The Roanoke Times from Roanoke, Virginia • 14

B4 Roanoke Times World News Monday eb 18 1991 NBA DAYTONA 500 Knicks i throttle Pistons rom Associated Press reports NEW YORK All season the New York Knicks have tried to play with the big boys but have fallen short most of the time In one two month stretch they lost 1 1 consecutive games to teams with winning records and a loss on Sunday would have left them with the worst homecourt record Just when things looked bleak est however New York routed the defending champion Detroit Pis tons 1 16 88 It was the biggest vic tory margin of the season for the Knicks and the worst loss for the Pistons since Boston beat them 143 105 on Jan 13 1988 The Knicks outscored the Pis tons 62 34 in the middle two peri ods to improve their home record to 11 15 an embarrassing decline from their 35 6 record at home two seasons ago Vinnie Johnson led the Pistons with 23 points but leading scorer Joe Dumars had only seven on 3 for 12 shooting Patrick Ewing had 28 points Kiki Vandeweghe scored 20 points and Charles Oakley had 15 re bounds for New York Lakers 106 Trail Blazers 96 INGLEWOOD Calif James Worthy scored 1 1 of his 30 points late in the third quarter and the Los Angeles Lakers rallied to beat Portland and pull within 3'i games of the Pacific Divi sion leading Trail Blazers Magic Johnson added nine of his 24 points in the third quarter for the Lakers who had lost two of their previous three games after winning 16 straight Clyde Drexler had 29 points for Portland which still has the best record at 41 10 Bucks 111 Magic 103 ORLANDO la Milwaukee overcame a five point deficit in the final 1 :20 of regulation for the second time in three days then outscored Orlando 1 3 3 in the first three minutes of overtime Danny Schaycs led Milwaukee with 26 points 22 in the second half when the Bucks overcame a 1 5 point deficit Pacers 113 Kings 110 INDIANAPOLIS Micheal Wil liams scored 22 points including two free throws with 1 1 seconds left lifting Indiana past Sacramento which has lost 1 1 straight road games Rik Smits also scored 22 points for the Pacers followed by Reggie Miller with 21 Williams added seven assists and four steals Antoine Carr led the Kings with 35 points and Lionel Simmons scored 29 76ers 114 Clippers 104 LOS ANGELES Charles Barkley and Hersey Hawkins each had 24 points as Philadelphia ended a three game los ing streak In winning for only the fourth time in their last 14 games and the first time away from the Spectrum since Jan 1 1 at Milwaukee the 76ers also got 17 points from Ron Anderson as they dealt the Clippers their seventh defeat in eight games Danny Manning paced Los Angeles with 21 points Bullets 108 Cavaliers 104 BALTIMORE Rookie AJ Eng lish scored 31 points and added lOassists as Washington ended three game winning streak English forced into the starting lineup because of injuries to the regular guards made 1 2 of 20 field goal attempts to surpass his previous career best of 30 points Larry Nance scored 27 points and Brad Daugherty had 22 for Cleveland which lost its 1 4th game in the last 1 6 on the road Celtics 126 Nuggets 108 DENVER Larry Bird scored 1 7 of his 24 points in the first period sparking Boston to its seventh straight victory The Celtics took command with on ly two minutes gone in the game and breezed to a 36 23 lead after one quarter It was more of the same in the sec ond period as Boston opened a 67 4 1 lead at halftime Orlando Woolridge had 23 points Chris Jackson 20 and Reggie Williams 1 9 for Denver Note Dale Ellis whose off court prob lems in Seattle overshadowed his ability on the court says his new team the Milwaukee Bucks need not worry not going to be a disruptive fprce Those who get to know me will see that" said Ellis wno was traded from the SuperSonics for Ricky Pierce on riday Ellis a 6 foot 7 guard reportedly had 1 2 driving violations in the last four years in the Seattle area He was convict ed of drunken driving and reckless driv ing and spent a day in a rehabilitation center after breaking three ribs and punc turing a lung in a 1990 accident Ellis also was involved in a fight with former Seattle teammate Xavier McDaniel this season and was suspended for five days Ellis also pleaded no con test in 1989 to misdemeanor assault charges brought against him by his wife wanted to get out of Seattle I was really unhappy Ellis told the Mil waukee Journal Views vary on new pit road rules By BOB ZELLER SPORTSWRITER DAYTONA BEACH la The Daytona 500 was the first sig nificant test for 1 99 new pit rules with the Winston Cup stock cars and although drivers and crew chiefs had mixed opinions Les Richter NASCAR vice president for competition was satisfied what I saw today I was Richter said after the race changed the strategy of the racing but it changed it to the point to where the proce dures on pit road are determining the out come of the Among other things Richter said there were fewer tire changes DAYTONA 500 NOTES no incidents on pit road more care ful entries into the pits by drivers and because drivers want to lose track positions no processions into the pits during yellow flags for fuel But some drivers notably Dale Earnhardt and Kyle Petty did not like the impact of the new rules out there running on tires that have 300 miles on Petty said was loose Everybody was squirrclly So yeah they had a big impact on the race Nobody had on good tires because you pit for good tires because you lose a Earnhardt who crashed after losing control three laps from the end taking out Petty and Davey Allison was another critic like the tire he said changing tires under caution really makes it tough on