NASCAR Full Race Replay: 1987 First Union 400 | North Wilkesboro Speedway

we are back at North Wilkesboro North Carolina where the field is rolling out for the start of today's 400 lap race on this 0.625 Mile racetrack here's the starting line up on the pole from Dawsonville Georgia in the number-9 course Ford qualifying at 116 point O 3 and new record Bill Elliott outside of Road number 1 will be Benny Parsons in the number 35 Folgers coffee Chevrolet in row number 2 on the inside it's Dale Earnhardt from Kannapolis North Carolina in the Wrangler jeans Chevy outside Bobby Allison in the number 22 Miller American fueling in the third row it's Terry Labonte in car number 11 he'll take the pace lap and then will be replaced by Brett Bodine on the outside of the third row will be number 17 Darrell Waltrip the tide Chevrolet in the fourth row number five Jeff Bodine and 26 Morgan Shepherd in the fifth row it's Rusty Wallace in 27 and Michael Waltrip in number 30 the sixth row Ricky Rudd and number 15 and Kyle Petty in 21 row number 7 has Ken Schrader in number ninety and number 18 Dale Jarrett in row number eight it's Richard Petty in 43 and Harry Gant in 33 the ninth row has Phil Parsons in number 55 and Sterling Marlin in 44 row number 10 Alan Kulwicki in number 7 and Larry Pearson in 16 in the eleventh row it's Neil Bonnett and Steve Chrisman then to the next row it's Rodney combs and Jerry cranber-- in the thirteenth row Jesse samples junior in 34 and Bobby Hillin jr. in number eight in the fourteenth row Jimmy means in 52 Dave Marcus and 71 the next of the last row 81 any verse Whelan number six Bob Baker and then on the last row at slick Johnson at number 12 and number 70 JD McDuffie let's go down to Jerry punch for more on this Labonte Brett Bodine story well a NASCAR rules on page 17 rule 11 - six states that a driver must complete at least one pace lap he must get in the car come around one time then they can make it Robert change Terry Labonte nine boys will get credit for today's race but he is making his way down pit road here comes the Budweiser Chevrolet to a halt the window net already down young Brentford I'm 28 year-old driver function silly Engel pulling Levani from the car with Terry asked exactly how he feels he's getting that helmet off and Terry how is the shoulder well it's still a little bit sore I think I could probably run to the first caution but you know if something was to happen and you know there was another wreck or something I guess I could get hurt worse well Terry Labonte here and probably behind will guide the car at Bristol Tennessee next week on the ESP at cameras and hopefully both Labonte we back in the car for Martinsville two weeks away all right Thank You Jerry they will take a couple of more laps now before we get the green flag so Brett Bodine is going to have ample opportunity to catch up with the field and get into his assigned position for the start of this race now our in-car camera our Hardee's race cam is being carried in the number 90 ken Schrader car and we'll be with him throughout the afternoon hopefully until races in let's try to contact Ken on the radio to find out how things are going for him can this pop Jenkins up in the ESPN control booth though can you read me all right Ken race is set to go in about a lap and a half what are your anticipations here for this 400 lap er can I rent car cameras working fine we look forward to being with you throughout the race good luck to you he is starting in 13th position although he was the seventh fastest qualifier overall he was forced to qualify in the supplemental session Saturday afternoon remember he sat on the pole at Darlington right now brett bodine in car number 11 will not go into his assigned position the one that was qualified but rather he will start the race on the tail of the field because he didn't make the stop the cold weather really played into the hands of the jr. Johnson team no we are not delaying the start of this race so that Brent could catch up the situation is the weather is extremely cold as Bob indicated to you when we are outside just a couple minutes ago and to help the teams get off to as good a start as possible today NASCAR has made several concessions one of those is to allow the cars to warm up easily sufficiently enough to go quick and just as the field comes around turn number four the sunshine peeps through helping warm things here Parsons on the outside the green flag lies in the first Union 400 Winston Cup race from North Wilkesboro is underway - as Bill Elliott has the lead and Dale Earnhardt has jumped into second position followed by many Parsons and Bobby brett bodine in that number 11 car start what about the passes third as we watch the action up front Dale Earnhardt beginning already to put some pressure on Bill Elliott but Elliott will also get credit for leading lap number two nothing summed up this weekend at North Wilkesboro more than one comment I heard when somebody said hey why aren't you putting more salt on the road local officials to hate we use all the salt around here to cure the hams the guys have to make you go away crying all he can to hold off the challenge of Dale Earnhardt here in the early going most people felt that Bill Elliott would lead the first 25 or 30 laps of this event most people also felt that the Richard Childress burger burning team which they learn out of course dries for would come to the reasonably soon thereafter they felt that they would be better in the early stages of the race despite how superior bill was in qualifying and the number 11 car driven by Brett Bodine has passed five cars at this point oh and he makes contact with Gerry Cranmer there give him a bump in the rear-end just momentarily and now he passed his grand six cars on his way to the front of the field Brett Bodine substituting for the Ealing Terry Labonte and that's another substitute driver slick Johnson who is following him through the field slick Johnson who turned in a great race at Darlington a week ago is running in the 12 car the leaders coming down the straightaway completing another lap at still Bill Elliott felt followed by Dale Earnhardt than Benny Parsons Bobby Allison Darrell Waltrip Geoff Bodine Rusty Wallace Shepard and Mike Walter and then behind Waltrip is Ken Schrader and the number 90 Red Baron piece of machine carrying our in this entire 30 car of 32 cars to provisional standards were added that 30 of the qualifiers were within one second as a matter of fact within eight hundredths of a second of one another and that also makes with the exception of Bill Elliott who was like 2/10 of a second faster than everybody that's how close this field was but right now Dale Earnhardt is reminding mr. Elliott you make one mess up like that and I might get through you expect some hey training going on out there we've seen it already as brett bodine great competition out there between Dale Earnhardt and Bill Elliott and [Applause] take over that top spot the term waiting but he is aggressively waiting Bobby's just anticipating that maneuver by Elias because right now Harvey Evan trout spin over in turn number three that's Bobby Hillin Jr who spins up toward the outside retaining wall and may have nudged it he certainly didn't taking the lead and now Dale Earnhardt goes to the inside of Bill Elliott in turn number three takes the lead and he will have the lead when the yellow comes out and again Elliott getting a little bit of sideways coming out of turn number four and there is the in-car camera as Ken Schrader raises his hand and signifies to the other drivers behind him to slow down the yellow is out so Bobby Hillin jr. brings out our first caution flag of the afternoon after spinning and maybe nudging the wall up in turn number three the yellow flag comes out on lap number 11 well Earnhardt who apparently saw the situation up ahead of threader's will tell you how important it is to drive as far ahead the front bumper as you possibly can and he perhaps saw the situation as it was unfolding and even though that Helen was on the trap Dale filly had enough time to move to the front the yellow is out at North Wilkesboro with Dale Earnhardt leading Bill Elliott and we'll be right back the green flag is about to come out after a very brief yellow because of an ensign in turn number three in bobbing Bobby Hillin jr. he spun up there in the third turn nudge the wall but no serious damage to the car and nothing on the racetrack so it's a brief yellow here comes the field to receive the green flag [Applause] [Music] to the checkered flag and that's the reason that he has taken over that top spot mark we see that Benny Parsons is dropping back as Bobby Allison has moved to third Darrell Waltrip ABAB they got when they squeezed over the high lane and you see boudin has got a shot at getting by Benny is desperately trying to push his way back onto the inside lane particularly in the early stages of this race before we get rubber laid down and maybe a second lane on the high side up in the bank and begins to develop you really have to protect the inside play and spent sixth and seventh Benny Parsons Geoff Bodine Jeff bodean who had a pretty good season in 1986 he's off of that pace mr. touch a lot of people feel that he is a threat to win every time he goes to an event although it hasn't been quite as true in 1987 as it was 1986 I personally thought they were due for a pretty good race they're well up into the top ten and world tripper spinning [Applause] touches him he is hit by ricky rudd all types of confusion in 3 & 4 & Waltrip just lost the handle and Geoff Bodine a victim of that crash and it's a miracle that more cars are not involved because the racetrack is essentially blocked up there in between turns number 3 & 4 Benny Parsons just sneaked by without hitting anything now both of the Auris is losing a lap a very important moment on a short track wall chip has lost a lap Jesse samples who stopped for it boat on he gets back under control he's back in speed but Darrell Waltrip who started that and he's pulling to a stop on the inside of turn number no he's not coming to stop he's looking for a way to get back to the pit he has problems because that left front tire is out of shape completely and it's being very difficult to control that race car so Darrell Waltrip has serious problems as he spins and comes in contact with Geoff Bodine actually Bodine coming in contact with him in turn number three here's a replay you can see that this isn't the outsider this is between three and four Darrell was trying to get underneath Bobby Allison it did not look like there was a bump from Allison I didn't quite catch the beginning of that close enough to know rather not he hit the curb but it looked like that Darrell just lost it now we're going to take another look at this from the inside came from the in-car camera in just a minute or so here you can see Bodine has made contact damaging his rear bumper there goes bill Parsons up along the wall slick Johnson trying to slither through Larry Pearson stopping Bobby Hillin jr. by the way did not lose a lap when he spun about three laps ago now we'll go to the in-car camera and see how it looked from the vantage point of Ken Schrader in the number 90 car here he comes off of turn number two down the backstretch there will be problems developing there in front of him there is Earnhardt or rather Waltrip spinning and Schrader waving to the competitors behind him and Kenny Schrader right between the two of them he found that small opening in the cave and ducked right through there and the first half of it he did with one hand is as it was signaling to the people behind him at the other and there is darrell waltrip screw going to work on that tied Chevrolet let's go down to dick Berggren for this report well Jeff bodean has just been in here very briefly they've changed the tires on the left side of the car they've torn off the back bumper on that automobile and Burdine is headed back out and just before boudin came into the pits so too did Darrell Waltrip limping very very slowly my colleague Terry little time Chevrolet up on the jacks you can see there is damage to the left front fender they have just pull the tire off what l Wilson of the crew tried to make the repairs you see apparently has some sheet metal damage and the steering mechanism on the left side of the car you see the wheel bent in the right side right front tire faces straight ahead but the left side tire has been at Bodine is back in the pits as he certainly is having this trouble today one brake for Brett Bodine a junior Johnson for liking these early caution flag that gives their young driver a chance to work up through lap traffic and narrow his distance between himself and the leader Dale Earnhardt but Bodine is losing a lap is he going to get out no he's getting the stop sign Geoff Bodine came within 2 or 3 seconds of saving the left so both Jeff Bodine and Darrell Waltrip have lost laps because of this incident there is Jeff bodean being held in the pits as Waltrip's crew continues to work on his car to the left of your screen now here is a normal speed replay of this incident from the hardy race cam and Ken Schrader watch kenny driving one-handed to the last second then he grabs wilson's well I gotta make a decision here I'm going to stand on the gas and think trying to get through that