Race in Texas Showdown
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Race in Texas Showdown |
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Jeff's Rousch Racing teammate Mark Martin was the pre-race favorite after testing the tires for Goodyear and winning the Busch race on Saturday. Indeed, Mark's car was strong. He was able to get by Dale Jarrett to get the lead, only to blow his engine. Blown engines are normally a rare occurrence for the Rousch team, but their other teammate, Ted Musgrave had engine trouble also. After Musgrave's engine let go, everyone started wondering if Jeff Burton's power plant would last the whole day. In the closing laps, after Jeff had gained a considerable lead on second place, Dale Jarrett, Buddy Parrott, Jeff's crew chief, told him to slow the pace. Jeff still crossed the finish line some 5 seconds before Dale. 
The race was slowed ten times for wrecks. The drivers blamed a narrow entrance to turn one and exit from turn four, and a narrow front straight-away for the difficulties. The first wreck of the day came going into turn one for the very first time. Darrell Waltrip thought he had the low line, but Johnny Benson was there, causing a fifteen car pile-up. Waltrip, Bobby Hamilton, Jeremy Mayfield, and Robbie Gordon were all heavily damaged. Dale Earnhardt lost a lap in the incident. The most frightening incident of the day came when Rusty Wallace lost the handle on his Miller Lite Ford coming off of turn four. He slammed the wall and slid down the front straight into the tri-oval. As Ernie Irvan raced backed to the caution flag at full speed, he slammed into Greg Sacks, who had already slowed to avoid Rusty's car. The narrow straight-away left nowhere for Jeff Gordon to go, and he ran into the back of Irvan, ending his day early. Earnhardt recorded his best finish of the year. He was able to regain his lost lap and finished 6th. Dale Jarrett extended his points lead to 95 points. |
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