The Charlotte Observer from Charlotte, North Carolina • 18

6B THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER Monday May 25 1 992 MOTORSPORTS Bad brakes crash stop King at Charlotte NOTEBOOK PETTY DIARY Richard Petty ran the Coca-Cola 600 for the last time Sunday and judging only from the results it wasn't unlike a lot of them in recent years He finished 41st and was several laps off the pace when a wreck ended his day It was a different performance however as he discussed in a conversation with sports editor Leonard Laye 1 was telling Benny Parsons the other day that I still try to come out of the car smiling after a disappointing finish just to keep from crying I did the same thing Sunday and that was pretty much the way I felt This the way I wanted the deal to go in any race much less my last 600 If had a good day if nothing had gone wrong the car would have been capable of winning the race And it's been a good while since I've been able to say that The car was flying I thought we got off to a good start (moving from 12th to eighth and running with the top contenders in the early stages) But when I turned into the (third) corner (on lap 15) I didn't have brakes You use brakes very much at all at Charlotte but the left rear locked up and that changed everything for us It led to two more accidents and the last one put us out Before that run way behind everybody all the time to leave some room to slow down But every time I touched the brakes it locked up And when somebody would get on their brakes in a hurry run out of room to get slowed down That was what happened when Mark Martin spun Everybody got on the brakes and I hit Hut (Stricklin) They stopped too quick that time just have to keep on going and hope we keep running good If we do maybe something will happen before the season is over The last 600 well any time you run good it just makes it that much more frustrating when you finish the race But right now not hurt so OK GARY O'BRIENStaff Good run gone bad: Richard Petty surveys the Coca-Cola 600 Bad brakes led to two wreckage of a car he says had the motor to win crashes the second of which ended dayf crew savors flavor of victory Win erases nervousness in the pits By LIZ CLARKE Staff Writer With two laps left in Coca-Cola 600 crew chief Kirk Shelmerdine snuck a peek at the black stopwatch cradled in his left hand At that point well past a final crucial pit stop there was nothing Shelmerdine could do to help Dale Earnhardt through the race was something to do more than anything" Shelmerdine said of the last-minute check on pace essentially a pointless exercise crew had made the difference in the race With 54 laps left Earnhardt pitted for new tires and a tank of gas behind race leaders Kyle Petty and Ernie Irvan Just 194 seconds later he zoomed back into traffic with the lead Earnhardt stop comes under fire Almost everyone watching the finish agreed that Dale last pit stop was the single most important step in his comeback Coca-Cola 600 victory on Sunday Opinions were far from unanimous on how he pulled it off Sunday at Charlotte Motor Speedway Earnhardt went into the pits trailing leader Kyle Petty and runner-up Ernie Irvan by about one second After the contenders had pitted he had a 127-second lead according to the speedway broadcast crew timing the cars To Petty and Irvan it seemed like an even greater advantage A short time later he won by about one car length over Irvan and several seconds over third-place Petty Petty and Irvan insinuated Earnhardt had been running more than the allowed 55 mph on pit road in order to gain the advantage no way a man can be two seconds behind you and you go down pit road and he comes out a second ahead on the race Petty said unless it was a 13-second pit stop and I think it was That good but no one's that good" Said Irvan: don't understand how he can gain one second in the pits and come on the race track and be five seconds Crew members of the three cars involved listed their pit stop times as 1 907 seconds for Earnhardt 1991 seconds for Petty and 202 seconds for Irvan Earnhardt crew chief Kirk Shel-merdine said the crew was proud of its role in the victory and had a quick response for critics of pit road speed can tell anybody that speed on pit road isn't what did it" he said did all he could do He kept it 55 (mph) until he got in the pit and then he locked it up But he kept it straight when he did" A 600 victory would have given Davey Allison a 1 million bonus from Winston for winning three of four major Winston Cup races But he led only twice for 33 