Dale Earnhardt continues to write the book at Daytona. For the third straight year and fourth in the last five, Earnhardt won the Daytona edition of the International Race of Champions race.
With assistance from Indy driver Robby Gordon. Earnhardt forced the issue and drafted to the front passing Terry Labonte on lap 38 and then watched Robby Gordon and Tommy Kendall battle it out for second.
The new Pontiac Firebirds performed well in their first race. The drafting that normally takes place during an IROC race was not present until late in the race, but that was attributed to the drivers comfort levels and the breezy conditions that they were racing under.
Earnhardt changed that after pitting for tires when the caution flag flew for Steve Kinser's contact with the wall. In a move that angered some drivers, Earnhardt and Robby Gordon and a few others stopped to change right-side tires. Race leaders Terry Labonte and Mark Martin didn't.
An old rule that a tire change would result in a one lap penalty, apparently had been dropped due to the reliability of the new Goodyear radials. Jay Signore indicated they felt there was no significant advantage to changing radials.
With new rubber and an aggresive Robby Gordon assisting him in the draft, Earnhardt started slicing through the field until he passed Labonte on lap 38.
Earnhardt was impressed with Robby Gordon driving style, "I'll tell you I'm glad Robby Gordon is not going to be running in Sunday's race, he is awfully tough and he is awfully tough in the draft."
Pos # Driver Car Series Laps Notes
1 6 Dale Earnhardt Purple Winston Cup 40 Running
2 10 Robby Gordon Red Road Racing 40 Running
3 2 Tom Kendall Bright Blue Road Racing 40 Running
4 5 Sterling Marlin Lime Winston Cup 40 Running
5 7 Al Unser Jr. Gold Indy Car 40 Running
6 12 Jeff Gordon Pink Winston Cup 40 Running
7 4 Terry Labonte Yellow Winston Cup 40 Running
8 3 Mark Martin Powder Blue Winston Cup 40 Running
9 11 Johhny Benson Black Winston Cup 40 Running
10 9 Scott Pruett Orange Indy Car 40 Running
11 1 Steve Kinser Green World of Outlaws 30 Accident
12 8 Rusty Wallace White Winston Cup 21 Mechanical
Average Speed: 187.793 mph
Time of Race: 31 Mintes 57 Seconds
Margin of Victory: 2 car lengths
Bonus Points
Lap Leaders: Kinser lap 1 0
Kendall 2 - 10 3
Labonte 11 - 37 5
Earnhardt 38 - 40 2
Series Points:
D. Earnhardt 23 R. Gordon 17 T. Kendall 17 T. Labonte 13 S. Marlin 12 A. Unser Jr. 10 J. Gordon 9 M. Martin 7 J. Benson Jr. 6 S. Pruett 5 S. Kinser 4 R. Wallace 3
The total purse of $760,000 will be paid upon conclusion of the series based on point standings. The series champion will receive $225,000.
ABC Sports will televise the Daytona IROC race, Sunday March 10 at 5:00 pm est.
Next IROC race is at Talladega on Aril 27th.
Steve Kinser:"It got pushing and just wore the (right front tire) oyt. We had a rough go from the very beginning. Kinser was forced to change cars at the start due to a leaking oil line."
Al Unser Jr.:
"For sure tires were the story. All the guys that came in and hanged them, they won the race. The Pontiacs were all pretty much equal. Everybody was holding their own. You could see the guys abused their tires they were going away. So they came in, changes their tires, and went out and won the race."
Mark Martin:
"We were fine, (until) they let Dale change tires."
Jay Signore:
"We didn't know what to expect from the cars. It turned out pretty decently. We have some drivers who are a little mad at us. We'll get through that, fix up our problems and make everubody happy again. For a long time we had a tire rule where if you came in and changed tires you were penalized a lap."
"With the Goodyear radial tire being so good we decided to forgo that rule. Unfortunately, like any rule it comes back to haunt biteyou now and again. It bit us today. We had a couple of drivers -- Terry Labonte and Mark Martin -- who didn't really want to talk to me except for a few words. They were pleasant enough. Once it calms down hopefully we can sit down and have a meeting of the minds."
Robby Gordon:
Some of Mark Martin's guys told me if you can, get right behind Earnhardt and stick with him. I helped push him all the way to the front. At the end Tommy Kendall and I got side-by-side and that dragged me down a little bit."
Dale Earnhardt:
"We were really fortunate, unfortunate for Kinser, that he hit the wall. The car was starting to push real bad and it gave up the right front real bad. It was vibrating and I was concerned about our car. When theyhad the problem off of two, then we came in and got tires, just like Jeff Gordon, Robby Gordon and a coule of other guys.
"I tell you, I'm glad Robby Gordon isn't going to be in Sunday's race. He's awfully tough; and he's awfully tough in the draft. He really made it an exciting time. He's awfully fast.
On coming in for tires: "I felt our right front was unsafe and as a driver, I made the decision to come and see if they'd give me rightsides. They did. I made a judgement call that worked out for me. Robby Gordon did. Kendall did. The other guys didn't.
