Winston Cup drivers blow out early

By Ron Kantowski

Sunday, March 16, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

All week long, the NASCAR Winston Cup drivers entered in the Las Vegas 300 talked about how strong the regular Busch Series teams and drivers are. As it turned out, they weren't blowing smoke.

Well, reigning Winston Cup champion Terry Labonte and Jimmy Spencer blew a little smoke. But it was literal, as each departed early with engine problems.

There were nine Winston Cup starters in Sunday's race but only two were factors. Crowd favorite Dick Trickle and Michael Waltrip had spirited drives, coming from 23rd and 35th on the 42-car grid to finish second and fourth, respectively.

Trickle put his Dura-Luba Chevrolet out front for 15 laps late in the race before being overhauled by race winner Jeff Green. Waltrip paced four circuits in the Band-Aid Ford during a pit stop shuffle during the second half of the race and ran among the leaders most of the day.

Winston Cup journeyman Greg Sacks moved up quickly from 27th starting position and finished sixth in the Hunter's Specialties Pontiac. But none of the other Cup drivers mounted a serious challenge.

Two-time Daytona 500 champion and current Winston Cup points leader Dale Jarrett started 31st and finished 11th while Bobby Labonte started 25th and soldiered to 12th. Spencer, Labonte, Joe Nemechek (who dominated early before dropping a cylinder) and Mike Wallace were early outs, with Nemechek and Wallace departing in a four-car pileup on lap 122.

Waltrip, who managed to steer clear of frequent wrecks, said he might have finished even higher were it not for some ill-advised pit strategy.

"I really thought we had a chance to win it," said the younger brother of NASCAR icon Darrell Waltrip. "We boo-booed in the pits by staying out and not coming in with everybody else on the last stop. We just didn't have anything left for them (the leaders) at the end."

Jarrett, who struggled with the setup in his White Rain Ford all day, said he was fortunate to finish 11th.

"Our car was just too tight and stayed that way all day," said the winner of last weekend's Primestar 500 Winston Cup event in Atlanta. "The front end just plowed from the exit of turn four to the flag stand."

The afternoon was even more frustrating for Terry Labonte, whose Bayer Chevrolet was down on power for most of it. He finally pulled behind the wall on lap 164.

"We just parked it before we destroyed the car," said the two-time Winston Cup champion. "We'd been having motor problems all week and that's really too bad, because this is a great track for racing.

"I just wish we could have done some today."