From: pmh2962@tamsun.tamu.edu (Patrick Michael Hayes)
Subject: NASCAR: Charlotte Update (spoiler--oops!)
Organization: Texas A&M University, College Station
Date: Mon, 12 Oct 1992 17:47:45 GMT

Howdy!
	Courtesy of the TBS coverage and our clari.sports.motor feed:

WARNING:  Results follow......


	Mark Martin and the Rousch Racing team got the monkey off their back
yesterday -- winning the MY 500 in race--record time.  Pole--sitter
Alan Kulwicki finished 2nd -- losing a chance at the Unocal Bonus bucks
of some $90,000.
	Martin hung on for the win despite a repeat of a battery problem
which contributed to his dropping out of the BGN race on Saturday. Martin
apparently cut an alternator wire, causing the battery to slowly
discharge during the last half of the race. The team elected not to take
the extra time to change the battery during the last pitstop. Saturday
Martin suffered electrical and clutch problems and fell out of the 
BGN race while leading.   
	Kulwicki and Martin traded the top spot thruout the race; the
Hooters TBird was fastest on new tires after pitstops, while Martin's
Valvoline TBird caught up and passed easily after the tires heated up a bit.
	Third was Kyle Petty (Pontiac), who dominated the mid-portion
of the race.  Fourth was Jimmy Spencer, driving Bobby Allison's
TBird -- that team's best-ever showing.  Spencer ran as high as 3rd late
in the race.  Fifth was Ricky Rudd (Chev), whose car was found to ride
.125 inch (that's right:  1/8th inch) too low.  The Tide team was
fined $5000, but allowed to keep their position. 
	For Dan -- Rusty quit at around the halfway point.  I think
something in the engine, or that "big" gear they're using.
	The big news was WC points leader and 2nd place holder Bill
Elliot and Davey Allison tanked it.  Elliot dropped out late after 
bumping the wall and breaking the rear suspension.  He was running around
10th at the time.  Allison chased a poor handling setup all day, finishing
5 laps down.  The net result of Sunday's finishing order is that
Elliott now leads second-place Davey Allison by 39 points, Kulwicki
by 44, Martin by 88 and Harry Gant by 95. Kyle Petty looms back in sixth
place, 111 points behind Elliott, making it the closest Winston Cup
points race in history.
	One interesting insight came out -- the Bud Moore team claimed
to have found their shop's dyno was badly mis-calibrated; giving them
bogus engine data, apparently for _years_!  They tried another team's
engine (or dyno?) and discovered the error just recently.  Look for
more power from these guys (may help explain Geoff's recent string
of short--track wins).

A quote from the claris-feed:
                               ------
	THANKS, A LOT: The scene of the day occurred after race-winner Mark
Martin made his post-race trip to the press box. When he attempted to
cross the track to return to his garage area, the gate under the
starter's tower was locked.
	Martin had to climb the 12-foot wheel-fence in order to get across.
	Imagine what would have happened if he had lost?
                               ------
-- 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pat Hayes, Meteorology, TAMU  <whoop!>  " ... Aggie by the grace of God."
net: phayes@tamu.edu -or- O&M 1008, TAMU, CS, TX 77843-3150 (409)845-1680 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: rec.autos.sport