World 600 : Darrell Waltrip Steals a Low-Fuel, High-Risk Victory

For Darrell Waltrip, it was a choice between the security of a full fuel tank and the risk of going for the checkered flag on empty.

He chose to gamble and won Sunday’s World 600 NASCAR Grand National race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, conserving fuel by running in the draft of Harry Gant and Bobby Allison.

“If we came in (for fuel), we had a good chance of not winning,” he said. “If we stayed out, and didn’t run out of gas, we had a win.

“We stretched it right to the limit,” he said. “The car ran out of gas when I crossed the finish line. It missed going into turn 1. I don’t think I would have made it if it hadn’t been for Allison.”

Waltrip finished 14.11 seconds ahead of Gant’s Chevrolet and 21 laps ahead of polesitter Bill Elliott’s Ford.

Allison finished third on the 1.5-mile quad-oval, followed one lap later by the Chevrolets of Terry Labonte and Dale Earnhardt.

Waltrip, 38, of Franklin, Tenn., drove an average 141.742 m.p.h. He picked up $90,733 for his first victory this year on the 28-race Grand National NASCAR circuit and the 65th win of his career.

An estimated 155,300 people, many drawn by the possibility that Elliott would win $1 million for a third “Big Four” race, packed the speedway for the 42-car contest.

Elliott finished 18th after an 11-minute pit stop to replace his master cylinder. He had won the Daytona 500 and the Winston 500 in Talladega, Ala., and may still take the bonus if he wins the Southern 500 in Darlington, S.C. on Sept. 1.