opening while it's open very smart move on ken Schrader sparked some in traders part nice driving to keep him out of that incident so at North Wilkesboro we have completed 23 laps were still under caution [Music] it's still Dale Earnhardt the leader at North Wilkesboro with Bill Elliott running second Bobby Allison third Bella by Benny Parsons Rusty Wallace and Morgan Shepherd the green flag came out on lap number 24 a certain art continues to set the pace here we might mention to you that Terry Labonte mr. bobbins to earlier in the season to say that any of big moment in the year but for darrell waltrip I think it has to be at the world very disappointing moment maybe that's a better word of putting it because Darrell County was coming home when he came to this racetrack well this is the place where I'm supposed to shine and maybe it'll happen here right now Jerry punch is down in there okay this complete Tyrod the tire on the left front of the car that controlled the left front wheel snapped and that's what set him in the spin it did over in turn four he is now ready to go back off the Speedway has been restarted and out there in this rate to one extent it's good news because I called it as I saw it it looked like that Derek lost it but it was definitely apparently McKenna compromise involved so our luck continues but at least Daryl has a small glimmer of positive feeling in the back of my hair what me but teeth I wish would happen here in Northwood one other car that made a pit stop during that most recent caution period was Ricky Rudd he's working his way back toward the front of the field Michael Waltrip and Ken Schrader are battling for position on the racetrack can come in the fourth turn now we're back with the Hardys race cam run straight away this is the red Marin number 90 traitor right now is in eighth position Waltrip in seven [Music] [Music] it's a very demanding race ride you can see that there is absolutely no time in which the driver can relax and liken Daytona or a Talladega here's a pass for second Bobby Allison going for it to the inside of Bill Elliott they come out of turn number have been kind to Bobby Allison in his career but this has been a pretty good run for he is number four on the all-time list drivers those with the most wins [Music] third moving up to fourth position is Rusty Wallace as Benny Parsons falls back to death still Morgan Shepherd in sixth and Mike Waltrip in seventh pinch Reiter and eight ninth is Kyle Petty and in tenth position Richard Petty and Phil Parsons going out bonnet started in what the first position Richard started in 15th position and Bill started in seventeen so Neil as the guy who has played leapfrog there and jumped ahead of the two of them after starting behind them but I think that had a pretty good inside draw when they went through the incident set off by waltrip 11th 12th 13th and 14th here behind bill Parsons is that green colored car that is driven by Dave mark 1814 he had a real close call in craftiness when they Marcus by the way the drive shaft aims [Applause] Babur Hillywood smoke machine for 1987 Richard Petty course following our behind little surprise really that Richard hasn't performed better in qualifying and in the early laps of the race here because he was one of the more consistent cars in practice and Friday I was up in the press box my handheld stopwatch he was consistently down in the 1970s which was North Wilkesboro you had to get under that to be competitive and there is behind still moving up through traffic right ahead of him as the 18th friedlander car driven this weekend by Daryl Terra [Music] [Applause] the first 40 laps or so as he has moved from 21st to 11 it's a good ride for jarett jarett's had a strong week I'm right there running with repli'd I now will run back into the hotties racing fishing that's the wiki right behind him both of these guys have been cold this year neither one of them is one but they are emblematic of part of the the new troop that's beginning to invade and move in on some of what was once the hallowed ground of only the good ol boys here down south Kyle Petty is immediately right [Applause] Eliot and rusty is going to move into third position at least would like to but now alongside him as a to go through partner number two [Applause] West Rusty Wallace showing some strength there he's now third rusty emerged in 1986 as one of the strong runners on the short tracks Winston Cup racing he was one of only a couple of drivers who won twice he wanted Bristol on the high banks every time when the shark tracks in the fourth place finished right here at North well Dale Earnhardt the leader of this race is opened up almost to pull straightaway lead on Bobby Allison there is Dale going down three is poppy Allison showing some very winning this race here at least in the early going now back to Ken Schrader's as we see him racing with and in fact bumping with Alan Kulwicki Kulwicki has done a pretty good job because not much really has been heard from him he started in who told you the traitor started thirteen but was the seventh masters qualifier overall Kalihi was had a shake-up within his team in the last couple of weeks is performing this best of the entire weekend right now Bob this is the strongest we have seen Helen race and he is pulling away from Schrader and looking forward to going after Morgan Shepherd and right behind Ken Schrader is Kyle Petty and then number 21 Wood Brothers car as we now have a view from the Hardys race cam it's ninth intense right there which means that the Colicchio's we are spent approach stretch it's Phil Parsons no contact when the wall ended don't know if there was any contact before it happened it lists a lot of smoke coming from Phil's car he tries to get it going the right direction here as the yellow flag comes out bill Parsons losing and coming off of turn number four just a few yards from the start/finish line so they flying out on lap number 49 and while all this has been happening by the way Waltrip has kind of snuck quietly back out in the track but without a doubt his chances of course for victory are gone but Darrell Waltrip back out trying to get some points he's 10 laps down the leaders are coming in here comes Bernhard Allison Wallace Elliott Benny Parsons Jerry punches there here's the leader Dale Earnhardt in the Wrangler Chevrolet the same car he won with the Richmond a few weeks ago the same one he ran through the guardrail up there when the accelerator hung open the car a mile racetrack it's very difficult to change four tires even under caution hustling even under yellow he's down on the lake great pitch box the carnival night in Bill Elliott tires during this many parsons actually was the first to complete his then the opponent and Dale Earnhardt a lap down there were nine cars that did not pit for them from this yellow flag and so Benny Parsons is going to be the leader when we go back to green unless he comes in for another stop during this caution period and I doubt that because it's probably going to be a very short caution there was no contact made with the wall and nothing put down on the racetrack [Music] [Music] [Music] 53 and Benny Parsons has the lead with Bill Elliott challenging in that second position as that front row is back up in front but this time it's the outside front row starter Benny Parsons who has the lead here's dick Berggren well the kids have been a very busy place how busy the second-place part just got trapped in here during his pit stop called Wicky got trapped in here during his pit stop this is the tightest pit in Winston Cup racing we even had a tire get run over and right now one of the crew members and the safety crews are over there attending to him so the North Wilkesboro pit area full of action and there's lots of action on the racetrack also as Dale Earnhardt continues to move up a third position there is Jeff Bodine between Bill Elliott and Dale Earnhardt but remember Bodine last lost a lap on the crash that he suffered a couple of observations right there you see the damage to the left rear if he could just hold Earnhardt back get to the front get around both bill and Betty by nine left is no chance whatsoever but go tions got a race all three of those people at the same time looks like he may have a shot at bill this time going down to three or four as he attempts to pass both Eliot in nine Benny Parsons in 35 he's got to keep his mind on earn our third hire knows exactly what Jeff is trying to do and that's get back to running in the same face with the three of the others now Dale learn are moving to the outside of Jeff behind main have bumped him just slightly they go down the backstretch Earnhardt pulls alongside him he pulls ahead of him going into turn number three but Bodine will have nothing up that he is one lap down should he get ahead of Bill Elliott and Benny Parsons and we have a yellow he would back third hard determination his domination Bob of this season we think we stumbled across but it goes beyond that would you can figure out or that what you think that you can be driven by mental telepathy I guess get more ambitious but the attitudes seem to carry right over and croch on that subject of luck the luck seems to fall away but everything works just perfectly gilles or dale right now is so strongly and both I miss falling back Earnhardt has gone around so for the moment Jeff bodean does not have a shot at getting his lap back the battle is for second position Earnhardt to the inside back stretch into turn three who has the line it's an Earnhardt and he goes into second position one aspect to the last pit stop that also surprised me was that Dale remember was already superior in the first prolong read like segment but he changed you're tired oh there's alley change its Earnhardt to the inside Pasi Benny Parsons was quick he took about a lap and a half to get past everybody else running second third and fourth and as soon as he got close to Benny zap lightning struck and now Bobby Allison is making sure everyone knows that he's still around as he has moved along trying to get ahead of Bill Elliott for that third position and Allison moves under Elliott was about to comment that Bernard had changed tires on Eliot in nine in Parsons and thirty-five only changed to let's change the two inside tires when I did see Mike they needed to I guess only they don't exist maybe the tires felt so good in the first segment Richardson hey let's take those off set it aside the back markers in this race number six Bob Baker now the rest straight away and let everybody else have you know Larry one of the guys that I think looks extremely strong is Bobby Allison he has passed Betty Parsons the second he qualified forth to an average speed of 114 point three nine three miles an hour Alison's sure look strong here in the early going in this race Bob we're also getting some conversations for radios that considering throwing the caution flag because they may want to get an end on thought we've got a crash in turn four it's the number 62 car of Steve Chrisman out of Indiana this may be the yellow hitting the ambulance our report fits a little earlier one of the crewmen had been injured the AC spark plugs Pontiac driven by Steve Christmas from Fort Wayne Indiana makes contact with the wall our number-four does damage to the right front on that car he is at the pit entrance and he is right in the entrance to the pit area and should we have some wholesale pit stops now he gets the car in reverse and pulls out of the entrance so that no longer is a factor his group good luck to see whether or not he can get back in competition Indiana driver was trying to makes it great down here this actually his fourth race of the 1987 season he did finish at Atlanta had a 22nd finish but has had mechanical problems or other assorted situations in the other two races Richmond and Darlington the two guys who were involved in that incident up in turn three early in the race Darrell Waltrip and Geoff Bodine our boat back in the pit area here is Jerry punch Darrell Waltrip comes in a fix the car over and the car begins to roll away we're with car owner Rick Hendrick here Rick what exactly was Darrell toes he had a tie rod break on the car I'm good here Darrell said he had a tie rod break on the car they get the car fixed that's right but it but the wheels towed out now so we need a law caution in order to get the front end line back up so we're gonna have to wait till it's gonna be more than one or two lap caution so we get the front end set back on the car [Music] okay that's Rick Hendrick the car owner for Benny Parsons Darrell Waltrip and Jeff Boyd I believe anybody out I think I'm going three cars it's an over for darrell waltrip but he is going to have a to have a lengthy caution period in order to get that car back at top speed we're under caution for the fourth time here at North Wilkesboro we'll be right back back at North Wilkesboro where the caution flag remains out because of an incident in turn number four involving Steve Chrisman he hit the wall up in that area and has retired to the pit area now our concern also for a member of the Alan Kulwicki crew who has been injured let's go down to dick Berggren for more on that dick well Bob the man who was injured was a man named John Young he is the crew chief for the Cole wiki crew and he was apparently struck by a