Joe Ruttman wins Truck Race at Watkins Glen Come back Tuesday for the whole story
Jeff Gordon had plenty of gas, and four fresh tires. On lap 378 of the 400 lap event, Gary Bradberry whacked the wall, bringing out a caution. With 16 laps remaining after the caution, the lead cars of R. Wallace, B. Labonte, Martin (led the most laps), and Jarrett, decided to take on only two tires for fear of losing track position. Gordon was running fifth, and gambled for the extra time and took on four tires, relegating him back to sixth. The gamble paid off, as he roared to the front and took the lead on lap 390. Wallace, Labonte, Martin, and Jarrett rounded out the top five, and will be eligible for Winston's No Bull 5, 1 million dollar prize on August 1st at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The 32nd win of Gordon's five-year Winston Cup career netted him $346,450, including the bonus for winning from the pole, and put the two-time Winston Cup Champion's earnings over the 17 million dollar mark for just 169 races. This was the third time he won the 600. He won last year, and also in '94. This was also his third win of the '98 season, putting him in the points lead for the championship, 27 points ahead of Jeremy Mayfield who finished two laps down in 19th position. Rusty Wallace, Mark Martin, and Terry Labonte round out the top five points leaders in that order.
For all of you Dale Earnhardt fans, the bad luck continues. He got slammed into the wall on lap 339 when Randy LaJoie (subbing for Ricky Craven) got loose and slid into him. Dale was in a snit, and refused the mandatory ride to the infield medical center for a checkup. He tore out the plastic passenger side window on the 50 car and stuck his head in the window, and briefly conversed with LaJoie, before walking to the garage area while snubbing most of the press. Later, in a televised TBS interview, he complained about the car's spoilers, and tires wear, and then walked on to his trailer at a brisk pace. He appeared to be uninjured, as was Randy Lajoie.
There were eight cautions which resulted in 49 caution laps. Twelve different drivers led the race changing the lead 33 times. There were nine cars on the lead lap at the conclusion, and five out of the initial 43 starters were taken out of the race. Earnhardt, LaJoie, and Bradberry were out from accidents and Elliot Sadler and David Green were out due to blown engines. Average race speed was 136.42 MPH, and race time was four hours and 23 minutes.
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