN letters atop their caps and screamed without provocation The calendar said Sunday but the mood was Saturday Right The 49ers and East Tennessee State ranked 10th in the country got together on the UNCC campus Sunday at eight minutes after midnight Televised nationally by ESPN the game showed how far the 49ers have come If you'll recall it was not so long ago that UNCC was a little university on the edge of town Commuters went there Students with money and credentials usually did not Good basketball players did not The coach sent what he had onto the floor and called defenses with color coded signs On a good night the defense led to a victory over Eckerd and the 200 UNCC fans who paid to watch got a second roll of film developed for half price Eckerd is no longer on the schedule and the color-coded coach no longer is on the bench His replacement has some good basketball players and the school has more than 14000 students some with excellent credentials But the UNCC-East Tennessee State basketball game showed how far the school has to go UNCC needs a gym While basketball is way down on the list of reasons a student chooses a lege the building in which the game is played is always among the most popular on campus Basketball provides cheap entertainment at many schools students get in free Basketball provides a break from the books Basketball provides a place where students with neat slide rules and students with worn-out Jack Kerouac paperbacks can cheer for the same team Walk around the Duke campus during the day and the students seem harmless enough College is demanding and Duke is whatever comes next Walk into Cameron Indoor Stadium at night Students with textbooks in a shoulder bag paint on their faces and turbans on their heads hell) run opponents out of the gym UNCC students joined to do that Sunday They packed Belk Gym better known as the Mine Shaft With a capacity of 3800 the Mine Shaft is too tiny for most home games This season UNCC has played only two exhibitions and the home opener against UNC-Wilmington there They played there Saturday only because ESPN wanted a gym jammed with fans It was a sure thing By 8 am Tuesday when tickets were distributed the line at the window included about 1500 students and five pup tents many had spent the night Students don't line up for tickets to the Charlotte Coliseum where the 49ers play their home games With 2:3901 places to sit inside they are not required to Some can't afford to go and some have no way to go Parking is $3 and the drive from campus to the Coliseum and back is 36 miles Davidson Appalachian State Western Carolina and the ACC schools have beautiful on-campus arenas UNCC only borrows its UNCC coach and former athletic director Jeff Mullins says an arena on campus which will be built with private and public money is at least four years away The 49ers have an archi- tect but they are still developing a funding plan and are still awaiting approval from the state During a recession money for bricks and mortar and the vision required to commit to it is never guaranteed To see what a new arena could do you had to be there Sunday You had to be there in the pre midnight cold when two hours before tipoff students began to show up You had to be there when with paint on their bodies and banners they kept showing up They filled their high school gym with college zeal It was almost as if they knew they were on TV The visitors won 96-80 but the 49ers led most of the way For a couple hours on a Sunday morning that felt like a Saturday night UNCC got a good look at what it could be Winning Feeling: Ernie lrvan (right) climbs out of his car in Victory Lane after winning Sunday's Daytona 500 The MEll Late-Race Crashes Scramble Finish DAYTONA 500 The Top 5 By TOM HIGGINS Staff Writer Chevy Ford Olds Olds Chevy 1 Ernie Irvan 2 Sterling Marlin' 3 Joe Ruttman 4 Rick Mast 5 Dale Earnhardt Inside "I came back across the track made a couple of wiggles trying to stay out of the infield and then about that time it spun the wrong way and got busted up pretty good" Said Waltrip driving for his own new team: "The race was Ours just to drive into victory circle no problem if it hadn't been for that wreck "Why did we have to have that caution? Nobody could have run me clown if the race had gone green (flag) all the way I know I could have made it without stop ping for fuel" One of the two subsequent crashes further victimized Waltrip as a Daytona 500 that generally had been devoid of drama suddenly was awash with it: On the Lap 189 restart from Richard Petty's wreck his son Kyle tangled with Rusty Wallace entering the trioval homestretch