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| | Sunday, October 17 | |||||
| TALLADEGA, Ala. -- It shouldn't take Ricky Rudd long to get
used to this teamwork thing.
Rudd, who is quitting his role as an owner-driver after this
year to take a job with Robert Yates Racing, was helped Sunday by
his soon-to-be employer to a third place finish in the Winston 500.
The Winston 500 marked the first race Jeff Gordon hasn't won since Brian Whitesell took over as his crew chief. Whitesell was promoted to the job three weeks ago when Ray Evernham left to start his own team. The transition was smooth -- Gordon won back-to-back races under Whitesell. But the streak stopped Sunday when Gordon finished 12th. It wasn't all bad for the three-time Winston Cup Champion, though. Gordon won three awards on Sunday -- most laps led (71), fastest lap while leading (194.523 mph) and the Hard Charger Award for racing in the top three positions most consistently. No new millionaires at Talladega For only the second time in its promotional history, none of the eligible drivers won the No Bull 5. The bonus program would have paid $1 million to any of five drivers if they won on Sunday. The series sponsor had previously paid out the money in six of the last seven races it was offered. The eligible quintet -- Jeremy Mayfield, Jeff Burton, brother Ward Burton, Mark Martin and Kevin Lepage -- earned the opportunity to go for the big money by finishing in the top five in September in the Southern 500. Ward Burton came the closest to winning Sunday, finishing fourth. Jeff Burton has won two of the five $1 million bonus races this season -- the Pepsi 400 July and in the Southern 500 last month. He wound up eighth. Stelle, Lazzaro remain in hospital Tim Steele and Anthony Lazzaro were both still hospitalized Sunday after being injured in Saturday's Winn Dixie 300 ARCA race. Lazzaro was being treated for a fractured vertebrae in his upper back that would not require surgery. He was scheduled to be released from the hospital on Monday, then travel to Indianapolis for another examination. Steele, a three-time ARCA series champion, was being treated for a concussion. Three other drivers were taken to the hospital, but had been released by Sunday. Mark Stahl was treated for broken ribs, Norm Benning had a badly bruised ankle and Mike Ciochetti had a bruised shoulder. All but Steele were injured in a six-car crash on the backstretch that began when Lazzaro and 1999 series champion Bill Baird banged together. Lazzaro, the 1999 Toyota-Atlantic Series champion who was making his first ARCA start, is scheduled to become a regular in NASCAR's Busch Series next season. Exide: The short-track sponsor Exide Corp. said Sunday it would sponsor next year's ShortTrack Series, the second tier of the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series. The Exide ShortTrack Series competes weekly at 100 dirt and asphalt tracks in 39 different states. The tracks range in size from .250-miles to .626-miles. NASCAR star Jeff Burton used it as a springboard in the early part of his career, racking up 21 NWRS wins. "The NWRS is a great place to gain the necessary experience you need to move up," Burton said. "I learned an awful lot competing on that level." | ALSO SEE Earnhardt wins Winston 500, sweeps Talladega races
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