tire that came off another car there were a lot of tires floating around here on pit road he can't be too badly injured however because as the EMTs were attending to him he asked for a radio so he could talk to Alan and he's lying over here in the back of the truck talking to Alan and listening to the crews signals and they just taken him off in the direction of the ambulance and they're gonna take care of him but I'll tell you what this is a very busy very difficult pit road Bob I just met John for the first time on Friday here he's from Bowling Green Ohio so all of our friends up there in the Ohio southern Michigan part of the Midwest he ran short tracks down there meaning our training notes a couple days ago and found out that we frequented the same racetracks when we were growing up Fremont Ohio Findlay Ohio Pope John certainly is okay that's a good sign from that radio Jeff bodean makes another pit stop as he is being loaded into the ambulance now the reason we are having a lengthy caution period here is because the ambulance must get to the inside of the racetrack and outside by crossing the track so we'll be right back in a moment [Music] seventy-five out of 400 laps completed here at North Wilkesboro North Carolina the first Union 400 and now an ESPN Ness car track packed black tanks are brought to you by Robert Bosch corporation maker of Bosch platinum the ultimate spark plug on a Super Speedway the cars are completely enclosed the only windows that are open are the driver's window and the one across from him but on the short track that's not the case as you see behind me the rear windows have been removed and there are reasons for that as you see the crew member has to reach in the car and make a chassis adjustment and there are continuous chassis adjustments being made during the race if the window were in place he couldn't do that also there's no air inside the car stirring on a short track some drivers say if you lit a candle in here it wouldn't go out because no air gets in the car but with that rear window removed air will get in the car and keep the driver much cooler well they certainly know don't need air in the cockpit today as a matter of fact these cool temperatures that the spectators have to endure are really ideal for a race car driver it makes the temperature in the cockpit just about ideal for racing conditions here's the green flag we go back to racing Bobby Hamilton running second Bill Elliott is third followed by Neil Bonnett and then Rusty Wallace the number 35 car of Betty Parsons which someone made a pit stop during that caution period and now works his way from the back of the pack if anybody in that first group right they have about seven cars gritting his teeth maybe just a little more than everybody else it would be Ricky Rudd right there the red white number 15 Ricky Rudd remember lost the laps earlier in the race on a pit stop and he has shown the ability in the short tracker right now Elliott is putting on ricky-ricky falls back to fifth in line but he is one lap down and incidentally many parsons we are told on the radio spring during his pit stop Jerry punch is down on the pits with perhaps more on that subject came in under the caution they cooked this right rear spring out of the car I was very stiff spring they took it out they put a softer spring again so the car would sit in the corner he'd be able to turn it a little easier a major chassis adjustment impossibly a good move for Harry - crew chief for many parts car see how Benny's car performs now as he is trying to thread his way through the traffic as we wit greed and Richard Petty is right really moving up also as we watched parsons now holding his own by the way his neil bonnett he has really stayed on the top pick up there is Dale Jarrett on the outside of Richard Petty Dale Jarrett he has performed admirably this week we go back and take another look at Bennie Jarrett has qualified and practice consistently in the upper half of the field nothing in the door the top ten Bennie to the high side Allen 30 are their 17th position this is the last short track that Benny Parsons one ad by the way last time he ran any short track was in 1982 when he ran five short track races there is Richard Petty moving on underneath Jared and many take a look to the inside Benny trying to follow Richard through a bunch of guys who have been close to each other many times in a race track petty just ahead of Benny Parsons going to the inside of Dale Jarrett one of the second-generation stars was performing here today now to the party's car cam inside the Red Baron frozen pizza machine following the Levi's gear chippy in trainer doing the driving and it is Geoff Bodine right ahead of Ken Schrader and Brett Bodine right ahead a brother chap and now brother Jeff goes to the inside off Bret cannot make the pass but at least he left brother Bret know that he was you know Brett told me again he's running two cars up ahead - he told me yesterday Bob and the transition from the Grand National Sports were tight stock cars to the Winston Cup cars was greater than that from the open wheel lighter weight modified I thought that certainly the transition visually is tremendous but he said nope blew it up to these cars I noticed the biggest difference in my career [Music] bread is in eighth position unofficially and the poor SEPTA's jeopardize laughs great pictures from the Hardys race can from that vantage point [Applause] geoff bodine and brett bodine are running of course in competition with each other here this weekend and we asked them about that brotherbrother I think everyone knows the way I feel about I don't like it you know there's ten years difference in Brett and I and when I started racing he was still a kid why not into racing more he helped we never played football against each other her baseball anything we never competed against each other he was always helping me Big Brother race now that we have to go out there and have to go head-to-head and door-to-door to each other I don't enjoy it when I was younger I grew up watching Jeffrey's and you know through the years I just kind of got used to him being a race car driver now he's never really had a chance to watch the race that much and now that we're competitors it's a little harder on him than it is on me I don't mind racing against him because I can trust him you know a little bit more than anybody else [Applause] the significant opportunity to watch his brother race right now right now Jeff is showing you as they say in the short track trade the short way around the racetrack one who most recently Busch Series grand national cars and a graduated modified right now leading his brother jumping cars basically making the same route it takes to get to Winston Cup racing now Jeb is burning inside of Pratt he's going to have the Bennet and he admitted going to turn number three let's heating and Leadfoot it in yet he gets a Fender head now ho Carlin well this is only Brett Bodine second Winston Cup race his first was last year at Charlotte he finished an 18th spot and we watched that activity in the battle for that spot from the Hardee's race cam and Ken Schrader's car Albuquerque for down the front stretch remember it's only five eighths of a mile all the way around here and that in-car camera is provided by Artie's restaurants at parties we're out to win you over see the competition on my head several cars are running right side by side now we turn the camera around and look out the back deck this is what Kenny Schrader's a sing in his rearview mirrors Alan Kulwicki again here again on the outside the wiki and Schrader have been closed for much of this race Alan's had a strong race but he heard from the pits during the last pit stop when the wholesale crew or field weather came in and Alan got kind of caught one of those warps and occurs down there really penalized him on the racetrack he lost several cowling several positions this is no bottle for third place as Bodine and Neil Bonnett right together on the racetrack and working in the shadows is Rusty Wallace in car number 27 so that's a good battle here three cars for third spot about Edessa [Music] just being a this was a Superspeedway that would be a serious problem because it's not in a very conducive place to make the air flow smooth over and around this carpet here in a short track yeah no harm no foul as they say in basketballs Neil Bonnett having a good race becoming it briefly on that earlier bonnet started back in 21st position there goes Rusty Rawls to the inside of Bill Elliott and Wallace that we heard earlier was saying hey I'm not really happy with the break situation seems to be getting along well evil ways to Bill Elliott apparently he thought that bill made it easy on him that Bill sense that rusty was the superior car and now building bang on him as is a custom on a cake the knowledgeable friendly wave to bill as he goes by Dale Earnhardt is the leader and he has just completed 100 laps in the first quarter of the race we have had three leaders Earnhardt of course Bill Elliott has fled also Benny Parsons has led 12 laps and under the caution flag slick Johnson in car number 12 what a lap at the end of 100 laps though you can see that the margin is two seconds in the average speed is 80 3.60 miles an hour and Earnhardt has led the most laps as far as caution periods are concerned there have been four a three lap caution for a spin in turn number three involving the number 12 cars slick Johnson also we had a caution for a couple of other spins and one accident but nothing serious to this point out of the race is JD McDuffie Steve Chrisman and Jimmie me Jerry punch is down in the pit area with this report this is Mary Dotson the crew chief for Rusty Wallace and berry we've been told that you might have a brake problem of the car exactly what's wrong with the car well it's awfully tough to drive here with no brakes or minimal brakes you can run over somebody or get run over a serious problem for Rusty Wallace right now they're short trucks program has really come along Bob in the last 18 months very brief and unofficial rundown as we go back up front Chuck on the leaders progress no problem there Allison was second than Elliott Giovanna Rusty Wallace with Morgan Shepherd a strong six kyle petty seventh number eleven car with Brett Bodine was eight Kenny Schrader's Knight and Michael Waltrip was running in tenth there were ten other cars still on the lead lap by the way the first caution brought out by a spin by Bobby Hillin and non-stem Johnson we'll be back with more of the first Union 400 [Applause] we are back in North Wilkesboro and Dale Earnhardt continues to be the leader of this race and by the way he has just laughed Benny Parsons there in the number 35 car Earnhardt's margin at this point is just about four seconds over the number 22 car of Bobby Allison there are 16 cars on the lead lap so obviously that spring change that Harry hight is through made on the many Parsons car Justin Worth he is down 17th position Bob not only 16 cars on the lead lap but Bernard is picking him off at a rate of about one every two laps taking one less car off of the lead lap there you can see that Dale has led 1065 of 2216 possible laps 48% quite a record quite a record and the 50% is only emblematic it's only an indication of how strong he has been under green flag conditions that not interrupted by pit stops that record or that percentile is up much closer to about two-thirds or 66 or 67 percent now there are only 14 cars on the lead lap as Earnhardt has also put the number 16 car of Larry Pearson down a lap and Sterling Marlin in 44 and we see some smoke coming from the number 34 machine driven by Jesse samples jr. now the NASCAR officials determine that he is leaking some oil we will have a crushing period there are a couple of people that would like to see a caution period namely Rusty Wallace to help his great problem and Neil Ponte to possibly correct his radiator problem [Applause] assisting these young drivers just teenagers 19 years of age Charlotte Daytona - series last year we're in water race on a Super Speedway at Charlotte as just a few samples in the pit area so there will not be a caution because of this smoke coming from the car here comes Earnhardt off the four corner another lap a yellow bonnet may have some problems and may be dropping back let's go down to dick Berggren for report well I'm with Bob Manila he builds the engines for deal button he's also a half car owner you're running well but you've got a lot of damage to the front end of the car bob is that affecting the performances is temperature going up no it's not we've been up the grill but it's a real cool day and slowly running on our 90 degrees cars working real good two tires everybody else that's Barbara hilly he is with deal bought it meanwhile Jerry clenches down pit road with Harry hi Jerry there he hide the crew chief for Benny Parsons and Harry yeah but do you have a handling club for publish do you have a chassis problem with the car now we got screwed up put the wrong cards on him we'll get him straightened out next bit stop but they do late okay a roll this tiger can be in the wrong spot girl parks the car is why he's going backward alright Benny still in 75 Oh a spend a Marcus's sideways in the racetrack up between turns three and four this is going to bring out a