laps and was not in contention at the finish Allison was still bruised and sore from a violent crash just after he crossed the finish line first in The Winston on May 1 6 He said the injuries bother him Sunday but that his mishandling car hurt his chances feel the injuries at all" he said just been a long hot day exhausted We had to fight the car all day were good for short periods of time but the chassis setup just seemed to fade away a little bit a new car and a fourth-place finish all that The car Allison had planned to drive in the 600 was a total wreck after the Winston crash Jimmy Spencer was named Sunday to replace Mike Wallace in Dick Busch Grand National car There was fear of a tire shortage Sunday Because of the heat and the fact that there were so many cautions all 12 in the first 227 laps there were more changes of tires than normal Because of the conditions crews usually changed all four tires at once Goodyear spokesman Phil Hol-mer said he brought about 2500 tires to the track 500 more than were used in the Coca-Cola 600 last year But by halfway through the race he had given out all the right-side tires Gary Balough who finished 40th in a the 42-car field was upset by his early exit from the race Greg Sacks' car slipped out of control on Lap 131 Balough said he tried to avoid hitting Sacks but that Sacks give him the same courtesy had nowhere to go but into the Ballough said That prima donna If I had it to do over again turn him around and put him Allison maintained his lead in The Observer cup standings with 137 points Harry Gant is second with 1 16 After the race Felix Sabates who owns team which finished third sought Tony Glover crew chief of race team which finished second you should be said Sabates were two laps down and came back a great example to children not to give Staff writers Leonard Laye Tom Sorensen and Charles Chandler contributed to this article No-win situation i I team won a race since North Wilkesboro last September come close May 16 in The Winston only to spin out in the final lap Sunday as Earnhardt fended off Irvan in the last 25 laps of the 600 his crew members milled about the1 pit area solemn and expression- less Shelmerdine kept to himself leaning against a pole His headset shut out the commotion around him and kept him wired to Earnhardt by radio The rest of the crew did busy work Some rolled tires away others tidied up A few sat with their1' backs to the race The end is near But on lap 399 of the 400-lap race the crew climbed on the wall Still expressionless they stood on tiptoe cranings their necks for a better view And the moment Earnhardt roared across the finish line 39-hundredths of a second and about three car lengths ahead of Irvan they went berserk Two dozen men in grungy black racing suits leaped spilled onto pit road and thrust their fists to sky' hooting and hollering high-fiving and hugging like crazy Then they ran out ta car which screeched to a brief stop then roared off for victory circle In minutes Earnhardt was surrounded by sponsors track officials TV cameras and photographers He waved grinned and mugged for photos wearing a series of caps with corporate logos Crew cuts up But the real celebration was going on behind the backdrop where crew had gathered and was holding the most raucous party anyone ever had while guzzling nothing but' Gatorade and Coke been a little bit behind" said gas man Chocolate Myers "and so damn used to winning pumped up been so damn close almost like winning the first race" Said Earnhardt: "Them guys do a cood iob The deserve Time of race: Four hours 30 minutes 43 seconds Average speed: 132960 mph Caution flags: 12 for 62 laps Lead changes: 28 among 14 drivers Lap leaders: Elliott (pole) Rudd (1-8) Petty (9-16) Rudd (17-29) Kulwicki (30) Schrader (31-59) Kulwicki (60) Martin (61-66) Petty (67-74) Jarrett (75) Spencer (76) Kulwicki (77) Rudd (78-89) Kulwicki (90-106) Allison (i07-121) Sacks (122-126) Hensley (127-138) Wallace (139-161) Kulwicki (162-168) Allison (169-186) Kulwicki (187-200) Petty (201-204) Bodine (205-208) Petty (209-227) Wallace (228-242) Petty (243-288) Irvan (289-290) Petty 291-346) Earnhardt (347-400) Point standings: 1 Allison 1564 2 Elliott 1453 3 Gant 1444 4 Kulwicki 1432 5 Earnhardt 1420 6 Labonte 1378 7 Shepherd 1333 8 Bodine 1248 9 Trickle 1245 10 Martin 1217 11 Rudd 1191 12 Marlin 1177 13 Petty 1161 14 Wallace 1147 15 (tie) Bodine 1143 Irvan 1143 Observer Cup standings: 1 Allison 137 2 Gant 116 3 Elliott 103 4 Earnhardt 77 5 Rudd 69 6 Labonte 66 7 Martin 57 8 Irvan 56 9 Wallace 51 10 Bodine 50 1.