Wallace Is the One but Shares Day With No. 3

By SHAV GLICK

April 30, 2001 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

FONTANA — More than 115,000 fans were on their feet cheering as Rusty Wallace held off Jeff Gordon to win the NAPA Auto Parts 500 Winston Cup race Sunday at California Speedway, but the day belonged to Dale Earnhardt.

Sunday would have been the Intimidator’s 50th birthday and there were reminders all day long.

On the third lap, in memory of the black No. 3 car that Dale drove, there was a moment of silence and many in the huge throng held up three fingers as the 43 cars raced down the front straightaway.

After taking the checkered flag, Wallace dedicated the win to his old friend and foe and drove around the two-mile track holding a huge No. 3 flag out the window of his Miller Ford.

“I’ve wanted to do something for Dale ever since he lost his life,” Wallace said. “We had the flag all put together at Rockingham and my plan was to ride around with the flag and have Richard Childress [Earnhardt’s car owner] help me with it, but we didn’t win so it never happened.

“I kept waiting and waiting and when we finally won today the first thing I said on the radio was ‘Where’s that flag at?’ Tom Polansky, the fella that helps me, said, ‘I’ll be at the start-finish line.’ That was a neat feeling to carry the flag around for Dale and have it be his birthday, too. That was for Dale and Teresa and the whole Earnhardt family. I hope they know I did it for them because I like them a lot. Dale meant a lot to me and Patti, my wife.

“But the doggone flag was so big and so heavy that I couldn’t run but about 25 miles an hour. It was ready to blow out of my hand, so that was the reason I drove so slow.”

That was the only slow lap the veteran Penske driver took all day as he came from the 19th starting position to first claim the lead on lap 151 and then hold it for the final 46 laps of the 250-lap race. He finished a scant 0.270 of a second ahead of Gordon.

And in an eerie circumstance, Earnhardt’s son, Dale Jr., finished third.

“It was mostly a bad week, wrecking the primary car, having to start in the back [38th] in the backup and falling a lap back, but we got back up there and it’s my daddy’s birthday and we come home third so we’ve got something to celebrate,” Earnhardt Jr. said.

Fourteen drivers led at least one lap, but most of them came while the front-running cars were pitting. There were four serious leaders--Wallace, Gordon, Jimmy Spencer and Johnny Benson.

Spencer led 45 laps in the early going and it appeared that Mr. Excitement might be on the way to his first win since 1994. When Bobby Labonte spun in the infield on lap 60, it brought out the first yellow flag and the end of Spencer’s hopes. When all the leaders pitted, Spencer came in first but was seventh coming out.

Now it was Benson’s turn in front. That only lasted 12 laps before Gordon, who had been picking off cars one at a time in coming from 17th, asserted himself.

“We had things going our way for a while, especially when we were running in clean air, but toward the end the car got real, real tight and we couldn’t free it up enough,” Gordon said. “Track position is so important.

“If I could have got in front of Rusty, it would have been a different deal, but that wasn’t the case. When I got by [Tony] Stewart and started running down Rusty, I thought maybe I’d have a shot at him. We made it look good anyway and after the way things have been going, we’re pretty happy with second place.”

Gordon’s finish helped him draw within 66 points of series leader Dale Jarrett, who finished 24th.

Wallace assumed complete command after the final round of pit stops under green flag conditions. A 15.3-second stop on lap 199 for tires and fuel put him in a strong position as the field sorted itself out. Gordon was leading, then Earnhardt Jr. took over, followed by Kevin Harvick and Todd Bodine, but after everyone had pitted, Wallace was in front to stay.

“We had a dynamite car and ran strong,” Wallace said. “You have to worry when you see Gordon in your mirrors, but we held him off.”

It wasn’t easy.

Wallace had a commanding lead, as much as 40 car lengths, before a final caution flag came out on lap 231 when Mark Martin and Ward Burton spun out and Burton hit the wall.

“The caution came out,” Wallace said, “and we [crew chief Robin Pemberton] talked and he said, ‘Let’s do four tires.’ And I said, ‘Man, are you sure? There’s gonna be a bunch of guys do two.’ Then he said, ‘You’re running fine, do you need to pit?’ And I said, ‘Not really.’ Then he told me to stay out and then everybody stayed out. If I had come down pit road, it would have been suicide.”

When racing resumed, Wallace broke in front with Todd Bodine, a lap behind, right on his heels, followed by Stewart, Gordon, Earnhardt Jr. and Jeremy Mayfield. Gordon passed Stewart and then got by Bodine and set after Wallace. He cut the margin from three seconds to two, then to a fraction, but could never make it past the flying No. 2 Ford.

It was Wallace’s 54th career win, tying him with the late Lee Petty for seventh on the all-time list. It was also his third win in Southern California.

“This has been a good track for Mr. Penske, Jeremy winning last year and me winning today,” Wallace said. “As soon as I was in Victory Lane, he was on the phone calling us and congratulating us. He felt good about it and he was the one--he and his team--who dreamed this track up and designed it and built it. It’s probably one of the prettiest tracks on the circuit and it feels especially good to win on his track.

“Southern California’s been good to me too. I won the last couple of races at Riverside and then to come out here and win again and have my name enshrined on the trophy, that’s just great.”

Wallace averaged 143.118 mph in the 3-hour 29-minute race in which there were six caution periods for a total of 30 laps.

The race put an end to talk that drivers need to start up front to win. Wallace started 19th, Gordon 17th and Earnhardt Jr. 38th. Pole-sitter Bobby Labonte, who twice spun in the infield, wound up 22nd.

Wallace’s win was Ford’s fifth in 10 races. Chevrolets have won the other five.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

THE FINISH

Top three finishers in the NAPA Auto Parts 500 at California Speedway in Fontana:

1. RUSTY WALLACE

Ford, $195,090

2. JEFF GORDON

Chevrolet, $163,902

3. DALE EARNHARDT JR.

Chevrolet, $136,873

MARGIN OF VICTORY

0.270 of a second