caution period and this will be possibly the saving grace for Benny Parsons they can get that stagger problem corrected and Rusty Wallace may also be able to work on his brains needle bonnet is still in third position so apparently that damage he has at the front of the car is not giving him any serious problems a couple of other people that benefited from this valve was Michael Waltrip Richard Petty Harry Gant and Ken Schrader with our camera car they were only about three seconds at the outset away from her heart and her nerve was coming quickly so this is the fifth caution of the afternoon and it comes out on lap number 122 her hardest fitting so is Bobby Allison Benny Parsons Rusty Wallace Morgan Shepherd Geoff Bodine making another stop Neil botanist and horse of fit service as is Ricky Rudd Ken Schrader Harry Gant and others were watching the stop by the Dale Earnhardt crew and here is Neil Bonnett you can see the damage there to the front end of the car but they're not paying particularly close attention to it rather they are changing the tires on that car Rusty Wallace meanwhile in the number 27 machine the Kodiak Pontiac they're changing the left-side tires on that machine also and they're taking a look at the front end of the race car offset to counteract whatever great problems with rusty thinks he has and dick Berggren is there one of the interesting things about this race is that in the last practice yesterday afternoon everybody seemed to time just about the same as everybody else we have about 20 cars going as fast as each other and this is the result everybody is very fast everybody thinks they could lead almost every car we see running through the pits has got tire marks on our marks where the cars are on the tires they're all damaged boy this is a tough race so far it really is as we mentioned earlier there is Brett Bodine his car just fell off the jacks as they were changing tires on the left side as we mentioned earlier any time we have a race at North Wilkesboro you see a lot of paint trading out there what a great board ah you just saw the car they were just getting ready to drop the car off the jacket apparently the jack just gave way the left rear tire had not been attached the crews jumped over picked the car up physically off the ground put the tire back on it reattach the lug nuts a break for vote on and that tire bent something in the rear in it could have been a long day for Brett Bodine not something that is a very good idea Bob I'll tell you what and with the inexperience that Brett has this incident right here may come back to haunt them in the future because it may have made a minor problem in the machine that made rear its head later the race but Brett Bodine is back on the racetrack he was just doing what comes naturally because when the car comes down off the jack you assume it's ready to run that wasn't the case this time back in a moment at North Wilkesboro we have just gone green again here in North Wilkesboro they're running three sometimes four breasts out there papi Alison is alongside Ken Schrader's Neil putt and now moving to the inside of Ken Schrader's and there we are inside Ken Schrader's Red Baron machine the Hardys race cam he just dropped a port position as both Neil Bonnett and Bobby Allison passed him but it's a good ride for Ken Schrader [Music] twenty-nine that are down so uh significant ways to go but last week we call and knowledge of those there was basically one party little stage number three cars number 88 [Music] here's a good battle for position this is the 9th place number 26 car of Morgan Shepherd the Quaker State card green 1 and the number 7 ZX charger by Alan Kulwicki now Bobby Hillin in the number 8 car is not is is I'm sorry on the same lap so this is a three-car battle Morgan Shepherd and Bob Sheppard is one of the top five cars here today he was in the pits for a little longer period of time than what they would yellow flag but that right there the 26th car the Quaker State doing is one of the top five cars to this point Bobby Allison was running second came out in third Neil Bonnett when in in in 4th Elliot came in in sixth position picked up a spot to move to fifth and Ken Schrader is the one that had the great pit stop and picked up a lot of positions he went in the pits in tenth position and came out in second he has now dropped to fourth spot Bobby picked up so much ground I thought he had lost a lap at that time he was positioned right behind the leader Dale or not but not so I said crab he pointed out great pit stop by Bob Johnson jr. gonna let him do on Schrader Dale Earnhardt the leader Bobby Allison they're the third car the car between Earnhardt and Alison is for carve Jerry Cranmer now Bobby Allison goes to the outside of that Cranmer car going into turn number one in passes Neil Bonnett will be the next to pass grandma and then 4:22 Miller American Buick having a fine run here this afternoon he is in second position 75 Barbie mine Bobby Allison in the 15 of Ricky Rudd on the average of about two races a year and it's been pretty consistent over the last decade or so had a reasonably good third in points it's been a very quiet third it's pretty easy but bonnet is the leader of the next session everybody else like initialize top ten finishes this year he was third at Rockingham last weekend at Darlington 12 Daytona 500 and a 22nd at Richmond at Neil Bonnett as you indicated Larry third in the Winston Cup points going into this race ken Schrader now beginning to feel some pressure from Bill Elliott they're the number nine Benny Parsons is number 35 remember he is they may have collected that staggered problem Jerry punch [Music] you can say they do a little bit of framing and Bambi's penis colour here that's that's Rusty Wallace this yellow color that's that's Jeff bowtie I'd say that these guys get together a little bit and have some fun of the sorts right Jared you've been under my colleague Waldman who is with the 9 car of Elliott Ivan you're a little off the base what's going on Bill's not trying to get no big hurry days [Music] yeah as the time gets rugby referee the horse bar the Chevrolets half will go away and the track should get more slippery because the temperature is rising I've just shut what jacket it's getting warmer [Music] and that's the story from Elliot spin all right I want to ask Jerry punch why he was wearing gloves but that's really the question that I wanted to ask has been answered pretty much how are the weather conditions down there Jerry isn't extremely calling for you yesterday and we're having a good day while I have it just a moment the guy standing beside me is Tim Waller he was the crew chief for four different drivers who won here Tim Richmond [Music] how about that pit stop with the left rear tire what happened car set with fell off to check Jerry Lando getting for the first time but we got parked on the outside I'm Dales you got to be pretty impressed with you young flower so far doing a heck of a job well he's he's doing pretty good right now we're a little bit further behind won't we but I think we'd get it back you know sue this we're watching a three-car battle but it's actually only a two-car battle for position the number 26 car of Morgan Shepherd is ninth and Rusty Wallace in number 27 is any intense position the number 44 car of Sterling Marlin which was in the shot just a minute ago is a lap down in 19th position one more comment about the weather today dick Bertrand said he had peeled off the outer layer he picked one jacket off started now because dick is a soft knees himself what's the matter of back-breaking racecar driver but it was that fighting was a kind of decisive cold I would just cut right in got through you as a matter of fact a hot knife through butter it's been a really miserable weekend and where the people have shown up here today I really commend them the racing here is good at North we'll see a lot of action we got a full spread stand here in front stretch yeah dick was definitely displaying the layered look earlier but especially when the summit act is although the cool breeze does continue no snowflakes though we act one of snowstorm here Friday night in this note about a in or rather a 10 inches are close to a foot up in the mountains we're batting in the Red Baron's Ken Schrader's car with our hearties race cam and again Alan Kulwicki a head of [Music] international like Richard getting around Kenny and there's Alan Kulwicki again just two cars up committed earlier how often the cookie we have completed 151 out of 400 laps that will make up the first Union 400 here at North Wilkesboro lead continues to be held by Dale Earnhardt in the Wrangler jeans Chevy we'll be back with more of our live coverage here on ESPN the first Union 400 Winston Cup race from North Wilkesboro North Carolina is being brought to you by the heartbeat of America today's Chevrolet by the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company no matter how far you go Goodyear takes you home and in part by mr. Goodwrench no one knows your car better than mr. Goodwrench no one the leader is Dale Earnhardt from Kannapolis North Carolina in second position is bobbing as a Neil Bonnett with the number 21 car of Kyle Petty running in third position Dale now moves to the inside to pass Larry Pearson the best battle on the racetrack is Bill Elliott and Ken Schrader and that's for eighth spot a couple of Ford's that have been so dominant in qualifying this year aboard sat on the pole against Bill Elliott the leader of that duo right there his first short track poll ever in his career and it was a significant one it broke a five-year sectional track record one of the oldest if not the oldest Ernesto will just let you enjoy a lap or two here in the Hardys race cam and the Red Baron Pizza machine as he follows Bill Elliott around this point six to five mile racetrack instead right now we'll go to the race for second position since it's really heating up here is Kyle Petty making a move on Neil Bonnett for second position to the inside is Petty and by golly he has that position a good run for Kyle Petty he moves to the runner-up position a very good run for Kyle Petty there are a lot of people who wonder exactly what's going on with the conversation this car is one here twice in the past Jenny had a nose job they cut her up at the firewall because bond is really filled [Music] the team says it's one of their best cars in fact Morgan Shepherd liked the car so much last year he wanted to buy it well well Jenny just got past third kyle petty in second now moving to the high side of Dave Marcus going into turn number three by the way this is the six hundred and first start for the Wood Brothers owners of this car and the crew that works on it their career dating back to 1953 penny started the race in 12th but by putting together all the product buyers from the morning session in the afternoon session he was the fourth quickest overall at a time of nineteen point six four five seconds compared to the nineteen point three nine billion the Bulls never had second third fourth fifth sixth place cars were all in the nineteen point six and another guy who's showing some strength here today is Harry Gant and number 33 Barry is behind Dave Marcus get is in fourth position they need a good run here this afternoon they really do it even though he didn't call upon all that well I started 16 forgiving practice he was one of the consistent 1970 cars so I'm not really surprised to see him comfortably in the top ten in the race something happened his qualifying it all didn't come together just wait and hope for but in practice they definitely been in that category that dick Burton was mentioned a few minutes ago that it seemed like there were 20 cars all running about the same harry was definitely in the upper half of them and Harry Gant is Believe It or Not 22nd in the point standings going into this event it has not been a particularly good year for him he's only had one top-10 finish that last week's at Darlington and by the way Travis Carter the crew chief on this car was fined $500 at Darlington last weekend for having titanium near the hub that was only that was one of my NASCAR officials one other comment Bob this is the last place for Harry 185 there you can see Earnhardt now right up on the rear bumper of Brett Bodine and Brett Bodine is in 13th position should Earnhardt be able to pass him here and lap him we would have 12 cars on the lead lap down the straightaway Bernard says past Brett Bodine 12 cars on the lead lap here at North will preparation he told me very specifically he's often his primary goal today was to get as many points for Terry as he possibly could as urn are now filled the rearview mirrors of any parson that looks like Benny go dine did not want to go out Bears himself damaged the car and cause Perry point miss Carter Labonte who has and Brett is out trying to collect as many we'll be two laps down now as he lost a lap earlier he did come in to try to correct that stagger problem during the most recent caution period but it's obviously just not working for Harry Hyde and Benny Parsons in this the number 22 car driven by Bobby Allison and that Bill Elliott running right together on the racetrack for six and here comes Elliott now beginning to put one on Bobby first happened as well is almost of the halfway point [Music] right