the drivers because running them on the ragged edge a lot of torn up cars today and I think a lot of that can be blamed on the pit road Others disagreed even some who crashed never had any problem with said Rusty Wallace one of the crash victims tires worked fine for Richter said there are cou ple of NASCAR may change about the rules but not much Although he say what might be modified one thing to watch for is a change to allow cars with flat tires to pit for replace ments without adhering to the odd even system that follows a cau tion period Under the current rules tire changes are prohibited during cau Jimmy Spencer collapses from smoke inhalation after escaping his burning Chevrolet He walked back to the garage under his own power TT! A' a of Wil' i ill 7'i Agif lllll ii limn i num i 1 AP tion periods unless a team is will ing to accept a one lap penalty After the green flag comes out the entire field must take a full lap Then on the second green lap cars in odd numbered pit stalls may pit for new rubber On the third green lap cars in even numbered stalls may pit After that any car can pit during periods of green flag racing One interesting moment rela tive to this procedure came as the leaders were on lap 28 two laps after a caution period ended when Bill Elliott struggled into the pits running on a blown right front tire Elliott who having a good day was at least fortunate in that he was in an odd numbered pit stall and was allowed to pit without penalty Had he been in an even numbered stall he would have had to decide whether to take a penalty or risk another full lap around the track on a blown tire ans who noticed that made astute learned Richter said but he would not say if anything would be changed relative to a situation like that Most importantly Richter said there were no incidents on pit road such as the accident last No vember in Atlanta that killed crew man Mike Rich of Bill team Kyle Petty led the Daytona 500 longer than anyone which just made him more disappointed about 1 6th place finish Petty still beat his father Rich ard A slow start and late wreck left the elder Petty in 19th place was a bad Richard Petty said Kyle Petty who started sixth lost his low gear early in the race but still led 5 1 of 200 laps He was third behind Earnhardt and eventu al winner Ernie Irvan with 10 laps left but a wreck on the backstretch sidelined Pontiac less than seven miles from the finish had as good a shot as any body else to win this he said we came off Turn car became loose hit ord and went into a spin that left it in path ran right over Petty said Richard Petty had his best spot in the starting grid since 1977 third but slipped out of the top 15 after 30 laps He was 18th with 50 miles to go and his Pontiac backed into the outside retaining wall three laps later had a loose car to a certain he said Rusty Wallace and Darrell Waltrip were running 3 4 late in the race but were knocked out of con tention by a four car wreck 1 1 laps from the finish Wallace said the crash oc curred when he was high on the track and Kyle Petty pushed his car into the wall was sitting there having a great said Wallace who start ed eighth and finished 27th was probably one of the best days ever had here The car ran great It ran perfect all day The race was first as owner of his own Winston Cup team He started 10th and finished 24th good news from the driv perspective is I ran he said the perspec tive bad because I win I think going to be a team to be reckoned with like al Although Rick Masi of Rock bridge Baths Va raced well most of the day and eventually finished fourth he was not entirely happy the cautions at the end killed he said had the car set up for long runs of green I think we had second place sewed up at worst until the cautions came up My car on cold tires simply itJ Mast did get one special bonusjfe He was leading on the 100th lap the halfway point and wona $10000 One of the more unusual moi ments of the day came in the first? few laps when Earnhardt obliterate! ed a sea gull on the backstretch a 4 Besides creating a mess the bird also created some worries for team )s could have knocked a in the cooler or messed up the18 screen over the oil cooler opening crew chief Kirk Shelmerdine said we stopped a couple of times and put a new screen on it a couple ii of times It was just a source of' ft Driver Jimmy Spencer inhaled smoke after fire erupted briefly irL his Chevy uQ When the car came to rest on the grass in front of pit row Spen cer quickly climbed out and then went to his knees struggling for" breath He soon was on his feet and walking back to the garage feel all right he said just got a lot of smoke in me I AJ oyt watched the race? from a booth ending streak of 25 consecutive starts in the Daytona 500 oyt 56 is recov ering from leg injuries sustained in an Indy car crash last season it 1 1 coach McSorley resigns RICHMOND Chris McSor ley resigned as coach of the Rich ii mond Renegades on Sunday and ife the general manager said his departure is the result of disagree ui ments with team management has had a problem all year adapting to our management system This has been an ongoing' problem which has in turn led the team not living up to its poten 2 said Allan Harvie the East Coast Hockey League presi dent and generai manager McSorley 28 said he resigned' under pressure have no use for the man When the truth finally gets out it will be he said Harvie said he will announce new coach Tuesday The Renegades are 25 32 third4 in the Eastern Division Associated Allison ROM PAGE B1 Suddenly coming off of turn two on the 197th lap Earnhardt lost control He fishtailed tried