Darlington Review
Race five brought the CUP boys to the oldest and
toughest of NASCAR's superspeedways at Darlington.
This unique "egg shaped" track is so tough it has
earned two of the greatest nicknames in motor sports.
Some of stock car racings most memorable races have
been held here but this week's race will not go down
in history as a classic. Ward Burton's CAT Team which
has found many ways to lose the past two years put it
all together in an amazing show of dominance leading
188 of the 293 laps. They even overcame a potential
error in judgment during an early caution by not
pitting when all of the leaders came in for fresh
rubber. Despite having the "Goody" worn off his
Goodyears, Ward hung tough and kept his team in
contention until another caution got them back on pit
sequence with everyone else. The early part of the
race looked more like "Friday Night at the Demolition
Derby" than a Winston Cup race as the "Track Too Tough
to Tame" claimed many victims. Midway through the race
the sun came in and out of the clouds and quite a few
teams had trouble chasing the track and never found
the right combination. Bobby Hamilton stepped up with
another great performance racing for the lead early
before settling for seventh place. A tip of the hat
goes to Matt Kenseth who fought his car all day on the
way to sixth place. Jeff Gordon started from the pole
but he showed he still misses Ray as his team was
lucky to scratch out an eight place finish. Dale
Jarret and Dale Earnhardt seemed to be strongest on
the longer runs but the race came down to two 45 lap
runs at the finish. It was Ward Burton's day as he
ended a 131 race winless streak returning Bill Davis
Racing to victory lane. Jarret, Earnhardt, Tony
Stewart, and Jeff Burton rounded out the top five.
While it paled in comparison to Atlanta, there were
some excitement moments with seven drivers swapping
the lead 15 times with only five caution flags. Bobby
Labonte takes a slim 9 point lead in the title chase
over Mark Martin to "Thunder Valley" in Bristol
Tennessee next week.
Good Guys Sometimes Finish First Award goes to Bill Davis. Bill has an incredible eye for talent and has built a winning team from the ground up.
Bad Luck of the Week Award goes to Joe Nemechek. Joe showed what happens when you are in the worst place at the worst time as he got caught up in that lap one wreck.
Quote of the Week: When asked how tough Darlington is on tires Kevin LePage said, " You wear them out just
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