now Elliot looks like he's caught up and there is Rusty Wallace mr. Wallace mr. de Bourgh the same in 1987 the question on the Kodiak car of course is were they successful in not solving but at least equalizing to probably had with the brakes right behind Rusty Wallace in that kodiak daughters and traitor and now we'll give you a laugh - with its rigor in the Hardys race can [Music] Rusty Wallace has moved to the inside of Bill Elliott and the number 90 car is right behind Bill Elliott they're in car number nine by the way they are hard the leader of the race has led 150 of the 170 now it is Rusty Wallace moving to the inside of Bobby Allison and trying to take away that eight spot we are running ahead of the pace where yellow flags in this race I believe there been like five yellow flag when you have live to be exact and the typical North Wilkesboro race has only set when the other factor that once again begins to come close to the surface is that her now is getting close to some of the cars that are running competitively and it's going to be soon threatening him for the lap on people like Morgan Shepherd Ken Schrader who you're riding with right now bill Melia right there to his left Bobby Allison on the high side and right in front of them is Rusty Wallace Earnhardt is only about ten colleagues behind the picture you're looking at right now there are 11 cars on the lead lap here are those 11 cars and drivers the leader is Earnhardt second is Kyle Petty third Neil Bonnett for this Harry Gant in fifth position is Alan Kulwicki Richard Petty runs sixth Bill Elliott 7 followed by Bobby Allison Rusty Wallace ken Schrader and Morgan Shepherd and you indicated in his Dale Earnhardt who is approaching the Morgan Shepherd car actually these positions here have traded just in the last few laps [Music] Rusty Wallace who has now moved in at seven spot everybody right now is keeping their eye on that yellow and blue Chevrolet the Wrangler car and everybody that's mixed up right now is trying to do their best to stay ahead everybody's looking are scrambling it is customary motor racing the move over for the leader but when you're in the same lap you're trying to hold on as tenaciously and as long as you can let's see how these Fords plus the mitts of Allison's Billy complacent we watch Dale Earnhardt go topside to Ken Schrader and quarter number three but there is two abreast in front of Earnhardt soon he'll not until those cars get into single file formation and papi Allison and running side-by-side wonder the action ahead of pinch Raider not only is the action great but once again a replay of 1907 here comes Morgan Shepherd sticking his nose to the outside of King traded jest some tremendous racing we're watching pictures from the Hardee's race cam in the number 90 Red Baron frozen pizza machine driven by Ken Schrader and the fans here in the grandstand perhaps it's an effort to keep warm but I don't think so they're on their feet cheering and watching this battle as about six cars go at it nose to tail and side by side Elliott has got to be the most improve of that quintet Elliott is down on the inside trying to hold off on this day bomb there you can see her now moving to the inside he's got Elliott on the high side right now Elliott is still blocked from your view you can see her not in between Morgan Shepherd car than Bobby Allison car Elliott is trying to get around Rodney Rodney combs anodized archive just jizz enough room Elias and hold on there goes turnout at car getting the same fight at had throughout the 1987 season they'll turn hard less than halfway we're very close who would have thought it is putting a lap under green flag on the pole Center and new record holder Bill Elliott broke a qualifying record that had started that had stood for many many years he was the pole position for the first time on a short track in his career but he has been lapped by leader Dale Earnhardt will be back in a moment after these messages we'll be back with more exciting Winston Cup racing on a short track Bristol Tennessee is the site next Sunday at 1 o'clock live the pally Dale 500 and still there's some great competition going on in the racetrack as we're back with the Hardys race cam in the Red Baron Pizza machine behind Bill Elliott you can see the NBA scores in the third period Philadelphia leading violent indoor tennis match going on this afternoon [Music] Elliot and Schrader just put a lap on the six car that is of course DK all Rick's car those of you are frequent observers of NASCAR recognize that being driven this week by Bobby Baker on Lakeland Florida driver who hasn't really had all that many years of experience but he's one of those guys who's every year has tried to make an improvement he's making a big jump to which the cup racing in 1987 Earnhardt is about to lap Rusty Wallace how he accomplishes that feat they come off of the fourth quarter and Earnhardt looks like may go to the inside of rusty but rusty slams the door and going into turn number one and holds off the pass for at least at the time team see how Dale handles the situation going down the back in seventh position but just about to lose a lap let's get out of Jerry punch in the minerals we talked about dillert now while he's running richard childress the car over this homie said you know the car isn't exactly right you gotta remember a few weeks ago this is a brand new race car they took the car to Richmond Virginia where's pom tell her I said I go out and break the car and then they'll diddy when i was broken into a lot little pieces they took the car and had to rebuild that came out and won the race at Richmond they had to rebuild the car again but I guess I'll have to live with it well they've done what appears to be an excellent job in any case it may not just be right it is far than any other machine on the racetrack Earnhardt has a considerable lead over second place number 21 Kyle Petty what are we down to like only four or five cars on the lead lap it really underscores the performance of those who have been able to stay on the lead lap we have six cars on the lead lap as Rusty Wallace has been passed in he is in seventh position so we are past the halfway mark and at that point the leader was they learn heart he had also led the most laps his margin over Kyle Petty about nine and a half seconds and Earnhardt is averaging almost ninety two and a half miles an hour next is our recap of the caution periods that we have had here this afternoon they have been four spins and minor accidents but no serious incidents to this point at 205 laps the top five once again our Dale Earnhardt Kyle Petty Neil Bonnett Alan Kulwicki and Harry Gant the second five six through ten Richard Petty then a lap down Rusty Wallace Geoff Bodine Morgan Shepherd and Phil Parsons and officially in 11th position would be Bill Elliott and then 12 ken Schrader and for those of you like to keep up next all these guys in the corner 13 through 19 we've got red fo9 Bobby Allison very surprised Ricky Rudd Bobby Hillin jr. Benny Parsons Michael Waltrip in the number 16 car of Larry Pearson for the moment Dale Earnhardt is making a shambles of this 400 lapper here at North Wilkesboro now NASCAR and ESPN with another track factor [Music] Trackbacks are brought to you by quaker state new Quaker State with qsx keeps your engine cleaner to last longer there are a number of technical advances that have come into play in the NASCAR Winston Cup competition but none so important as the new computerized scale in the old days the drivers used to drive their cars up on grain scales much like farmers use in the Midwest to load their trucks on with soybean or corn and get them weighed but today we have this metallic scale a computerized scale under each wheel the car is lowered on this scale it's attached to a separate computer you flip a switch on this computer it will tell you that the right rear for example weighs seven hundred and sixty-six pounds that is 21 point nine percent of total cars weight you can measure the weight on the left rear left front and right front or any combination thereof a simple chassis adjustment will make the weights change over each individual wheel find an advance over the old timing grain scales another way that computers are being used in Winston Cup competition Dale Earnhardt is the leader Kyle Petty though is showing in second positions let's go down to dick Berggren who's with Leonard woods a vodka petty is running well in second position and I'm with his crew chief Leonard Wood Leonard can you guys do anything at all with Dale Earnhardt adjusted to chastened he's running much about an idiot just first of the rice but Bernard looked like he's got a little too much for us today the weather has warmed up has that affected the way your car is running the weather yeah it's warmed up is it affected the way your car is running that's why everyone loves it different than it did yesterday evening but we made some adjustments and it seems to be doing okay right now what will be your pit stop strategy if it stays green just come in you know and would you forget you know change tires how soon will you have to come in letter I'll have to check [Music] okay they're going to have to take a look at and see we have had an extended green flag period here crowd letting running in second very strong run for him today indeed but he is 14 seconds behind the leader Dale Earnhardt and we're talking laps that water about 23 24 seconds was that it yeah I think they're on a little quicker than that now but Bob for me it's not so much Earnhardt's lap speed that is so surprising in this race not really surprised to see that man out front doing well but from the rest of the field is to race of surprises for me several people that I expected to be on the same laughs number five Jeff Conine and number 27 Rusty Wallace among those people are not I expected Morgan Shepherd to be up there certainly Bill Elliott Administrator having bad handling problems the last 50 laughs he has dropped a lap down and Penny are simply saw his problem those are all the surprises there's bill Parsons he is in tenth position on official and it's just a surprise to see Kyle Petty Neil Bonnett and Alan Kulwicki running on the same lap with the leaders Nick's refers to the fact that we have been green here for quite a while as a matter of fact we went green and after a four lap caution period on lap 126 laughs 219 so there has been almost a hundred laps here run under the green flag there is Phil Parsons in the number 55 Copenhagen Oldsmobile from Denver North Carolina as we go back and check on the leader Daler argue now is lapping the number 33 car very good and now there are only four cars on the lead lap as Gant drops to a lap down in fifth Dale Earnhardt Mary looking at the back bumper of Darrell Waltrip and courteously bruised over my day the man who dominated the short drives the eight races in 1985 he won twice at Bristol he wanted Richmond and wall that was 1985 he was strong in 86 but he didn't dominate quite as much here's a field summary for you going back and checking on the drivers that are still in competition here the leader is Dale Earnhardt in the number three Wrangler Chevrolet he was also the leader at the halfway mark in the Richmond 400 now right behind Dale Earnhardt is the number 33 car of Mary Gann now he was just lapped and Gant is in fifth position after four years in a row of winning Harry Gant was winless in 86 in the mountain looks very call in 1987 like lines behind Gant is the number 17 car of Darrell Waltrip he was involved in an incident early in the race on lap number 19 and is several laps down the number 64 car is next Jerry Cranmer from New Jersey is driving that car here this weekend this is the sunny King Ford Elmo Langley own car chariot Carson once again is a graduate from the open wheel modified and then Benny Parsons in car number 35 who has had considerable trouble here this afternoon with stagger and spring season two laps down right behind him is Larry Pearson in car number 16 that Chattanooga Choo Chevrolet one of three of the Busch grand national series drivers was in this race Brett Bodine who qualifies Junior Johnson's cosh and Dale Jarrett's that has taken over the friedlander machine in sixth position is the number five car of Jeff Bodine he was involved in that incident with Darrell Waltrip however only lost one lap and has stayed a lap down since that time in sixth position the original Hendrick driver who sat on the front row 14 time flies and Gudrun fulfill parsons in the number 55 car he is seventh right behind Jeff Conine so that is in a sense a battle forfeits position between those two cars here's the slick Johnson car the number 12 machine that's owned by the Hamby team this car was qualified this weekend by as duck-walking or at least wolfgang practiced in it and qualified also but doc decided not to compete here this weekend and slick Johnson took over the controls the number 43 car that's of course the familiar STP Pontiac driven by Richard Petty and he is a named Dave marques in the number 71 machine Dave was involved in a spin in the earlier part of this race his best 87 finish was an eighth at Richmond remember his last win coming about five years ago was on ESPN and a range shortened event the number 27 car winner of two races last year on the Winston Cup trail is Rusty