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Sunday, Aug. 20
When Ricky Rudd and Bobby Labonte took on two tires
during their last pit stop it gave them the track position
they needed to finally get by Rusty Wallace. But when
Robby Gordon's crash brought out the caution with 16
laps to go, it was Wallace with four fresh tires who again
gained the upper hand.
Robin Pemberton made the call to go with four tires, and
Wallace did question his crew chief's decision a little bit.
After all, this is a driver who's lost more than his share
of races in 2000 because of calls late in the race that
didn't go his way.
After taking two tires earlier in the race to get his own
track position, Wallace faded late in the run and saw
both Rudd and Labonte overtake him. So, under the only
green-flag stop of the race, the No. 2 team gambled on
four tires. And with four fresh tires, Wallace lost the
lead, but was making up about two-tenths of a second a
lap with 30 laps to go. And when that late caution came
out, it took less than two laps after the restart for
Wallace to overtake both Labonte and Rudd.
Wallace may have caught up without the yellow, but it
was certainly much easier to make up two car lengths
than the two seconds he was behind the leaders before
Gordon's accident.
Now with three victories, Wallace ties Tony Stewart for
the series lead in 2000. Wallace's victory also marks his
first top-five finish at Michigan Speedway in eight races
-- dating back to June of '96.
Up next is Bristol, a track where Rusty has won two of
the past three races -- including his magical 50th career
victory back in the spring.
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BROOKLYN, Mich. -- Rusty Wallace had grown tired of leading races only to give them away at the end. So Wallace used
four fresh tires on his final pit stop to clear his way to victory in Sunday's Pepsi 400 at Michigan Speedway.
During the final pit stop sequence with 30 laps to go, most of the leaders pitted for two tires instead of four because that
combination had worked for most of the 200-lap race. But Wallace decided to stop for four new tires and the extra time in the
pits dropped him to third behind Ricky Rudd and Bobby Labonte.
Wallace was catching up to the leaders at two-tenths to three-tenths of a second per lap before getting a break when the
final caution flag flew for a three-car spin involving Robby Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Mike Bliss. That bunched the
field for the final restart with 17 laps remaining.
It took Wallace just one lap to take the lead. Two laps later, he was pulling away. With five laps remaining, Wallace was
over two seconds ahead of Rudd and well on his way to the checkered flag.
Wallace's third win of the season, however, was almost upstaged Sunday by another altercation between Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart.
"I had a hot rod all day long," said Wallace who has won five of his 52 career NASCAR Winston Cup races at Michigan Speedway. "I figured I had a first- or second-place car all day. I knew I'd have to race Ricky Rudd, because he was quicker than me.
"The four-tire change was the way to go today. We loosened the left rear of the car up on the last stop. Those were about all
the changes we made today. It was a great car all day long."
Wallace, who beat Rudd by 2.971 seconds, averaged 132.586 mph in
a race which took 3:01.01 to complete. Dale Jarret was fourth and Johnny
Benson of nearby Grand Rapids, Mich., was fifth.
The difference between Wallace's and Rudd's Fords was evident. After 30 laps, Rudd's car would have the advantage and he would
be able to pass Wallace for the lead and pull away. That would only work on a long run, and with 17 laps left, Wallace had the
edge.
"Ricky was better than me about 30 laps into a run," Wallace said. "He would run me down, catch me and get past me. I was
better than him on the earlier runs, but late in the run he would get me.
"It was just a gamble. We had to go for it. At that point, I was feeling pretty confident, but you know as well as I do, it's not
over until it's over. I was waiting to go down that back straightaway and the motor blow up or a tire go flat or a crash
or something. But, if everything remained normal, I felt confident about the outcome."
For the second straight week, the outcome of the race was almost
upstaged by an incident involving Gordon and Stewart.
The brash Stewart, as he did a week earlier at Watkins Glen,
took Gordon into a wall, causing serious damage. That time, the two
almost got in a fistfight. But it didn't lead to such bad blood on
this occassion.
Stewart was running second to Wallace when his car got loose and
touched pole-sitter Dale Earnhardt Jr. on lap 37.
Earnhardt Jr. drove on, but Stewart's Pontiac began to swerve
badly. The car got sideways between the first and second turn and
spun into Gordon, who was trying to get past the trouble on the
high side.
Gordon's car slammed into the wall, damaging the front end, and
he had to take the multi-colored Chevrolet in to have the brakes
repaired.
