World 600 : Kyle Petty Avoids Trouble to Win at Charlotte

Kyle Petty was as much the survivor as the winner of Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 stock car race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway.

In a grueling race that claimed all but 16 of the starting field of 42 cars--including pole-sitter Bill Elliott--Petty’s Ford Thunderbird finished more than a lap ahead of Morgan Shepherd and Lake Speed to win the $89,405 purse before a capacity crowd.

Petty’s average speed was 131.483 m.p.h., well short of the track record of 145.327 set by his father, Richard, in 1975.

The pace was slowed by several crashes that resulted in 12 caution periods for 68 laps.

Petty, 26, of High Point, N.C., saved most of his praise for the Wood Brothers Racing Team.

“They got me in and out the pits all day,” he said.

Petty, whose only previous Winston Cup win was at the 1986 Miller High Life 400 in Richmond, Va., said luck played a part in his victory.

“Everything seemed to go our way today and we were kind of fortunate,” he said.

Petty, who led for only 35 of the race’s 400 laps, took the lead for good when he beat Rusty Wallace out of the pits after a caution period with 17 laps to go.

Wallace, who developed engine trouble just before the yellow flag, was never able to challenge again for the lead.

Richard Petty, who finished fourth, said the key to Kyle’s victory was his son’s ability to stay out of trouble.

“He did a super job and he ran good all day,” the elder Petty said. “He did exactly what was needed to win the race.”

Although he was more than a full lap behind at the time, Richard Petty’s car crossed the finish line right behind his son’s car.

“I just idled along and watched him,” he said.

Said Kyle Petty: “I’m just glad he was a lap down because I didn’t want to have to hold him back.”

Darrell Waltrip finished fifth, followed by Terry Labonte, Buddy Baker, Phil Parsons, Jim Sauter and Wallace.

Wallace built an 8 1/2-second lead with 22 laps remaining in the 400-lap race on the 1.5-mile tri-oval, but fell off the pace when he dropped a cylinder.

Petty moved into the lead for the final time on lap 384 when he got out first during a pit stop on the final caution of the day. He was able to easily drive to victory after Wallace’s mechanical problems left him as the only driver on the lead lap.

It was the seventh time a Wood Brothers car has won at Charlotte Motor Speedway, and the fourth time the team has won the Coca-Cola 600.

Petty was able to avoid problems that plagued numerous top teams during the race. Top drivers Dale Earnhardt, Elliott, Geoff Bodine, Benny Parsons and Ricky Rudd either left the race or spent several laps in the pits with mechanical trouble.

Earnhardt, the current Winston Cup points champion and present leader, was in the pits for 89 laps while his crew replaced a cracked cylinder head. He was black flagged twice later in the race for driving too slowly. He finished in 20th position, 95 laps off the pace.

Elliott was leading the race at its mid-point, but retired from competition with a broken rear suspension on lap 266.

Mechanical problems also cost rookie Davey Allison a chance at winning. Allison, too, was leading the race before he lost a cylinder on lap 327 and fell off the pace.