Brickyard 400 Belongs To Jarrett Passes Teammate Ernie Irvan With Seven Laps Remaining

Winning big races and harvesting big paydays just seems to come naturally for Dale Jarrett.

So far this year, the 39-year-old racer has won three of the most important - and richest - races in NASCAR’s Winston Cup series.

In fact, Jarrett has two Daytona 500s, a Coca-Cola 600 and now a Brickyard 400 among his seven career victories.

“I know what has happened through the years at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. This place is awesome,” he said Saturday after passing teammate Ernie Irvan seven laps from the end and going on to win on the same oval where 80 Indianapolis 500s have been run.

“You can feel the history here. I really wanted to win this one bad, to have it on my resume when my career is over.”

Jarrett came from 24th in the 40-car lineup to take this latest victory and the payoff of $564,035 - third-largest in NASCAR history and all coming in the 3-year-old Brickyard event.

“To win here any time is fantastic. But to win Daytona, Charlotte and this in the same year is incredible - and the money’s not bad, either,” said Jarrett, who leads the 1996 earnings list with $1,752,650.

“It is an incredible amount of money. It’s the most money of any race we run. That means a lot. That motivates us - me, anyway.

“I guess I won’t have to be calling my dad to borrow any money real soon,” Jarrett joked, referring to Ned Jarrett, a two-time Winston Cup champion and now a TV commentator.

The competitive race, with 18 lead changes among 13 drivers, stirred up the Winston Cup championship battle as injured Dale Earnhardt watched most of the race on TV in his motor home and Jeff Gordon, who came into the day leading the standings, spent most of his time watching his crew repair a crashed car.

Meanwhile, Jarrett and Irvan turned what had been a wide-open event into a team competition, battling it out over the last 25 laps of the 160-lap race.

Jarrett led for the first time when he passed Terry Labonte on lap 135. Irvan moved past Labonte into second the next time around the 2-1/2-mile oval and began stalking Jarrett.

Irvan made a strong inside move on the back straightaway to grab the lead on lap 139, but Jarrett wouldn’t let him get away. Staying right on Irvan’s bumper, he bided his time until lap 154, finally taking advantage of Irvan’s slip in turn two to drive past.

Jarrett quickly moved out to about a six-car-length margin over his Robert Yates Racing teammate. He appeared to have things well in hand when Robert Pressley’s car hit the wall on lap 159 and brought out the last of five cautions.

That’s the way the race ended, with the crowd of about 300,000 standing and cheering. The Yates crew crowded around the wall separating the race track from the pits, waving and celebrating as the Ford Thunderbirds of Jarrett and Irvan drove under the flagstand slowly behind the pace car.

Jarrett averaged 139.508 mph in the race that lasted 2 hours, 52 minutes, 0.476 seconds.

The disappointed Irvan, who has come back from a near-fatal crash in August 1994, said, “It’s great our team came in first and second. The last time we did it (at Loudon, N.H., on July 14), I won the race. I guess I did it at the wrong time.

“This is a lot more heartbreaking than having a flat tire two years ago,” added Irvan, who nearly crashed after cutting down a tire while leading with five laps to go in the inaugural Brickyard, won by Gordon.

Labonte finished third in a Chevrolet Monte Carlo and moved back into the series point lead by 61 points over Earnhardt, who improved from third to second. Jarrett moved from fourth to third, trailing Labonte by 63 points, while Gordon slipped from first to fourth, 104 behind the 1984 Winston Cup champion.

Gordon, the pole-winner for the second straight year, led early in the race and was in third when he crashed. The impact apparently knocked the fuel pump loose and flames spewed from the rear of the car as Gordon drove it slowly back to the pits.

The defending series champion, who turns 25 today, was not injured.

“Coming off (turn) three I felt the right front (tire) give way,” Gordon said. “I was lucky not to hit the wall there. I was lucky it blew when it did. I didn’t hit that hard.”

Earnhardt got the early caution flag that his team had hoped for, allowing him to give up the driver’s seat in the No. 3 Chevrolet to Mike Skinner after Pressley skidded sideways in turn two on lap six, igniting a multicar incident.

Earnhardt, the defending race winner, is still in pain from fractures to his left collar bone and sternum in a crash last weekend.

‘The car was real comfortable,” Earnhardt said after watching as his crew buckled Skinner into the car. “I wasn’t in too much pain going along there.

“Dad gum, it was hard to get out of there,” he added, his voice choking up. “That’s my life right there.”

By starting the race, Earnhardt received credit for the championship points earned for the day. Going for a record eighth Winston Cup championship, Earnhardt began the race in third place, trailing Gordon by 23 points and Labonte by 14.

With Skinner finishing a solid 15th, Earnhardt goes to next week’s race on the road course at Watkins Glen, N.Y., still solidly in the hunt.

A crash on lap 38 took out two early contenders. Kyle Petty, running second at the time, appeared to simply lose control, like Gordon, and slapped the outside wall in turn four. He ricocheted into Sterling Marlin, barely missing Mark Martin, then drove almost head-on into the inside wall near the entrance to pit road.

Petty was taken to Methodist Hospital for precautionary X-rays and was later released with what track officials said were a bruised left leg and back.

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