Kyle kept his car under control but Wallace Hut Stricklin Gant and Waltrip wrecked "1 guess Kyle didn't see me and See LATE Page 5C Two later crashes also atiected the outcome The most pivotal occurred on Lap 184 when Richard Petty spun in his Pontiac along the backstretch sweeping rookie Robby Gordon's Ford into trouble too That brought out a yellow flag which not only signaled the field to slow down but also the end to any chance Waltrip had of winning because it enabled faster cars to close up on him "I got behind Harry Gant coming off Turn 4 and that made my car loose" Petty said DAYTONA BEACH Fla As the Daytona 500 wound down Sunday NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing's biggest event appeared headed to a conclusion similar to that of 1989 with Darrell Waltrip winning by getting better gas mileage than any of his rivals This time however a wreck With 40 miles to go soured Waltrip's strategy and eventually sent another Chevrolet driver Ernie lrvan to Victory Lane instead a Ernie Irvan felt uncertain of his strategy in winning the race Story Pigs 5C Daytona notes Pogo 5C Daytona 500 performance chart Pogo 5C No 2 Ohio State Slips Past Indiana Georgia Tech's Victory Boosts NCAA Hopes 't I I i' :::1: I "7 1 3' 1' 'ir lit" it '14i i tit 41: 4 I 1- '''ItR '1" Jo NI 104-14- 1 4 4 ii 1--- A i Observer News Services COLUMBUS Ohio It was billed as the best game ever at St John Arena It may have ended up being one of the best ever in the Big Ten Treg Lee who tied the game in the first overtime hit a 10-footer from the left baseline with four seconds left in the second overtime to give No 2 Ohio State a 97-95 victory Sunday over No 4 Indiana and sole possession of first place in the conference "I've never been involved in a better game" second-year Ohio State coach Randy Ayers said Indiana led by five with one minute left in regulation and by lour at one time in the first overtime It took a last-second shot by Jim Jackson who had a career-high 30 points to go with 11 rebounds and six assists to send the game into the first overtime and Lee's basket to tie it in that period The outcome ended Indiana's six-game winning streak stretching Ohio State's to five in a row and giving the Buckeyes (12-1 22-1) their second season sweep of the Hoosiers (10-2 22-3) since Bob Knight took over at Indiana in 1972 The victory ruined a career-high 32-point effort by Indiana freshman Damon Bailey who hit 11 of 15 shots from the field including three of four from three-point range He didn't have a turnover in 46 minutes and had three rebounds and four assists committing six turnovers "I have to do what I can to help the team win I think we'll make the tournament now" Georgia Tech which shot just 37 finished with a 47-34 rebounding advantage and grabbed 22 offensive rebounds "The advantage for us coming in was inside but our people inside just didn't get the jot) done" Arizona coach Lute Olson said Down 59-56 Arizona (20-5) had a chance to tie but Barry tipped away Matt Muehlebach's pass intended for Brian Williams Anderson recovered and was fouled He made both ends of a one-and-one with 26 seconds left and then capped the scoring by hitting the second of two free throws with 17 seconds left after Arizona turned the ball over Tech's Malcolm Mackey finished with 13 points and eight rebounds Williams led Arizona with 20 Observer News Services EAST RUTHERFORD NJ Georgia Tech kept alive its NCAA hopes and surprisingly did it against No 6 Arizona Sunday with out a great performance by Kenny Anderson While Anderson struggled to 15 points on six-for-21 shooting Jon Barry scored 19 and the Yellow Jackets' front line came up with some tough defense and strong rebounding in a 62-56 victory This has been a wild year but this game keeps us alive' Georgia Tech coach Bobby Cremins said "It was a strange game but we kept them off balance You know Arizona is an NCAA tournament team and you know they have a lot of wins We may have caught them off guard but this gives us a chance" The victory ended a three-game losing streak for the Yellow Jack ets who are 14-9 with four regular season games to play "I didn't play very well but we won" Anderson said after scoring 11 points below his average and Associated Press In A Crowd: Georgia Tech's Jon Barry drives past Arizona Chris Mills in Sunday's 62-56 victory by Tech in East Rutherford NJ Summary in roundup Page 3C Summary in roundup Page 3C INSIDE 1 Losing The Handle: Now that Muggsy Bogues isn't starting at point guard turnovers Tennis 2C Golf are becoming more of a problem for the Charlotte HornetsPage 4C NHL 4C Racing Game story Pogo 4C Ilmel.