Motor Racing Roundup : Waltrip Leads Series After NASCAR Win

Defending champion Darrell Waltrip used speed to his advantage both on the track and in the pits Sunday to become a five-time winner of the Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR race at Concord, N.C.

After pole-sitter Alan Kulwicki’s Ford blew an engine 30 laps from the finish, Waltrip outran Sterling Marlin to win by nearly one second at the Charlotte Motor Speedway’s 1.5-mile oval. They were two of only three cars left on the lead lap.

Waltrip went into the pits three times between laps 222 and 225--all on caution. Then he won the battle of attrition in the 400-lap race. Seventeen of the 42 cars that started the race did not finish.

Ken Schrader, the only other driver on the lead lap, finished third, followed by Geoff Bodine and Bill Elliott. Rounding out the top 10 were Mark Martin, Neil Bonnett, Brett Bodine, Bobby Hillin Jr., and Ricky Rudd.

Waltrip’s victory was also the first victory for the Chevrolet Lumina, which debuted at Talladega, Ala., earlier this month. Waltrip averaged 144.077 m.p.h.

The victory gave Waltrip the lead in the Winston Cup points standings with 1,479. Bodine is next at 1,458 and Dale Earnhardt, who was the leader at the start of the day, has 1,430.

Brazilian Ayrton Senna’s quick starts in his McLaren propelled him to victory in the Mexico City Grand Prix for Formula One cars.

Italians Riccardo Patrese in a Williams Renault, Michele Alboreto in a Tyrrell Ford, and Alessandro Nannini in a Benetton Ford followed Senna across the finish line.

Senna averaged 119.963 m.p.h. over 189.543 miles, which required 69 laps of the course, two more than previous years. Senna was clocked in 1 hour 35 minutes 21.431 seconds.

Senna’s victory puts him in first place in the 1989 world driver’s championship with 27 points. Alain Prost, who had tied Senna for the lead at 18 points, is second with 20.

Yamaha rider Wayne Rainey won a World 500cc Motorcycle Championships race by edging fellow American Eddie Lawson at Hockenheim, West Germany.

Gene Snow, a veteran driver who failed to qualify in the season’s first two races, won the Top Fuel title at the National Hot Rod Assn.’s Cajun Nationals at Erwinville, La.

Bruce Allen won his second consecutive Cajun Pro Stock title, and Mike Dunn took the Funny Car championship.

Snow won the final with a time of 5.167 seconds at 268.41 m.p.h.