Waltrip Takes Low Road to 500 Victory : He Goes Past Richmond on Next-to-Last Lap and Wins at Riverside

NASCAR racing is known for its wild finishes and Sunday’s Budweiser 400 on the 2.62-mile Riverside International Raceway road circuit certainly fit that bill.

For 93 of the scheduled 95 laps, the crowd of 45,126 was treated to your standard close racing, with Tim Richmond’s Chevy leading Darrell Waltrip, also in a Chevy, by about 10 car lengths, with Terry Labonte, who was trying for his third straight victory in this race, another 10 seconds back in third place.

Then came lap 94. Richmond and Waltrip flashed by the starting line and were on their way toward the esses (turns 3, 4 and 5) when Labonte went roaring into Turn 1. His Oldsmobile smacked the retaining wall and flipped a couple of times, bringing out the yellow flag.

The word was quickly relayed to Waltrip by his crew on the radio and he knew he only had this lap to make his move.

He followed Richmond down the back straightaway and pulled alongside him entering turn nine.

“My crew called me on the radio and told me there was going to be a caution but the track was clear and to race hard,” Waltrip said.

“So basically I knew I would have to make the move I had hoped to try on the last lap. I knew if I could stay close to him, I had a good chance to pull it off.”

“When we went into turn nine, he went low, so I went high. I got alongside him on the outside and when he went to get back into the gas coming out his car pushed up. It gave me a chance to turn under him and then I was able to out drag him down the straight to the line. It was close and we both could have crashed, but he kept control of his car and I did mine,” Waltrip said.

And that was the race as the cars finished the final lap behind the pace car, giving Waltrip the $49,000 first-place money. Richmond, who appeared to have the fastest car most of the day, had to settle for $22,155.

Ricky Rudd finished third with Rusty Wallace fourth and Dale Earnhardt fifth.

Despite finishing the race on the yellow flag, Waltrip averaged 105.083 m.p.h. for the 400 kilometers (248.9 miles).

The early part of the race was a shifting battle with Waltrip, who set a new one-lap record of 117.066 m.p.h., Richmond, who started in the second row, and Labonte, a third-row starter, taking turns leading the field.

With Labonte leading and Richmond second, a yellow flag came out on lap 70. As Labonte and Richmond already were passed the pits, they had to go around one more time while Waltrip, third at the time, and the rest of the pack raced into the pits for fuel and new tires for the dash to the finish line.

“It was a good break for me that my crew got me out first because when we restarted I was in the clear and Tim and Terry were at the back of the lead pack,” Waltrip said.

Richmond was sixth when they restarted, but he quickly moved up and finally caught Waltrip on the on the back straight of lap 81.

However Waltrip said he wasn’t worried.

“He definitely was faster when we were on fresh tires, but we were quicker on used ones and 20 laps was just about the right amount of time to wear the tires,” he said.

“All in all it was a great weekend,” Waltrip said. “We still all got all four fenders and winning my first pole and race of the year makes me feel a whole lot better about the rest of the year.”

That was an opinion not shared by Richmond.

“There was nothing good about it,” a still angry Richmond said about the series of events that ended up costing him his first victory of the year.

A couple of laps before Waltrip’s winning move, Richmond and J.D. McDuffie touched while going through turn nine, with McDuffie spinning into the infield and Richmond going on but with body damage to his car.

“The contact bent a fender and caused the tire to rub which sure didn’t help any,” he said.

Said McDuffie: “I was down as low as I thought I could go. I was looking at another car and I didn’t see him (Richmond). I guess he kinda snuck up on me and hit me. If he’s saying I caused it, I guess what is fair, is fair.”

Richmond also felt that another Waltrip, Darrell’s younger brother Mike, also played a part in his losing. Young Waltrip was against the wall in turn nine after a tangle with Harry Gant and McDuffie when Richmond came into turn 9 of the 94th lap.

“When I came around I saw that car and I slowed down and Darrell was able to get around me.”

Both Mike Waltrip and Labonte escaped injury in their mishaps, leaving the only hurt of the day to the feelings of Richmond.