Gordon’s Team Has Act Together On Race Track

Early in last Sunday’s race at Phoenix International Raceway, handling problems were giving Jeff Gordon fits.

The 24-year-old racer was going backward in the field, falling all the way to 11th and in imminent danger of going even further off the pace.

Luckily for him, a caution flag flew, allowing Gordon to make a pit stop and giving crew chief Ray Evernham and his workers a chance to work on the set-up.

“It was a pretty tough day,” said Gordon, who came on to finish fifth and virtually clinch the Winston Cup championship. “We had to keep communicating.

“When you don’t hear Ray and me talking, that’s when we fall to pieces. When we talk and get our thoughts together, it’s the best thing in the world. Even though things weren’t going our way, we never stopped working.

“We didn’t win the race, but we felt like we accomplished a whole lot. We made some two-tire stops and got track position. Then the track started coming our way toward the end.”

Now all Gordon has to do is finish 41st or better in the finale a week from Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Then, no matter what closest pursuer Dale Earnhardt does, Gordon is the champ.

Considering Gordon’s worst finish in 30 starts so far this season is 36th, Earnhardt’s chances appear less than dim.

“We’ll be able to relax a little more the next couple of weeks, but freak things do happen,” Gordon said. “It’s definitely not over, yet.”

Winning woes

After winning 10 times in 1993 and eight times in 1994, Rusty Wallace is having more trouble finding his way to Victory Circle these days.

With only one race remaining in the 1995 season, Wallace has only two wins, although he has accumulated 14 top-five and 18 top-10 finishes.

The dearth of wins has Wallace puzzled.

After finishing fourth Sunday in a race he believed he should have won, Wallace said, “We’ve got a whole pile of top-threes and top-fives and we’re just doing that to death. But it’s strange to understand why we’re not winning all the time.

“We should have won a million times. We’ve led a ton. We’re going to see if we can’t get this thing turned around at Atlanta and for next season. This (Penske Racing South) team likes winning.”

Getting closer

Derrike Cope won the Daytona 500 in 1990 and added a victory later that season at Dover. Since then, Cope, who turned 35 on Friday, has faded almost into obscurity.

But Cope hasn’t lost hope, and his persistence may finally be paying off for both him and car-owner Bobby Allison, who hired Cope at the beginning of the 1995 season.

Some strong runs this season, including a very impressive second-place last Sunday at Phoenix, where he battled winner Ricky Rudd to the end, have buoyed the spirits of everybody at Bobby Allison Motorsports.

“We’ve been close a number of times and had motors break or something,” Cope said. “This (showing at Phoenix) just shows that this team is capable of winning on any given Sunday.

“Ricky had a better car than us at the end. I’m not so disappointed for myself as I am (for) the guys (on the team). … I still know what it’s like (to win), and I still know that I can do it. I wanted to get one for Bobby and all these guys.

“We’re tough for Atlanta, too, so don’t count us out there.”

A Little support

Winston Cup racing is a big pressure-cooker and highly competitive, but there still is a feeling of community and caring for people that makes it somewhat unique at the top level of sports.

Ward Burton, who won his first Winston Cup race two weeks ago at Rockingham, can attest to that.

“Rusty Wallace and I had a little get together at Martinsville (last month), and the next week at (North) Wilkesboro he came looking for me,” Burton said.

“When I got to the track, my crew members told me and I went to his truck. Rusty and I sat in his truck and talked, and that fella, not only did he treat me with a whole lot of respect, but he taught me some things about patience and about the way those guys up there (at the front) run.

“And the way he ran me in the race (at Rockingham) was with a lot of respect. He drove me clean and, at the same time, we were racing hard. I just want to say he’s a class act. He’s a very good role model.”

Wallace finished second to Burton at Rockingham.

A blown engine spoiled Burton’s race Sunday at Phoenix, relegating him to 42nd in the 44-car field.

Going away present

Bill Ingle, Ricky Rudd’s crew chief, is a lame duck, and it was something of a surprise to a lot of people when he helped Rudd to a hard-earned victory Sunday at Phoenix.

Ingle, who will leave Rudd Performance Motorsports at the end of the season to pursue a career as a combination crew chief and driver, said, “I think everybody thought I’d quit.

“They were saying, ‘He’ll do his job, but it will be an 85 or 90 percent job done.’ Well, that’s not true. I’ve given 100 percent since the day I joined the team and I’ll give 100 percent to try to win that pole at Atlanta (next week) and win that race.

“I’ll do that until Nov. 13 when my job is finished here. I think I proved that to people (at Phoenix). And this whole team has. Nobody has given up. We’ve all worked hard to get this victory to keep Ricky’s streak going, but we also needed a victory for all these people that work so hard.

“Forget the streaks, the money, all of it,” Ingle added. “The thing you do when you join a Winston Cup race team is you work to win.”

The victory by Rudd extended his string of seasons with at least one win to 13 in a row, second only among active drivers to Earnhardt’s 14.