Start your engines!
Play RPM.ESPN Stock Car Challenge!
Win a Honda S2000!
Play The CART Challenge powered by Honda!
|
|
Saturday, May 19
Rain, rain won't go away
Associated Press
CONCORD, N.C. – Rain delayed the start of The Winston
several hours Saturday night, although the cars did get on the
track long enough for a four-car accident.
The all-star race, scheduled to begin just after 9 p.m. EDT,
looked like it would go off as planned despite the light rain that
began during the warmup laps.
|  | | Jeff Gordon was forced to use a backup car after wrecking with Michael Waltrip at the start of The Winston. |
But the track was wet and slippery by the time the green flag
dropped, and as the cars came out of Turn 1, many of them lost
control and began to slide.
Kevin Harvick lost control of his and hit the wall heading into
Turn 2. The cars behind him tried to slow, but Jeff Gordon couldn't
avoid running into the back of Jeff Burton's car.
The tap sent both cars spinning, and as Gordon shot down the
track, Michael Waltrip slammed into the side of his car.
NASCAR quickly put the yellow flag out and pulled the cars off
the track as the rain continued. Officials then ruled that because
a full lap had not been completed, the race did not officially
begin.
The ruling allowed the four drivers involved in the wreck to go
to their backup cars, which afforded them the opportunity to rejoin
the field after the rain delay -- although they had to go to the
back of the 21-car pack.
Even with the reprieve, Waltrip was not happy.
"In NASCAR's haste to put on the show, it seems as if we
perhaps started the race on a wet track," Waltrip said. "My
prized Chevrolet is torn all to pieces and I'm not too pleased
about that."
The cars briefly went onto the track just after 11 p.m., but the
rain started again and the NASCAR sent the cars back onto pit road.
All four teams with damaged cars had their backup cars on the
track when NASCAR attempted to restart the race.
Burton needed the most help to get ready.
All four crews from Roush Racing's teams chipped in to transfer
the engine from Burton's damaged car into his backup.
"We had four crew chiefs, every crew member from every team
that could help was over here and did all of it in something like
30 minutes," Burton said. "That's awesome, a total team effort."
Tony Stewart wasn't as fortunate. He thought he might have
damaged his engine by over-revving it on the start, but the crews
at Joe Gibbs Racing didn't think they had enough time during the
delay to change it.
 Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
|
|
|
|