Wallace this is the Kodiak sponsored machine rusty while running in the top five earlier the race has dropped now to both of Wallace's career winds came in 1986 there's Morgan Shepherd who feel a highchair take a look to the inside of that one Morgan Shepherd is in 10th position and he's running a high line out there look at him go way high in turns number one and two running right beside him is the number 18 car driven by Dale Jarrett and he is two laps to the rears but look at Morgan Shepherd in the High Line he is taken in that number 26 Twitter's state Buick owned by Kenny Bernstein Shepherd we commented in the earlier part of the race I personally felt that it was one of the five fastest cars but since the last yellow flag that car just has not had the best setup that it had earlier in the race he's really dropped off the base of he himself was running and there is the Friedlander Chevrolet driven this weekend by Dale Jarrett Tommy yellows juiced to drive the car but Dale Jarrett is in it this weekend Ricky Rudd is in 11th position a lap down on that number 15 motor craft Ford owned by but more Ricky a winner already this year on the Winston Cup circuit and one of the acknowledged superstars under normal conditions of the short draft and there is Bill Elliott in the course Ford number nine he is in 12 spots there's a good look at Bill who sat on the pole for this race the first short track poll ever for awesome bill from Dawsonville only for drivers in Winston Cup racing have won at least one main event for five years in a row and Elliott who's right now racing with little debris caught on the grill is one of those drivers normally that might cause a problem but not on a cool day like today Brett Bodine is running 13th after taking over the controls from Terry Labonte on the pace lap Labonte gets credit for starting the race or at least gets the points but Brett Bodine took over and relief as Labonte still is suffering from that broken scapula at Darlington last weekend al Penny is in second position about 14 seconds behind the leader Dale Earnhardt and he does have one career win that took place in 1986 remember the big crash in Richmond on the final lap would prove to be the final lap and Kyle Petty snake through to win and right behind Kyle Petty is Neil Bonnett and he is in third spot in the number 75 car the Valvoline Pontiac the talent cookie is right behind him and he is in fourth positions we have two three and four running very close on the racetrack sixteen career wins for bonnet in the 75 Abilene machine and collision not yet won on the Winston Cup trip never had that pull earlier this year but this is a terrific run for Allen he has been trying to reassemble the crew over the last couple of weeks he didn't practice on that swiftly didn't qualify all that fast but he's had a super strong event and the other car on the racetrack our final one that will run down for you is the DK ulrich own machine driven by Bob Baker from Lakeland Florida the yellow flag is out as Geoff Bodine has smoke pouring from the rear of that engine that may be causing our caution period we assume so bo dine on the high side of the racetrack up in turn number two but you can see a tremendous amount of smoke and steam coming from that Chevy where they are having a trying season there's no question that when things are even 80% right on this table put together by Gary Nelson piloted by Jeff what I know by Rick Hendrick just no question they have the to be a challenger every time out with 87 started out with a great deal of rocks in the road so the yellow comes out on lap number 241 we ran a hundred fifteen laps under green this is the sixth caution period of the day and wholesale pit stops will be made Jerry punch is in Dale Earnhardt's pit here he comes here's the leader Dale vibrates the language Chevrolet to a halt he will get a nice cold drink and they work on the car the crew chief will be four tire change routines caution but again they must hustle here at walks biroba called the caution car takes about 25 seconds 36 to get around and they have to get the entire phase and get it out let alone so jacked about 24 and a half seconds and there goes daily Bernard back out of the race track and Richard Petty is going to be second out Kyle Petty also is away so is Rusty Wallace and just about everybody or stop has now moved back out onto the racetrack Geoff Bodine has the hood up on that car as they're taking a look at it and also Darrell Waltrip has the hood up on his car and they're continuing to do repairs on that machine now several other drivers are making second pit stops to 'change tires on the other side including Richard Petty Bill Elliott and others let's go down to dick Berggren welcome Oh Dean is in the pits and there's a lot of oil underneath this automobile and right now they're working in the area of the oil pan they are stuffing rags underneath this car to try to get it to go Bodine is 2 or 3 times taking the window and end down as if he thinks maybe it's over then he thinks the crew may get this thing back together again this is a hard break for an absolute heartbreaker these guys were flying you can see the oil underneath the automobile now [Music] underneath the car a lot of service a lot of effort going on here with chef mode I will see if I get a word with him right now Jeff what is the problem the spin out up there with Walter had a spark plug wire the mob got on the hitter we fixed that cars running so good it's running beautiful we've got a hole in our timing chain cover it's leaking oil out the front getting on the headers the engines running fine in there we don't know if somebody's shooting at us shot a hole in there or if a rock came up or something off the racetrack but there's a hole there trying to patch it but our day is over here's a day Jeff bodean I'd like to forget you to believe that too bad for Jeff Bodine who was second in the 400 lap race at Richmond Virginia earlier this year we'll be back with our live coverage of the first Union 400 we welcome you back to North Wilkesboro North Carolina with the first Union 400 the fans are in their heavy coats today because the temperature remains very cool at 245 laps out of 400 they're the top five Dale Earnhardt Neil Bonnett Kyle Petty Alan Kulwicki and Harry Gant were about to go green once again from our sixth caution period I'm Bob Jenkins along with Larry nubra in the booth dick Berggren and Jerry punch are working the pit area in this race here comes the field off the fourth turn the green flag comes back out racing resumes there are more cars on the the Oman is now second Kyle said he drops the third and the only other car on the lead lap in four spot is Alan Kulwicki and Bob Perry he was not passed by Earnhardt at speed on the track pitstop was a little longer Dale came in we told you he was only about two seconds behind Creoles cars that was in jeopardy being lavatory in a bad stop area he loses 11 that's Neil Bonnett working the inside of Bobby Hillin who is a lap down at least a lap down in the race now bonded it seems is keeping right up with Dale Earnhardt only letting her learn have about two car lengths advantage and there is Harry hand right behind the Bobby hill of machine our heart begins to stretch it out just there is Harry you can see him trying to get up toward the front where he then Dale Earnhardt but Harry started this green flag second on the inside of the second row he was behind Bobby Hillin jr. he didn't have an opportunity to get a jump on deal that matter are running they don't think that Harry had a real clean shot of getting outside of Bobby Hillin and following Gary also on the high side of the racetrack is Kyle Kenny fifteen car Ricki one who is seven remember Kyle Petty is third caucus Mitch had you still on the lead lap there is Kenny Schrader hearties race cam begging looked at portal crap billboard on the back Oh Ricky Rudd's car take a look high side bill Parsons Kenny would like to get to eat light to try and improve his position if he could just a bit remember he too has lost a lap despite being one of the strong runners in the first 50 laps see how close the competition is from this vantage point this is how Ken trainer is watching the action Bobby Helens car is on his left and Ricky Rudd's on his right now a hole opens up and Ken looks like thought about going through but instead goes to the high side and will try to pass Bobby Hillin jr. Bullock how close the hill and what were there coming out of turn number four of those cookie [Music] there's also bill Elliot to the inside of Schrader so Kinney losing a couple of spots here the likies having a strong race look at the physical exertion that you have to have to drive this track and here comes Richard Petty to the inside of Kenny [Music] down to about a hundred miles an hour I'm the brakes once probably hard maybe pump them once or twice depending upon how heavy traffic is Rusty Wallace letting Richard Petty know that hey I'm back here stay on the throttle I'm trying to get around do you get up to about a hundred thirty-five forty miles an hour Everage speed from qualifying was in the vicinity of a hundred 14 miles now for most of the people in the top ten he just above 116 there is threat mode I remember in the jr. Johnson 11 car this year we're going to spend a spike wall ship and Morgan Shepherd to feed also Larry Pearson spins into the pit area there is his car at the entrance to pit road Morgan Shepherd has suffered some damage to his Quaker State machine his bed badly and Morgan is coasting to a stop on the main straightaway a deer turn number four Mike Waltrip is resting near the wall and turn number three although he's in Reverse and trying to get the car pointed in the right direction two people who had strong first 100 laps of this race they had fallen a bit out of phase to the first five cars recently and once again fate strikes out and strikes on the Kenny Bernstein machine will go inside Ken Schrader's Red Baron better in parties in car and will listen to radio conversation between Ken and crew chief owner of the car [Music] there is Kenny passing that stalled car of Morgan Shepherd in the fourth turn and a leader Dale Earnhardt is in the pit areas a quick stop looks like only four fuel they're holding him until the field can pass by so he won't gain a lap let's go to Jerry punch the reason Dale Earnhardt made this picture go my calculations he can run 145 to 150 laps under green or tank of fuel will run at 140 + laps to go this last little gas and go means he can go the rest away we're on lap number 260 so there are only 140 to go and that would put they'll earn are not within that window there's Mike Waltrip's car he's the one of the causes for this most recent yellow back at North Wilkesboro and the number 26 Quaker State car driven by Morgan Shepherd has some damage to that car after being involved in a spin with Mike Waltrip up in turn number 3 Jerry punch takes a look at some of the tools used here on a short track when the NASCAR Winston Cup stars come to the short tracks they like to get with the program as they call it they do a little bit of famine and famine a little bit of fender rubbing and here are some of the tools that are necessary to repair some of those cars during the race everyone recognizes a normal pry bar a simple steel bar to pry fenders away from the tires well there are a couple of variations and we'll let one of the clicker state crewman here show us this specified pry bar this bar made with a simple curve in the end of it to slide beneath the fender and pry on the tire to help pull away the rear fender see it works very nicely well what about if you've got some significant sheet metal damage on the car well some fine tune delicate adjustments to the body with this 5 pound sledge hammer or if it's a serious problem possibly it's big brother this eight pounder right here can be used to remove serious metal or sheet metal damage well how about if the car comes in with a flat tire is rolling along on the chassis what can you do well you can't get the jack under it so they got a tool for that he slides this tool up beneath the car he will push down and pry the car up off the ground so the crew can slide the normal Jack in Jack the car up and change the tires just some of the tools you have to use on the short tracks when you can started getting with the action and and many of the tools that Gerry talked about are being utilized at this moment by the Quaker State crew after Morgan Sheppard's incident up in turn number three we'll be back with more live coverage of the first Union 400 from North Wilkesboro here on ESPN back in North Wilkesboro there are the top five Neil Bonnett has the lead now he came out of the pits first and Dale Earnhardt has moved his second although he was third at lappers two ago but he passed Alan Kulwicki putting him back to third kyle petty is fourth and Phil Parsons is in fifth but Parsons is a lap down there are only four cars on the lead lap there you can see Neil Bonnett leading Phil Parsons and Ricky Rudd and then the fourth car on the race behind bonnet is the second-place car ernhardt brett bodine last time around in turn number one almost fun here's a look at Bill Elliott and bode I'm not touching anybody else but just overcooks her a little bit going into number one and number two saves it Elliott moves underneath