Elliott Wins Fastest 500-Mile Race in History

Bill Elliott rallied from more than a lap down and pushed his Ford over 205 m.p.h. in the closing laps to win the NASCAR Winston 500 in world-record time at Talladega, Ala.

In the fastest 500-mile race in history, Elliott averaged 186.288 m.p.h. to edge Kyle Petty by 1.72 seconds as Fords took the first three places. Petty, posting the best finish of his NASCAR career, shaded veteran Cale Yarborough in a fender-to-fender fight for the runner-up spot.

Yarborough led for 97 of the 188 laps at the 2.66-mile Alabama International Motor Speedway. But Elliott snatched the lead back with 20 laps left and held on for his fourth victory in five superspeedway races this year.

“This track is built to run just as fast as a driver can stand it,” Elliott said after picking up $60,500 for the victory.

In addition to his winner’s purse, Elliott guaranteed himself another $100,000 by taking the second of the four-event Winston Million promotion.

A victory at either the World 600 or the Southern 500 would give Elliott the $1-million bonus. He already had won the Daytona 500.

Italy’s Elio De Angelis won the grueling Grand Prix of San Marino after the disqualification of top finisher Alain Prost of France and several withdrawals in the last few laps at Imola, Italy.

Prost was disqualified two hours after the award ceremony because race stewards determined that his McLaren-Tag was underweight by 4.4 to 8.8 pounds.

Formula One racers must have a minimum weight of 1,190 pounds. According to stewards, Prost’s car, which was weighed four times, weighed between 1,182 and 1,186 pounds.

De Angelis was awarded his second Grand Prix victory although finishing 38.83 seconds behind Prost in a Lotus-Renault.

The victory gave De Angelis 16 points and the lead in the world standings, four points ahead of fellow Italian Michele Alboreto, the Ferrari driver who was among those who withdrew.

Fatih cruised to a front-running victory Sunday in the $313,000 Golden Gate Handicap at Golden Gate Fields in Albany, Calif. Ridden by Terry Lipham, the winner covered the 1 3/8 miles in 2:15 2/5 and finished 1 1/2 lengths ahead of Fact Finder. Fatih paid $7.80.

Ken and Lisa Martin of Mesa, Ariz., became the first husband-and-wife team to win individual titles in the same major marathon when they took top honors in the first Pittsburgh Marathon at Pittsburgh.

Ken Martin, 26, an assistant track coach at Arizona State, was timed in 2:12:57. Lisa Martin, 24, was clocked in 2:31:54.

Between them, the Martins collected slightly more $50,000, including $40,000 in first-place money and $3,000 for their TAC championships.

John Moreno of Pacifica, Calif., won the first New Jersey Waterfront Marathon with a personal best time of 2:12:49.9 at Jersey City, N.J.

Bill Rodgers of Sherborn, Mass., was second in 2:14:45.8.

Unseeded Cliff Swain, down two games to one, overcame third-seeded Gregg Peck of Austin, Tex. to win the eighth annual Ektelon racquetball national championships at the Sports Gallery in Anaheim. The scores were 11-1, 3-11, 7-11, 11-3, 11-4.

Swain, 19, of Boston, defeated No. 1-seeded Marty Hogan of St. Louis in the quarterfinals and his brother, No. 5-seeded Dave Peck of El Paso, Tex. in the semifinals.

Lynn Adams, 27, of Costa Mesa continued her domination in the women’s ranks by defeating Dianne Bullard of Orlando, Fla., 21-9, 21-9, 21-9. It was Adams’ 23rd tournament championship in 38 tries.

Swain earned $10,000, Adams $7,000.

Jud Logan of North Canton, Ohio, broke his own American record in the hammer throw with a mark of 253-5 at the Jesse Owens track meet in Columbus, Ohio.

Logan broke the mark of 252-3 he set last weekend at the Mount San Antonio College Relays, bettering Bill Green’s mark of 251-0.