Pontiac Excitement 400 Preview
March 2, 1997
Richmond International Raceway
Richmond, Virginia
Race 3 of 32 on Winston Cup circuit
TV: ESPN, 1 p.m. EST
Laps: 400
Track length: 3/4 mile
Race length: 300 miles
Banking: 14 degrees
Purse: $1.4 million
Qualifying record: Jeff Gordon, 124.757 mph, 1995
Race record: Davey Allison, 107.709 mph, 1993
DRIVERS TO WATCH
Jeff Burton -- the 1994 Rookie of the Year keeps threatening to
win a race, and winning here would be in front of a home
crowd; currently fourth in points and coming off a third
place performance at Rockingham; finished fourth in this
race last year and third in the fall race.
Dale Earnhardt -- new crew chief Larry McReynolds hasn't ended
Earnhardt's winless streak -- which now stands at 28 races;
an absolute non-factor at Rockingham last week; heads to
Richmond with an impressive record of five wins, 24 top-fives
and 29 top-10s in 36 starts at Richmond; had four top-fives
in short-track events last year, which is a little off the
pace of his usually impressive short-track mark; has 26 wins
in 155 career short-track starts; he is off to the worst start
of his Winston Cup career.
Jeff Gordon -- looks to become the first driver in history to
open the Winston Cup season with three straight victories;
comes into the race as the defending event champion and the
qualifying record holder; on short-tracks, Gordon was
devastating last year -- finishing in the top five in all
eight races and winning half of the short-track races.
Bobby Hamilton -- is quietly establishing himself as one of the
more consistent drivers at Richmond, finishing each of the
last four races in the top 10 (average finish of seventh);
had a pole and seven top-10s on short-tracks last season;
team owner Richard Petty is far and away the winningest
driver ever at Richmond -- with a record 13 victories.
Ernie Irvan -- earned a win in the fall race and looks to
become the first driver to win two-in-a-row at Richmond
since Terry Labonte in 1994-95; four wins and 20 top-10s
in 62 career short track starts.
Dale Jarrett -- had a break-through year on short-tracks last
season with four top-fives in eight events; finished third
in points collected on a short-tracks last season; picked up
where he left off last season, with strong pre-wreck
performance at Daytona and a nearly dominating performance
before finishing second to Jeff Gordon at Rockingham.
Terry Labonte -- remains steady as can be; comfortably third in
points and continuing his consecutive starts streak -- which
reaches 540 this week; a two-time winner at Richmond (fall
1994 and spring 1995), with 23 top-10s in 37 starts at this
track; has eight wins and 108 top-10s in 158 career
short-track starts.
Mark Martin -- still isn't up to speed on the superspeedways, so
he'll hunt for his first win since October 1995 at Charlotte;
a solid peformer on short-tracks, winning two poles
including the fall at Richmond; has five wins and 50 top-10s
in 91 career short-track starts; handling problems at
Rockingham left him with a 13th place finish -- his first
finish outside of the top 10 in 17 races.
Rusty Wallace -- was second to Jeff Gordon on short-tracks last
season and is certainly not ready to hand over his crown as
"king of the short-tracks"; had a pair of wins and six
top-10s in the eight short-track events last season; career
record of 20 wins and 73 top-10s in 106 short-track starts
remains mind-blowing.
1996 Rearview: Jeff Gordon, who finished next to last in the
first two races of the year, put it all together to win the
1996 Pontiac Excitement 400. Gordon was a contender
throughout, pulling into the lead for good on lap 350.
Gordon kept his Chevrolet Monte Carlo ahead of a bunch of
Fords during three race re-starts to take the victory.
Bobby Hamilton, who had led a race-high 129 laps, was involved
in a bizarre post-race incident when John Andretti rammed into
the rear of Hamilton's Pontiac Grand Prix in apparent
retaliation for a bump he received from Hamilton near the
end of the race.
1996 Top 10 Finishers
1. Jeff Gordon (24), Chevrolet Monte Carlo, $92,400
2. Dale Jarrett (88), Ford Thunderbird, $44,225
3. Ted Musgrave (16), Ford Thunderbird, $42,200
4. Jeff Burton (99), Ford Thunderbird, $22,350
5. Mark Martin (6), Ford Thunderbird, $37,850
6. Bobby Hamilton (43), Pontiac Grand Prix, $37,900
7. Rusty Wallace (2), Ford Thunderbird, $28,375
8. Terry Labonte (5), Chevrolet Monte Carlo, $34,475
9. Ricky Rudd (10), Ford Thunderbird, $27,875
10. Bill Elliott (94), Ford Thunderbird, $27,225
Margin of Victory: 0.56 second
8 caution flags for 36 laps
25 lead changes among 11 drivers
Past Champions:
1996 Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 102.750 mph
1995 Terry Labonte, Chevrolet, 106.425 mph
1994 Ernie Irvan, Ford, 98.334 mph
1993 Davey Allison, Ford, 107.709 mph
1992 Bill Elliot, Ford, 104.378 mph
1991 Dale Earnhardt, Chevrolet, 105.397 mph
1990 Mark Martin, Ford, 92.158 mph
1989 Rusty Wallace, Pontiac, 89.619 mph
1988* Neil Bonnett, Chevrolet, 66.401 mph
1987 Dale Earnhardt, Chevrolet, 81.520 mph
1986 Kyle Petty, Ford, 71.078 mph
1985 Dale Earnhardt, Chevrolet, 67.945 mph
1984**Ricky Rudd, Ford, 76.736 mph
1983 Bobby Allison, Buick, 79.584 mph
1982 Dave Marcis, Chevrolet, 72.914 mph
1981 Darrell Waltrip, Buick, 76.570 mph
1980 Darrell Waltrip, Chevrolet, 67.703 mph
1979 Cale Yarborough, Oldsmobile, 83.608 mph
1978 Benny Parsons, Chevrolet, 80.304 mph
1977 Cale Yarborough, Chevrolet, 73.084 mph
1976+ Dave Marcis, Dodge, 72.792 mph
1975 Richard Petty, Dodge, 74.913 mph
1974 Bobby Allison, 74 Chevrolet, 80.095 mph
1973 Richard Petty, 73 Dodge, 74.764 mph
1972 Richard Petty, 72 Plymouth, 76.258 mph
1971 Richard Petty, 70 Plymouth, 79.836 mph
1970 James Hylton, 69 Ford, 82.044 mph
1969 David Pearson, 69 Ford, 73.752 mph
1968 David Pearson, 68 Ford, 65.217 mph
1967 Richard Petty, 67 Plymouth, 65.982 mph
1966 David Pearson, 64 Dodge, 66.539 mph
1965 Junior Johnson, 65 Ford, 61.416 mph
1964 David Pearson, 64 Dodge, 58.660 mph
1963 Joe Weatherly, 63 Pontiac, 58.624 mph
1962 Rex White, 61 Chevrolet, 51.360 mph
1961 Richard Petty, 60 Plymouth, 62.460 mph
1960 Lee Petty, 60 Plymouth, 62.250 mph
1959 Tom Pistone, 59 Thunderbird, 56.860 mph
* Name of race changed from Miller High Life 400
**Name of race changed from Richmond 400
+ Race changed from 500 laps to 400 laps
