Gordon Can Say Thanks a Million

Running out of fuel can be painful at any time.

It usually means missing an appointment, a dinner date or maybe even an airline connection. Frustrating, too, because it’s usually no one’s fault but your own.

How about running out of fuel a couple of miles from the filling station and have it cost you a million bucks?

That’s what happened Saturday to Dale Jarrett in the Brickyard 400, a race he dominated until his No. 88 Ford Taurus coasted to a stop the length of a long pit row from his Robert Yates crew on Lap 80 of the 160-lap race. Before an exhausted crew could push the 3,500-pound car to his pit and fill ‘er up, he had lost four laps.

Jeff Gordon, never one to pass up a chance to capitalize on a fellow driver’s mistake, went on to win a caution-marred race in front of a cheering crowd of 350,000 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and with it the $1-million No Bull 5 bonus from the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., sponsor of the Winston Cup series.

Had Jarrett won, the $1 million would have been his.

Gordon, who had pitted a lap earlier, led 67 of the final 80 laps in his Dupont Chevrolet Monte Carlo, and collected an additional $637,625 as the Brickyard winner, but even he was in awe of Jarrett’s power.

“Dale had the only car that was capable of passing any time he wanted,” Gordon said. “When I wanted to pass, I either had to be much faster than the other guy, or sit back and wait for a chance. Jarrett could just charge by.”

The race ended on a caution, with Gordon leading Mark Martin and Bobby Labonte across the stripe after five cars were involved in a back-in-the-pack accident two laps from the end. Twenty-four cars finished on the lead lap.

Shortly before Jarrett ran dry, he led Gordon by more than four seconds, a huge margin when cars are running 170 mph. And even after he fell four laps down, Jarrett time and again outran Gordon and everyone else on restarts after caution flags. He made up all four lost laps before the end came.

Needless to say, he was not a happy warrior at the race’s end after finishing 16th.

“I drive the race car, I come in when they tell me to come in and that’s all I do,” Jarrett snapped. “We ran out of gas. It’s as simple as that.”

Todd Parrott, the shocked crew chief, could only say, “We just ran out.” Parrott’s brother, Brad, added, “We thought we could go to Lap 81. We were a lap short. Evidently, we didn’t figure up that we were gonna outrun them and have a [four-second] lead and burn as much gas as we did.”

Yates, Jarrett’s car owner, tried to be philosophical about the financial disappointment.

“If the guys that worked on that car are smart enough to get a car that good, they’re certainly smart enough to figure out not to let that happen again,” he said. “Nothing has got to be said on Monday morning. Their heart is eating at them right now. Congratulations to the guys who got the million bucks.”

For Gordon, who seems to make a habit of winning big money races, it was the second year in a row he collected a $1-million bonus from RJR. Last year it was the Winston Million for winning the Southern 500 at Darlington, S.C., after having won the Daytona 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte.

“It seems like when they put the big money up, this team just steps up to the plate,” Gordon said. “Any time Andy Schindler [president and chief executive of RJR] comes to the track, he’s writing me a check, so I hope he keeps coming back.

“Indianapolis is such a special place for me, having lived in Pittsboro, [Ind.], for so long, that a win is just something we want to go out there and get. It’s not just the money, it’s a whole lot more. It’s the prestige of what the money does to the race.”

Gordon not only led the most laps, 97, he also had the fastest lap, 172.180 mph, on Lap 109. However, his winning average speed of 126.770 mph was the slowest in the event’s five years because of nine caution flags for 34 laps. During caution flag laps, speed is 65 mph.

It was Gordon’s sixth victory of the season and he became the first two-time Brickyard 400 winner, having won the inaugural in 1994. The win extended his points lead over Martin to 72 after 19 of 33 races.

Dale Earnhardt, the seven-time Winston Cup champion who has not come close to winning since his dramatic victory in the Daytona 500 last February, took the lead briefly late in the race but finished fifth, his best result in 12 races.

“I was in the hunt all day but we didn’t have as much as the Gordon car did,” said Earnhardt, whose son Dale Jr. won a Busch Grand National race Friday night a few miles away at Indianapolis Raceway Park.

With Jarrett out of contention, Gordon said his biggest concern was with Martin, who tucked his Ford Taurus in behind Gordon on three restarts late in the race.

“Mark’s tough, he really made a run on me right there at the end,” Gordon said. “I didn’t want to look in my mirror because I wanted to try and get away from him. I get pretty nervous no matter who I’m battling, but Mark Martin in my eyes is the best out there.”

Said Martin: “I just didn’t have enough car,” he said. “When you’re leading the race and you’ve got the fastest car, man, you know, it’s yours to give it up and I tried to frustrate him, but I just didn’t have enough to put the squeeze on him.”

Could Jarrett have won if he didn’t run out of gas?

“I believe so,” Martin said. “It sure looked like it.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Top Finishers in Brickyard 400

Jeff Gordon took home $1,637,625, which includes a $1-million bonus, for finishing first: *--*

NO. (START) DRIVER HOMETOWN CAR 1. (3) Jeff Gordon Pittsboro, Ind. Chevrolet 2. (7) Mark Martin Batesville, Ark. Ford 3. (10) Bobby Labonte Corpus Christi, Texas Pontiac 4. (16) Mike Skinner Susanville, Calif. Chevrolet 5. (28) Dale Earnhardt Kannapolis, N.C. Chevrolet

*--*

RACE STATISTICS

Margin of victory: Under yellow.

Winner’s average speed: 126.770 mph.

Caution flags: 9 for 34 laps.

Lead changes: 10 among 7 drivers.

Time of race: 3 hours, 9 minutes, 19.165 seconds.

*

Lap leaders: Irvan 1-18, Gordon 19-38, Irvan 39-45, Gordon 46-53, Jarrett 54-80, Martin 81, T. Labonte 82-83, Gordon 84-118, Pressley 119-120, Earnhardt 121-126, Gordon 127-160.

*

Series points leaders: Gordon 2,897, Martin 2,825, Jarrett 2,704, R. Wallace 2,604, Mayfield 2,536, B. Labonte 2,530, T. Labonte 2,379, J. Burton 2,359, Earnhardt 2,272, Schrader, 2,200.

*

COMPLETE RESULTS, C10