Sterling Marlin in the feed models number 44 moves under and on we go live now that's sterling marlin and car number 44 who is four laps down in 17th position and then Brett Bodine who right now is 9 a lot of Shiki nuri we use what are those big words that we read all those bad things about this week a lot of changes as we go back up but a look at Neil Bonnett he's holding on and all the cars that are outside of those on the lead lap we've got bill Parsons Ricky Wallace brett bodine Richard Petty and Bill Elliott among Tory others one lap down and they've all changed positions after that last yellow ricky rudd seems have gotten the better of the situation Ricky run and I should add bill Parsons hook where they're running they're a spill second in line ernhardt looking like he's ready to charge the front and with new rugs that bumper and Ricky is in sixth position also one lap down the Jill and Ricky are strong here yeah they are they're certainly not giving Dale Earnhardt any ground here Earnhardt having a tough time getting around these two as Neil Bonnett continues to sin if this were late in the race they would be in a position to really assist Neil Bonnett toward a potential win here the owner really has a lot of time we're not even inside 100 laps to go yet - matter of fact our lap counter shows there were two hundred seventy seven laps into this race so about a hundred and go Mike Waltrip has been in the pit area he now goes back out onto the racetrack he was one of those involved in the spin up and turn number three that caused our most along with Morgan Shepherd and Larry Pearson and Morgan Shepherds car remains in the pit area so it looks like shepherd's day back stretch Morgan Shepherd continues to sit in the pit area while Dale earnheardt now passes Ricky Rudd and only one car now between himself and the leader Neil Bonnett and that is bill Parsons before this all shakes down we could end up having that is assumed that urn how it has no trouble it eventually gets back into the lead and threatens to run off and hide again we could have an interesting contest for second place because Bona continues to run strong Kyle penny is moving in on a Google cars to the Falcon L who and that group up there is holding back everybody else upon it kyle petty is moving up and Alan Kulwicki is only about 15 car lengths behind Kyle and bonnet in second Kyle's third and Alan kooky things are kind of in a settled down period here as Neil Bonnett leads back at North Wilkesboro we're really the only change significantly that has happened during that break is Dale Earnhardt has passed Phil Parsons and now Dale Earnhardt is right behind the leader of this race Neil Bonnett about five car lengths or maybe for those two the 27 and nine cars are doing battle out there that is Rusty Wallace and Bill Elliott this is approximately four seven position we believe most cars on the same lap although a lap down to the leader Barry Dawson told me that they have been so impressed that is the Raymond beetle number 27 car wallet they've been so impressed with they learn how and what that team has been doing this year that they have kind of paid attention to the testing schedule of when Richard Childress is going to go somewhere they have made it a point that when they happen to be scheduled at the same time they show up same time the Childress car does to try and see just how they measure up in that mob he told me things had helped a little bit of course nobody has really stumbled across if indeed it is a secret whatever it is why Childress shell Burdine [Applause] while testing is a very important part of any race it could have pole position belly if they tested here at this track a week ago Monday but as you can see is a testing that they did apparently isn't paying off too well as far as the race is concerned now they learn hard is with Neil Bonnett we'll see how Dale might challenge for the lead Bob an indication that again about how severe the weather was here looking at bonnet I ran into bonnet in the hotel I think it was Friday night he said well I was on my way up in the mountains up in the foon I think he said he was going and he got about 15 miles down the road and the road disappeared he said all I could see was guardrail and white snow was that heavy in certain parts of countryside up here this weekend it was just a horrible Friday night here in the Triad as they call it a spot area there is Brett Bodine in number 11 racing with Bill Elliott and that is for ninth position Brett is having just a tremendous afternoon here in that substitution effort for Terry Labonte he's had a solid day I would imagine that in the back of his mind he would have liked to have stay on the lead lap had more competitive but I give him high marks Bob for keeping in the forefront but he is really here to do and I mentioned it earlier in the broadcast one of the first things that Brett mentioned to me earlier this week is that I need to get as many markers for Terry Labonte as I possibly can and he's accomplished that today and now he challenges for ninth position moving alongside Bill Elliott out of turn number four and Brett Bodine has night position you know Brett was of course originally supposed to drive for Cale Yarborough here at North Wilkesboro but when Terry Labonte was injured jr. Johnson went to Cale and said will you drive the car for me and Cale said no but how about Brett Bodine and Brett agreed to do so so that's how he came by this ride in a junior Johnson car this weekend it is still Neil Bonnett the leader but they learn hardest challenging let's go to the pits once again well I'm with these crew chief Barbara Haley mom it's looking very good can you hold her and her on I don't know right now the car is a little tight off the corner but it looks like a little loose off so we'll just have to wait and see about fuel you have to make that under stop for fuel or can you make it to the end on what you have now we're in good shape one at the old okay that's Barbara hilly he owns the car that's in the lead right now a week ago Bob we had a crew chief murder back crew chief on that car right there who said to us how we're okay on fuel we can go the distance and we disputed that and don't dispute it this week I think that the yellow flag came into right duck in it get a little more fuel and yeah I agree with that I think pretty good shape Neil Bonnett and Dale Earnhardt our first and second but look who is in third position he's booked up through traffic since the caution flag and now is within four five car lengths of second place Dale Earnhardt and there is the interval between Earnhardt and third place Kyle Petty couple things in perspective Kyle Petty has never really raced through that big conflagration of spinning cars in the last lap of Richmond to win he has been strong here in past races for a race about a year and a half ago when Kyle Kenny was running well by Dale Earnhardt he expressed his displeasure on the air here on ESPN at the moment Neil Bonnett leaves the first Union Bank 400 we talked to him earlier in the weekend about testing and practice here at North which is good days at this racetrack - yeah and I bother any more tears left this tracking weather years the majority of our testings at this facility right here and I told butch I ran then when I was right with him in 83 here this dragon bring some more experience in here that'll help us with our race team and the very little practice we've had my car feels it feels great but nothing will be in good shape for the runs [Applause] leads this event going to the outside of the 81 by Eddy beers well well certainly at Meal bata can pull off the victory here today and beat Dale Earnhardt it will be quite a feather in his cap the question that I have Bannen hold off Dale Earnhardt my opinion no it is either Earnhardt or Kyle Petty that is the strongest car among those three now history that it's going to be earn are but petty has been moving up I don't know it's because Dale has been held back by Neil or because pile is running better than both of them I'll tell you one thing old Neil is big time to get by Neal well he tried oh he hit the curve there and turn number four we tried the Highline the racetrack in turns one and two laughs got a little bit out of shape and lost maybe three or four feet and then he went to the inside there and turned before hit the curb so he is having difficulty is certainly not out of this race seven fighting for the lead within the last 100 five voracious two guys actually have a chance but be flabbergasted well I think those three cars that are running to get in there are just about equal at least it appears that way at the moment Neil Bonnett Pontiac Dale Earnhardt Chevrolet and mild Betty Ford aisle looking to the inside of urn are looking like he would like to pass they learn hard and go in this second spot before the moment they fall into single file formation three will resume our coverage after these messages in terms of position changed you haven't missed anything up front it's still Punnett and Earnhardt and petty but look at this battle for eighth position side by side it's Brett Bodine to the inside and Rusty Wallace to the outside some great side by side door handle the door handle competition eight and nine zero breath Winston Cup car in a short track but many many miles on a short track and all kinds of racers as with Rusty Wallace so these are two guys that you might say this is Bo Tynes first race ever but pretty easily when it comes to experience in short track well it's going to be interesting to go to Bristol Tennessee next weekend we'll be there live with the valley Vale meets live member that had one o'clock next Sunday after that's where Rusty Wallace won his very first Winston Cup race and we'll see if he can duplicate that effort this year in fact both of these people figure to be prominent next week bo9 really liked that place too for the first places where he emerged big time now the leaders are coming into some traffic we could see some position changes here they passed Jerry krendler now Bobby Allison is just about to get lapped again he is two laps down at the moment about to go three laps down he's just ahead of Neil Bonnett they're in the red and white car that's Bobby Allison now as we approach Bobby Allison Phil is down a lap but strong here there's Kyle Petty and third what both Kyle Petty and Neil Bonnett have to hope a little bit of the handle the last 70 or 80 laps and they have to go that is the difference of the size of the outside tire from the inside tire or slip with a set up favor that man right there Kyle Petty over me again I don't want to keep hovering in the point but to reflect back historically in 87 both of them got a bigger they have gotten to be Bernard sickly in the last 50 laps of this race they go home probably hoping for no yellow flags because I greeted you Bob both upon it and petting it strummed in what I thought at this moment the question is will that head go away here we go we had just heard from our spotters that Neil Bonnett is very loose out there the car is very loose that may have proved it right there but fun it is banging his way trying to keep her heart out of that top spot but Earnhardt goes now what it went into the lead - 60 when fitted under at that time back in front what happened there was that bonnet moved over to put a lap on Larry Pearson he moved over to much he gave a lane to earn out he moved up there he never got the RPMs back up he never got a grip of the racetrack he lost about a half a lane and earn-out saw an opening stayed on the throttle and got in there typical short track NASCAR Winston Cup competition excitement calor this is ho look at but it going to the inside of the number 12 slick Johnson car getting just a little bit sideways [Music] this has got to be one of the finest most competitive closest races we've seen here at North Wilkesboro and this is Superspeedway stuff when you see three cars running right together near the end of the race interesting psychology going on right now between Earnhardt and Bannen and bonnet does give all the indications have a little bit left they're really pretty good friends are kind of kindred spirits away from the racetrack but you know a couple years ago and everybody was complaining about Dale what he was saying he wasn't standing a mile all the people are making the complaint but I personally observed that he was one of the people who was observing the situation closely because in his off-track relationship with Dale he wasn't one of the critics but I often wondered what was going on in his mind because he's quiet for watching let's get out a dick Berggren who can perhaps shed some light on whether or not Mele is having some handling difficulty that carving to loose dick yella but he is indeed a mint lose the back end of the car is trying to come out from under it and that's really no surprise given what's happened here with the weather Sun is out the temperature is rising and that's the direction these cars are most likely to go when the weather turns door so severe that bonnet would come in and make a pit stop unless there is a mushroom fight there's a caution flag is a very good chance you'll commit against some tires which could solve that problem thank O'Neill right now is doing all he can hold on to that second spot as Kyle Petty is right