Wallace claims Food City 500 for win No. 50

BRISTOL, Tenn. - Relying on a combination of aggressive attack and defensive driving, Rusty Wallace Sunday won NASCAR's version of the tough-man competition.

Wallace survived a typically slam-bam Bristol Speedway battle to claim the Food City 500 before an estimated 155,000 fans - the largest crowd ever to witness a sports event in the state.

"I love this place," said Wallace, who dodged a flurry of spins and crashes and at one point exchanged angry gestures with Jimmy Spencer before sailing to a 2.6-second victory over Johnny Benson.

"This is the number-one most exciting track on the circuit," said Wallace, the defending race champion who became the sixth different winner in six Winston Cup events this season.

"This was my 50th career victory and winning 50 was a big goal of mine. In fact it was almost an obsession. I got my first win here in 1986 and it's a great place to get my 50th. Bristol has always been my favorite track."

Wallace put his Ford out front three times for 86 laps of the 500-lap chase, including the final 76.

"I'd have liked to have seen it go 15 laps longer," said Benson after his career-best finish.

Ward Burton, coming off a win last week at Darlington, was third, followed by Jeremy Mayfield and Terry Labonte.

Bobby Labonte held onto the Winston Cup points lead with a sixth-place finish. Jeff Gordon was eighth, extending his career-worst streak of non-top-five finishes to 11.

Gordon led a race-high 225 laps before hitting a loose tire on pit road and smashing in the nose of his Chevy. Sterling Marlin was 10th, Bobby Hamilton 15th and Darrell Waltrip 31st.

Dale Earnhardt charged in front shortly before the midway point, but two laps later ploughed into a spinning Kenny Irwin, wiping out any chance of victory. Earnhardt finished 39th.

Wallace's 50th victory paid $87,585 and tied him with Junior Johnson and Ned Jarrett for eighth all-time. Wallace started sixth, and with 75 laps to go felt he had the car to beat.

"Gordon had his problems there and that helped me a little bit," he said. "And then all of a sudden the car started handling. I had been loose all day long, but man, it just took off. I was flying at the end."

Wallace said he had three close brushes with crashes, but one of the more tense moments came during a pit stop when a photographer interfered with a tire change.

"A damn photographer was standing on the air hose," Wallace said. "Crew chief Robin Pemberton knocked him out of the way and we managed to get a good pit stop."

Wallace said he had chased the 50th victory for so long "that I was starting to feel like it was some sort of jinx. It just wouldn't come. I was pretty brutal on the crew this week, pretty rough on them.

"When I got that last lead, I got on the radio and told them we couldn't let this get screwed up."

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