The Charlotte Observer from Charlotte, North Carolina • 115

hi i i i iwwiwumimw i 1 1 i ig i THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER Sunday September 3 1995 23G MOTORSPORTS I Smashed hopes: Chad hopes for a Grand National points Tracy car at the Gatorade 200 at Darlington Raceway title took a beating Saturday after his car (left) got tangled with Little finished 40th and fell 156 points behind Johnny Benson Martin wins race Benson pads lead Darlington event may be pivotal in race for title GRAND NATIONAL By TOM HIGGINS Staff Writer DARLINGTON SC Mark Martin took control during the last 50 laps Saturday at Darlington Raceway to win a Gatorade 200 in which runner-up Johnny Benson moved closer to the NASCAR Grand National championship strong run combined with a crash that destined top challenger Chad Little to a 40111-place finish increased the separation between the two from 29 points to 156 with five of the 26 races remaining Martin driving a Ford fielded by the Jack Roush Racing team led 79 of the 147 laps for his fourth Grand National victory at the 1366-mile Darlington track He not thinking about the points championship happy leading but running race to race and letting the points fall into Little who was going for a of winning in the same season at Daytona International Speedway Charlotte Motor Speedway and Talladega (Ala) Superspeedway plus Darlington wrecked on Lap 1 1 when his Ford tangled with the Chevy of Tracy Leslie off Turn 4 had position under Jeff car then I got bumped from said Little even know who it was it matter that much I guess was just good hard racing Maybe too hard for the start of the race hurts us a bunch in the points nothing that a good team bounce back from We give In another accident Tim Fe-dewa spun in his Ford on Lap 102 while battling Martin for the lead Fedewa wound up 25th Finishing third through 10th were Ward Burton Phil Parsons Joe Nemechek Mike Wallace Jason Keller Elton Sawyer Jeff Green and Mike McLaughlin Wallace and Sawyer drove Fords the others were in Chevrolets Larry Pearson who started his Chevy from the pole spun on Lap 87 to avoid a crash A pit stop for new tires put Pearson a lap down and he finished 17th NASCAR Continued from page 1G 1 finished 79 seconds ahead of Chevrolet in a seven-lap dash to the checkered flag following the ninth caution period made chassis changes early to get the car right because a pretty short race" said Martin who averaged 115183 mph despite 35 yellow flag laps and earned $26160 crew did an awesome Said Benson who led 26 laps: is tough here and fast why they call Darlington his track in Grand National racing team had a letdown and expen-enced all kinds of trouble after winning the Winston Million bonus that year at Darlington and we came back to take the championship by 101 points think one of the four guys in the points race will fall out of contention in this race )n another couple weeks come down to two guys It always Elliott predicted team owner Rick Hendrick who also fields Chevys for Terry Labonte and Ken Schrader going to put everything he has into the championship Elliott said he likes Gordon's chances to become the second-youngest champion ever Bill Rex-ford was 23 when he took the title in 1950 "The key for Jeff is finishing yet running well enough for good solid showings I think he can do said Elliott always expect Earnhardt to come on but way back this time still not impossible for him though lot of it is going to depend on how the four of them do at Darlington This place can bite you in the blink of an Gordon can attest to that He has failed to finish only one race this season because of an accident That wreck not of making came in the Tran-South 400 during a restart after he had led 150 of 200 laps and appeared en route to a certain victory The old track nicknamed Lady In often is cruel that way which is why the Southern 500 looms so significantly tsa HURRY'THis7 OUR CHANCEto save at ouHVGE- ston Cup races at Darlington lines up third in the 42-car field Gordon starts fifth and Marlin victor in the TranSouth 400 in March is sixth Martin has the 36th position his worst spot this season and faces the disadvantage of pitting on the backstretch John Andretti has the pole after qualifying the Kranefuss-Haas team's Ford Friday at a Southern 500 record 167379 mph Ricky Rudd shares the front row in a Ford Dick Trickle is in the fourth starting slot in a Ford Starting seventh through 10th: Lake Speed Ford Ward Burton Pontiac Geoff Bodine Ford and Hut Stricklin Ford Rusty Wallace led second-round qualifying Saturday at 165900 mph That was seventh fastest overall but Wallace will start 21st know from experience how it can go both ways here in running for the said Waltrip 1979 I came in here with a 160-point lead over Richard Petty I put the entire field a lap down with 100 miles to go then I crashed day was a big turning point in the championship We self-destructed and lost by 11 points '85 I went out of here 206 points behind Bill