to correct it and in the process slammed into the left side of Alli car Irvan ROM PAGE B1 track Behind them Derrike Cope Hut Stricklin and Harry Gant also crashed The four lap caution period that followed the eighth of the day set up the final duel for the victory Earnhardt was in the lead He had led much of the first quarter of the race but fell off the pace after receiving a brief stop and go penalty when he made an unsafe move (driving above the yellow line) while exiting the pits When the green flag flew on lap 194 car moved out ahead by a few car lengths Irvan zeroed in on the 1990 Winston Cup champion and passed him going into the first turn of the next lap crash came two laps later and all that was left was slow drive to the finish un der caution But it so easy On the last lap a frantic Irvan shouted into his radio: tell you what this running out of gas! just make it Tony Glover crew chief on the Morgan McClure Ko dak team radioed back: it on the apron" The idea was to get car on a level surface so the fuel could slosh from the gas tank into the fuel line The fuel line is attached to the right side of the bottom of the tank And at normal racing speeds on the high banks centrifugal force pushes the fuel to the right At slow speed on the bank the fuel falls to the left away from the fuel line opening in the tank I got into turn one on the white flag lap the thing started spitting and Irvan said after the race thought But I got all the way into turn three Allison hit the outside wall then went spinning into the grass on the backstretch and crashed into the dirt bank next to Lake Lloyd The car came to a stop sitting at an angle on the bank Allison was out of it His car move And while Earn hardt kept his wrecked car moving around the track for the last three laps and finished fifth Allison fin ished 15th inally Allison emerged from his trailer ready to address the questions from the waiting media He was holding his 13 month old daughter Krista Marie He was bouncing her gently as if to try to shake off the frustration of the mo ment got hit in the left side and it put me in the outside he said all got to say It worn tires I know I got hit I passed him clean on the outside and I got hit is a business where got to use your head I was using scared of nobody whether Daytona Richmond Bristol or anywhere else go ing after North Cross 3rd in VIC wrestling on the apron and it finally picked up Irvan was a victim of the type of stop and go penalty assessed against Earnhardt But it came dur ing a caution period early in the race And although it put him be hind it was not a fatal mistake The race was run in three dis tinct segments In the first 81 laps there were six incidents that caused six cautions for a total of 25 laps although no one was injured The worst incident was a five car melee on lap 31 caused when a fire broke out in Jimmy car Spencer overcome by smoke tumbled out of his car rolling and staggering in the grass He soon re covered but he was out of the race Geoff Bodine also was in volved in a two car crash on lap 77 but he returned to the race only to be overcome by fumes later The second segment featured 103 laps of green flag racing starting on lap 82 During that long stretch it seemed the race could go to any number of drivers The lead was swapped nine times as one leader after another headed to the pits for gas and tires Allison was in the lead for a while then Marlin then Mast Pet ty Ruttman Irvan Waltrip Petty again Irvan again and Allison again A yellow flag finally came out on lap 1 84 after a crash by Richard Petty who was never a factor de spite his strong starting position (third) Petty crashed coming off of turn two Robby Gordon also was involved Neither was hurt And finally during the last 12 laps there were those last two crashes In all there were 21 lead changes among nine drivers along with nine caution periods for 35 laps An estimated 145000 specta tors turned out Irvan who received $233000 for his victory said he has no prob lem with the nickname Driver Jimmy Means gave it to him after a practice duel one day at North Wilkesboro Speed way like that Irvan said beats which they named me one That nick name came after Irvan caused a multi car crash last spring at Dar lington that left Neil Bonnett with a head injury and amnesia for weeks This time however while so many others were wrecking their cars it was Irvan who steered clear of trouble on the way to Victory Lane At first answers were abrupt his sentences short But as he stood and patiently answered all the questions thrown at him he began to talk a little more He did not try to duck back into his trailer The subject continued to be Earnhardt got everybody so scared right now that I get any body to go with me and draft past Allison said A reporter asked said scared Davey Do you meanscared of his horsepower? he said of nicknames Intimidation CHATHAM North Cross finished third as a team and Raiders wrestlers won individual championships at the Virginia In dependent Conference Tourna ment that concluded late at Hargrave Military Academy Steve Harmon finished first in the 152 pound division and Aaron Lang won at 160 Dieter Oelschlager second at 171 and three other Raiders placed third: Ryan Moore (103) Ian McDade (119) and Cor ney Kinsey (145) TEAM RESULTS: Hargrave Military Academy ijhburne Military Academy (1755) North Crow (113) I Randolph Macon Academy (80) Lynchburg Academy (75) Miller School (21) Staff report'd At Alt id it al IIS jie It Moved SAUNDERS OIL COMPANY INC Construction Materials Division to 1011 Kimball Avenue NE Roanoke Virginia 24016 703 981 0812 or 1 800 768 0160 A.