| | FORT WORTH, Texas -- Adam Petty became Winston Cup's first
fourth-generation driver, but didn't get to go head-to-head against
his father Sunday in the DirecTV 500.
Kyle Petty's entrance into the race at Texas Motor Speedway was as a replacement driver on lap 229, 14 laps after his 19-year-old son left the track because of engine problems.
"I thought my dream was going to come true there for a minute. It would have been fun to be out there with him," Adam Petty said. "It's just my luck. We blew an engine."
|  | | Bill Elliott's car climbs the hood of Jeff Gordon's Chevrolet during the DirecTV 500 on Sunday. |
Unlike his father and grandfather before him, Adam Petty started his first Winston Cup race alone. Kyle finished ninth in Talladega, Ala., in 1979, five spots behind his father, Richard, whose 1958 debut was in a Toronto race won by father. The eldest Perry, Lee, ran in the first-ever Winston Cup race in 1949.
Despite not finishing the 334-lap race, Adam Petty considered his first Winston race a success.
"At least I didn't tear the car up, and we learned a lot," he said. "I became a 10-times better race-car driver than before I started this race. Those guys out there are the best in the business, and whenever they get to you, they teach you something."
Kyle Petty, who didn't qualify for the DirecTV 500, entered the race as a replacement driver for Elliott Sadler, who bruised a shoulder in a two-car crash on lap 118.
Texas snakebit
Jeff Gordon has never left Texas Motor Speedway without wrecking, but was able to limp to a 25th-place showing, his best at the track.
In Sunday's race, Gordon was involved in a four-car accident on lap 112. After a car in front of him went out of control, Gordon got sideways going into the backstretch. He was hit by Bill Elliott, whose car ended up on top of Gordon's hood.
"I don't know what happened. I'm just a victim," Elliott said. "It was just everybody trying to get to the wrong place at the right time."
Gordon needed several pit stops to make adjustments to the car, including duct tape and the banging out of the crushed hood. But the three-time Winston Cup champ, who started the race 10th in the standings, was able to finish the race to at least get some points.
When leading the inaugural Texas race in 1997, Gordon was involved in a crash that knocked him out. He finished 31st and 30th, respectively, after accidents the last two years.
Tire removal
Winston Cup pit crews will have something else to be concerned about during the crucial seconds their cars make stops.
Beginning in next week's race in Martinsville, Va., each team will be responsible for picking up their right side tires immediately during a pit stop. Teams generally don't pick up the tires until after the car drives away.
Several times during the DirecTV 500, tires ended up on pit row, including one off Matt Kenseth car's that rolled into traffic. Kenseth, a Winston Cup rookie running fourth at the time, was then penalized a lap, but NASCAR officials said the penalty was for pitting outside the marked box and not the wayward tire.
The teams were notified of the rule change during the driver's meeting before Sunday's race. Right-side tears impeding other drivers are likely to result in penalties, beginning next week.
Where's my crew?
Some race-day crew members for Penkse teammates Rusty Wallace and Jeremy Mayfield flew out of North Carolina on Saturday, but didn't arrive at the track until about an hour before Sunday's race.
After a fuel stop in Mississippi, the flight was grounded because of stormy weather. They finally got off the ground Sunday morning after an unexpected night in the Magnolia State.
Both still finished in the top 10, Wallace in fourth place and
Mayfield just two spots farther back.
Spark plugs ...
The first Winston Cup victory by Dale Earnhardt Jr. came just three weeks after his father was in the winner's circle for the 75th time. The last time a father-son duo won during the same Winston Cup season was in 1987 when Bobby and Davey Allison won races. ... There were 29 lead changes among 17 drivers,
both Texas Motor Speedway records, as were the 12 cautions for 62
laps. ... Pole-sitter Terry Labonte, the 1999 winner, finished
eighth for his second top-10 in a row. He led for only the first
three laps. ... Jeff Burton, whose first Winston Cup victory came
in the inaugural race at TMS in 1997, finished second after
starting from the No. 37 spot. ... Former Dallas Cowboys
quarterback Roger Staubach served as the honorary starter. "I hope
I don't screw this up," he said before successfully completing the
waving of the green flag. ... TMS officials said the attendance was
223,000.
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