Elliott and thought I was out of it But Bill's PONT -MISS IT! A 4 i wpATRiarm i CLEARANCE ULTRA SPORT WAS $2099 155SR12 NOW $1599 CLEARANCE TRIATHLON 80000 MILE LIMITED WARRANTY WAS HOW P17570SR13 $5699 $5199 P18570SR14 7399 6399 3099 3199 3799 3999 4199 3299 3399 3799 3899 4399 Ingle to leave Rudd may return as driver 155SR13 165SR13 175SR14 185SR14 165SR15 17570TR13 18570TR13 18570TR14 19570TR14 20570TR14 3599 3699 4599 4699 4799 3699 3799 4199 4299 4499 7499 7599 7799 8099 8199 8599 8699 8899 9999 P195770SR14 P20570SR14 P21570SR14 P205tf0SR15 P21570SR15 P19565SR15 P20565SR15 P21565SR15 P21560SR16 6499 6599 6799 7099 7199 7599 7699 7899 8999 9199 kjsm Purchase of 4TriMlonorJz RACI RACING ItaVeafli 0 InQFF rO MOTORSPORTS NOTEBOOK Triathlon TE Tires! i P22560SR1610L99 TRUCK WHEEL SPECIALS TYPE 62 As TYPE 26 21 TYPE 35 TYPE 30 As TYPE 86 102 IF YOU DON'T SEE YOUR SIZE PLEASE CALL! WE HAVE HUNDREDS OF DISCONTINUED AND CLEARANCE TIRES AT UNBELIEVABLY L0V7 PRICES! EllNieVERVlS' ZZ3Z PATRIOT PATRIOT DUNLOP IlUca Your Choice Your Choice! I P-400 1 JD 65 DELUXE CLASSIC LX I ASSURANCE AS SOLUTION AS XW4' I SENTRY DUNLOP BFGoothlch Your Choice! AP SPORT RV IWHADGLER RADIAL radial rove HAMAH mm I $8399 $5799 P20575R15 $4699 $7299 8699 5699 P23575R15 6799 8499 By TOM HIGGINS Staff Writer DARLINGTON SC NASCAR team ownerdriver Ricky Rudd announced Saturday that crew chief Bill Ingle be with the Mooresville-based RPM operation in the 1996 Winston Cup Series season plans are Rudd said at Darlington Raceway where he starts second today in the Southern 500 (1 pm ESPN) has expressed interest in pursuing a career as a driver Ingle was balancing a career as a crewman for a Junior Johnson team and running Grand National races until an accident at Daytona International Speedway in the late 1980s left him with a badly broken leg Rudd said he anticipates Ingle will remain with the Ford team through the nine races remaining this season team has accomplished a lot over the past two said Rudd who formed his operation in the 1993-94 offseason contributions to that success are appreciated and Ingle won a $50000 prize from UAW-GM in 1994 for his work that produced a fifth-place finish for Rudd in the points standings in the first season Bobby Labonte Mark Martin and Sterling Marlin go for a $100000 bonus in the 500 today the Winston Million consolation prize for winning two of the sport's Big Four or Grand Slam races in the same season Marlin took the Daytona 500 Labonte the Coca-Cola 600 and Martin the Winston Select 500 could use that for a lot of stuff" said Labonte Winston Cup points standings leader Jeff Gordon and his Hendrick Motorsports crew chief Ray Evemham said Saturday 1 aware of a strong chance to win 1 the 1 3 million championship but aren't set to adopt a strictly conservative strategy yet "The title is in the back of our 1 30950R15 7599 9499 10899 11799 311050R15 9999 8199 11199 minds but not thinking points points said Gordon who leads second-place Marlin by 176 points got nine straight top 10s and consistent but been trying to win those races too" we in a championship frame of mind be stupid Is 176 points comfortable? Alan Kulwicki was 278 behind in 1992 with seven races to go and he won the title It over" said Evernham we finish 40th Sunday and Sterling wins essentially all tied up And Earnhardt laid down The seven-time champion is in fourth place 294 points back John Andretti is a relative newcomer to Winston Cup racing but the former IndyCar driver says he knows all about the importance of the Southern 500 and what winning at Darlington Raceway means I was growing up Darlington was one of the racing names you always recognized" said Andretti who starts the Kranefuss-Haas No 37 Ford from the pole in race mean even though I was hanging around IndyCar tracks we always knew what was going on at Darlington us it was like what was going on at LeMans or Daytona and places like that It was Darlington and it was Geoff Bodine was inducted into the UnocalDarlington Record Club for top Southern 500 qualifiers on Friday night And moments later he was informed that other members had elected him president The post requires Bodine to preside over early-morning rookie meetings on the first day of qualifying at each track on the schedule for the next year LT23575R15 9399 10499 6899 LT23585R16 12299rt 11199 8399 pinms of ANY 4 CUSTOM I WHEELS 4 TIRES I aKM GO00 Mil WH ail gat FMKUU 1 moHSE 5 Year50000 Mile Warranty i Thrust Angle or JiM 1 4-Wheel alignment ww I COUTON GOOOMlH9 CAUSTOefOAOTAAS 1 purchase 4 Gas-Magnuml Plus Road Sensing Shocks) Or receive 1 0 back when) you purchase 2 Ga-Magnum Plus Shocks cowongooo mu tnnsausmm omu TYPE 53 14X6 HURRYI ONE WEEK ONLYi PRICES EFFECTIVE THRU SEPTEMBERS OPEN 7 DAYS 1 SUNDAY MON FRI SATURDAY1 10 4 7:50 -S CHARLOTTE Show Card Save- Corner of Albermarle Rd Farm Pond Lane (Next to BI-LO Supermarket) iSliowirourjQaBl 1 and Save! 90 DAYS SAME AS CASH! eis tow AKfRtcA Detail In Star uMM4)ui9j(i -4 Wife I -WAPtlffSF 4m.