"I just lost it down there," Stewart said. "We were just
racing hard out there. It was my fault. I just got down into one
and I don't know why I got loose. I hadn't been loose there all
day.
"For some reason, it just got loose that one lap down there and
I crashed a bunch of people I didn't mean to crash. It was my
fault. I just lost it."
Actually, the only driver he caused to crash was Gordon. But
that was enough.
The start of the race had been overshadowed all week by the feud
a week earlier between Gordon and Stewart at Watkins Glen. In that
race, Stewart caused Gordon to go into the wall while Gordon was
trying to pass on an `S' curve. Gordon vowed a payback during a
shouting match later in the garage area.
|  | | Rusty Wallace takes the checkered flag Sunday at Michigan Speedway. |
"I'm sure a lot of people were wondering what was going to
happen with the 20 and 24," said Gordon, whose car was taken to
the garage. "But it had nothing to do with this weekend at all. He
was racing hard and it looked like he just got real loose.
"I saw the 20 car wiggle and it looked like it got real
sideways."
The race went on for 41 laps while Gordon's crew installed new
brakes. He rejoined the race while the leaders still had 119 laps
to go, but completed only 141 laps before retiring the car.
Kerry Earnhardt, making his first Winston Cup start, hit the
wall on the fourth turn of his sixth lap, bringing out the first of
the race's eight caution flags.
"The car was running real loose," he said. "We were just
trying to stay out of trouble and bring it in on the first caution.
But another car got underneath me on turn 3 and took away my air. I
thought I could hang on to it, but I spun out and hit the wall."
Still, it was just the start of a so-so day for all three
Earnhardts in this race. Dale Jr., despite starting first, spun
onto the infield grass while swerving to avoid Robby Gordon on lap
177 and finished 31st. Their father, The Intimidator himself,
finished sixth after taking a provisional to start 37th.
Bill Elliott, on lap 124, went into the wall at the exit of the
second turn with a cut right tire. That caution period led to a
mass pit stop, with Rudd leading Jeff Burton. Wallace was back in
front when they all came out and the caution was lifted.
Rudd and Wallace raced hard around the banked 2-mile speedway
for the next few laps, swaping the lead back and forth several
times.
It was great entertainment for the sun-drenched fans, yet the
race may have hinged on pit strategy.
Wallace went in with 30 laps to go and took on fuel plus four
new tires, all in 16.1 seconds. The others waited until lap 173 to
make their final pit stop. Rudd, who went in with that group, took
on only two new tires -- both on the right side of the car.
Wallace, who won at Bristol, Tenn. in May and the second Pocono
race in July, was running third behind Rudd and Labonte when the
spin by Earnhardt Jr. and Robby Gordon brought the caution flag out
on lap 177. The difference was that Wallace had the four new tires
while the others had taken on just two.
"I didn't think I was going to catch those guys," Wallace
said. "But the caution flag came out and they were sitting on two
tires. They gambled, but we went for four and ... when they dropped
that (restart) flag, the Miller Lite Ford took off like a bullet."
There were 21 lead changes among eight drivers and 12 of the 43
cars failed to finish. There were 38 laps run under the eight
cautions.
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ALSO SEE
Pepsi 400 results
Notebook: Rough day for young Earnhardts
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Rusty Wallace takes the checkered flag at Michigan Speedway.
avi: 1371 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
An excited Rusty Wallace speaks from Victory Lane.
avi: 2233 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Rusty Wallace goes low to pass Ricky Rudd with just 17 laps to go.
avi: 1039 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Leaders Wallace and Rudd make contact, but Wallace keeps his car out of the wall.
avi: 942 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Isn't it ironic? Tony Stewart crashes and takes out Jeff Gordon.
avi: 1187 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Kerry Earnhardt describes what happened on Lap 5 when his day ended in the wall.
avi: 1401 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Pepsi 400 winner Rusty Wallace talks with ESPN's Dr. Jerry Punch on RPM 2Night.
RealVideo: 28.8
 Rusty Wallace talks about holding on after making contact on lap 118.
wav: 212 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Ricky Rudd says Wallace's four fresh tires were the deciding factor at the end.
wav: 342 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Bobby Labonte just couldn't get comfortable.
wav: 143 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Dale Jarrett and his crew had to make radical changes midway through the race.
wav: 386 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Tony Stewart talks about the crash that ended his day and nearly ended Jeff Gordon's as well.
wav: 248 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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