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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Fancy Passing Decisive In Winston Select 500

Associated Press

Auto racing

Mark Martin won the biggest race of his career, passing Dale Earnhardt with two laps to go Sunday and holding off Jeff Gordon to win the Winston Select 500 at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Ala.

Earnhardt, who took the lead when Rusty Wallace had to pit for gas with just four laps left in the 188-lap, 500-mile race, tried gallantly to keep Martin behind him as the Ford Thunderbird challenged his Chevrolet Monte Carlo coming off the fourth turn.

Martin, with Gordon’s Monte Carlo right on his rear bumper, tried to get past Earnhardt on the low side of the banking, then moved back up as the two entered the tri-oval portion of the big track on lap 187.

Earnhardt darted down and then up, blocking for all he was worth. But Martin, with plenty of momentum and drafting help from Gordon, finally pulled alongside the leader on the main straight and zoomed past, bringing Gordon with him.

“I was real lucky,” Martin said. “Jeff Gordon gave me a shove there at the end. He couldn’t go anywhere but line up behind me.

“We just had a big old head of steam. I’ve seen (Earnhardt) do it a hundred times.”

Morgan Shepherd found himself right on Earnhardt’s tail as they raced into the second turn on the last lap. The two appeared to bump and Earnhardt, the defending race winner, went spinning down the back straight before slapping the outside wall.

The seven-time Winston Cup champion was able to drive his battered car slowly back to the finish line. Asked what happened, the fuming Earnhardt, who threw his helmet and glared at Shepherd’s No. 21 when he climbed from his car, said, “I wrecked.”

He wound up 21st, the last car on the lead lap, and fell into a first-place tie in the Winston Cup standings with Gordon. Despite the tie, Gordon will get a $100,000 bonus that goes to the series leader after the first nine races on the basis of more victories.

Gordon, who got help catching up to the two leaders from Sterling Marlin after a late pit stop, said, “I have to take my hat off to Sterling Marlin. He didn’t have to do that.”

The 23-year-old Gordon took a run at Martin in the last two turns of the last lap, but said, “I was ready to go by Mark, but he just shut me off. There was nowhere to go.”

Martin beat Gordon to the finish by 0.18 seconds, about two car lengths. Martin collected $98,565.

The victory was the 15th for Martin, but his first in one of NASCAR’s Big Four the Daytona 500, the Winston Select 500, the Coca-Cola 600 and the Southern 500.

Martin joined Daytona 500 winner Marlin as possible winners of the Winston Select Million, a $1 million bonus that goes to a driver who wins three of NASCAR’s four biggest events. Winning two of the four races is worth $100,000.

Shepherd, who managed to keep from spinning when he got together with Earnhardt, finished third, followed by Darrell Waltrip and Bobby Labonte.

Formula One

In Imola, Italy, Damon Hill drove his Williams-Renault to victory in the Grand Prix of San Marino, beating Ferrari drivers Jean Alesi and Gerhard Berger.

The 11th career victory - Hill’s second straight this season - vaulted the 34-yearold Briton to the top of the Formula One standings with 20 points.

He dedicated the victory to his late teammate, Ayrton Senna, who died in this race last May 1.”I think we’ve shown that Grand Prix racing is healthy.”

Defending series champion Michael Schumacher, who started on the pole, spun off in the 10th lap and crashed his BenettonRenault against a protective barrier.