on his back bumper the last couple years being brief as I can there are your first three Earnhardt second and third here Neil Bonnett and Pyle petty in fourth position also on the lead lap now is Alan Kulwicki instead the lap down is Phil Parsons is Ricky Rudd 7 Richard Petty 8 is Rusty Wallace ninth is Brett Bodine and 10th position is Bill Elliott and 11 is Harry can two laps down in 12th position the 18 car of Dale Jarrett and 14th is Bobby Allison's who ran well at the beginning of the race but has fallen back now to two laps behind the leaders we'll be back with more of our live coverage after this the first Union 400 we are back at the first Union 400 at North Wilkesboro at 330 laps Dale Earnhardt the leader here is a battle for second position in his Kyle Petty and Neil Bonnett going at it down the straightaway plotted leads as they cross the stripe but certainly Kyle Petty was challenging seriously still is as a matter of fact he's on the inside of Neil Bonnett now bonnet stretches out the advantage to almost a half a car length into turn three the first and a half generation of NASCAR racing in Neil Bonnett and the second generation of NASCAR racing in Kyle Petty almost identically painted cars bonnets of course sponsor is Valvoline and citko 711 on the Kyle Petty car blue and white machines bonded in 75 and Kyle Petty and number 21 big moment for Neil because what he displayed to Kyle was yeah I'm a little loose know that I'm still very much in control of what I got going here and for you to make the pass on me it's gonna have to be one of those perfect moves it's not going to be good enough just to slide up next to me and wave at me Neal particularly psychologically is let Kyle know that got to concentrate to the utmost well Harry Ganz there in the 33 school car is two laps down to Dale Earnhardt and now he goes two laps down to both Neil Bonnett and Kyle Petty while making the pass there in turn number two mr. word about bonnet season as we look at this racer originally out of Alabama Neil Bonnett has had a third of seven to six to the 12th all on the super speedways he crashed unfortunately at Rockingham I read to make that Richland earlier this year there's Neil putting a lap on Benny Parsons Neil is in third in points so a second or a third or even a fourth place finish will really establish him as one of the people to keep your eyes on an appoint stampy chip of course the way the points are structured in Winston Cup racing if you have a string of top-five finishes most of the year you're going to be in a four point right up to the end Dale was leading in points Bill Elliott dissection okay we're going to try to get you an indication of how far Dale Earnhardt is at hand here by the way Neal came in 13 points 140 behind the leader Dale Earnhardt as Earnhardt crosses the stripe in our stopwatch and tell you that the interval is 2.6 seconds between here and bonnet second you know another measure of well how do you look at a pass to the lead psychologically the guy who takes the lead is the one who streaks away you think well you did not create an unfair advantage so I'll accept that move of the lead we'll do it again see if the interval has changed no buts exactly the same 2.6 seconds and really tough to get any stretch of a difference even if you're in a superior car one lap on a five-eighths mile racetrack the important point is that nail has established about 20 car lengths over both Neil and Kyle and they be coasting right now I like to call it the park-and-ride all right they learn Arsenal on the outside passing rodney combs in car number 10 Rodney from Lost Creek West Virginia [Music] I started this race 23rd yeah Rodney a lot of people think that he is from the West Virginia area originally because that's where he was living when he was running competitively with the ndra dirt series but he actually started out as Bob mentioned the Cincinnati Ohio area to be exact a little place called 75 and 76 when I was the public address announcement that they can speed away in Rodney where the two people with kingpins on that high bank half mile racetrack very similar by the way to Bristol earn art with about a two point six second and managed as we are live at North Wilkesboro North Carolina for stop number six on the wasted cup trail for nineteen our lab counter shows 343 laps completed 400 we'll make up this race and we'll be back in a moment ken schrader courtesy of our Hardee's race cam in the Red Baron pizza Ford showing us pictures from the pit area ken has had to come in for a flat tire on the left side of that car it's a quick stop though and Ken Schrader's moves back out onto the racetrack our 28 58 update we'll give you the latest scores from the NBA and other major sporting events of the afternoon a straighter move back up to speed on the racetrack well let's go down to the pit area and check with our reporters on exactly what has happened in the pit area recently first let's go to dr. Jerry fire we'd like to give an update on the injured crew members and Alan : instead the crew member was Johnny jump the crew chief on the new we are pleased to report that Johnny is no case he is in a hospital locally he has called the track and talked to some of the crew members johnny jump the crew chief for Alan Kulwicki let's go up it Rogues my colleagues well Jerry all is quiet up here in the Neil Bonnett read there is absolutely nothing they can do right now to help their driver try to close the interval on all they can do here is painfully hopefully kibosh your flag so they can fix the car otherwise Earnhardt's going to be one tough cookie to catch from here now it certainly appears that is the situation because the interval now has stretched from that 2.6 that we had a few laps ago and it's almost now a full straightaway advantage for to run in second holding up Kyle Petty for third and the interval as we check it from the booth here is just about five five seconds it's little over five seconds the 1986 season was truly one of the most competitive on the short track segments of the wins in recent years Kyle Petty winning at Richmond Rusty Wallace won his first the first race of the year at Bristol Earnhardt won here at North Wilkesboro and a Martinsville Ricky Rudd the winner Waltrip came back one at Bristol which meant me after the first five short tracks of the year there had been a different winner every time then King Richmond Richmond which meant there was Rusty Wallace and Darrell Waltrip came back and won the final two of the show translation flagship it was pretty good season we're showing you the interval between first Earnhardt man second and third bonnet and Kyle Petty now Kyle looks like he wants to challenge on the high side of the racetrack but he cannot make the pass Nick Bergeron well Leonard you've got quite a battle going on here with your driver Kyle Petty and Neil button what will your strategy be for the remainder of the race well we come in and topped it off on the last pit stop so we shouldn't have to stop anymore I don't know if he will or not he did he didn't top his home but he still if there is a question will you bring your car in and [Music] what everybody you'll do here if there is a caution flag if not we've got or you can say that again as Kyle has at one time pulled alongside bonnet but Neal continues to hang on it's pretty obvious if Kyle's going to get the position where he has to be perfect that gets down here I say down here this is running downhill didn't want to do he's got to be putting down here and get at least side-by-side with Neal because what he has found out that is winning his door handle the door handle with bonnet as they go uphill around three and four Neal can out rpm him around the outside so Kyle is - so we can hold on to three there are 41 laps to go the last pit stop to last gas stop at least where Dale Earnhardt came on lap 259 bonnet came in on lap 242 and penny and Cole Wicky both came in on lap 243 the question is can everybody go the distance without another fuel stop that in Cola key remember our in sport notoriously just a little harsher on the fuel mileage my opinion yes fuel should be okay here in North Ward if that's the case then it's going to be a flat-out battle to the finish as Dale Earnhardt has the lead but the battle for second is a tremendous one and not too far behind this great contest for second position is the fourth place running Alan Kulwicki and he is certainly not out of this race Hetty he can just hold that inside line he won't get me on this laughs but if he can hold it have a good run down the front stretch and then hit one and two per week he's got lap traffic coming up in front of him if Bobby Allison know he's got to get back into line he had him get a good chance right there to get around Bobby to get around Neal bottom but Bobby Allison gotten away I repeat again it's got to happen what about experience is that playing apart this is Kyle Petty's 200 second Winston Cup start and Neil Bonnett 280 second so as this battle rages on now opening up just a little bit we'll take a break and be right back back at North Wilkesboro and the caution flag is out Larry Pearson has spun off the racetrack in the backstretch so now the question as to whether or not they have enough fuel to make the final few laps well that's a moot point now because Earnhardt Kyle Petty Neil Bonnett and all of those running up front are coming in for a top-off you're looking at the people who are going to win or lose the race for either Dale Earnhardt Neil Bonnett or Kyle Petty so far that crew on the top right there Dale Earnhardt Richard Childress and Kirk shimmer Dean and company have made all the right decisions this year we've seen several races in Winston Cup racing past three or four seasons that the complexion has changed for after a late caution fight like this now Earnhardt is out first unless he is absolutely I'll be if they not mean that much now Kyle Petty gets out second Neil Bonnett gets out third so earn her hold on to his lead but we will see after we go green if everybody made the right decision so Richard or whether Kyle penny is now in second position because he got out of the pit area ahead of Neil Bonnett everybody changed four tires and topped off here's dick and if there was any doubt at all Neil Bonnett made it crystal clear to his crew what he wanted I have never seen a driver direct the crew the way Neil Bonnett just did he stuck his hand out the window with four fingers up he said four tires on four tires just to be absolutely sure and that's what they gave him four new tires on the second and third place cars it could make quite a difference in the way they run yeah really could and the question now is going to be can Kyle Petty hold off the challenge of Neil Bonnett as Neil did Petty's challenge before we went to this seventh rather eighth caution period of the afternoon the caution again for Larry Pearson who spun on the backstretch back with more after this at North Wilkesboro [Music] we are back to racing at North Wilkesboro with 373 laps Dale Earnhardt there he is the leader Kyle Petty a second not letting Dale get very far ahead the Obon it remains in third position as Neil did not have a particularly good start got a little high for number two and lost goofy but he runs in 4th position those four cars on the lead lap there you see the deal passing through turn number two Bob gave you a rundown of the top ten just before we went to the last commercial break in no particular order we are the people who have remained out on the Speedway in addition to that top 10 there Bobby underneath drinking drugging members are not racing for position Sterling Marlin in the 44 car slipped Johnson and Roger handy softly chase Benny Parsons the number 18 of Dale Jarrett the Michael Waltrip and the 81 Carver's walk pal Neil Bonnett did successfully cash pile rather a Ricky Rudd now there is a car between bonnet and second-place Kyle Petty that is brett bowtie and he'll be trying to pass him in just a few laps Neil Bonnett is running in third position losing one on that last series of pit stops what we're getting on the radio is that they put more new tires onto Bonnet Carre he's very unhappy with the stagger particularly the right rear and he is telling the crew that I need this thing to grow a little bit in other words the right rear is got to get bigger ability to lean on the bank that's his problem right now the stagger is just not right they took a chance didn't work out properly fish laughs they might come in 15 or 20 laps that's right here lesson to go in this contest for the obvious that bonnet is not happy with the set of tires that he got on that pit stop on the other hand kyle petty you also got four new tires may really helped himself because he is in no way out of this race in fact by the way that 15 or 20 laps that was not a close to the always to comment for me geez I wish would just grow with isn't it staggering the right rear so I could go a little harder but back to the brothers have traditions and strong at this racetrack even though their career is they have not learned that often on the short track contemporary wise they've always been okay here at North Wilkesboro well they are a step more than okay today they are strong and as Baba's mentioned the but also is not jool with Dale and we're getting late of course Kyle has only one that was in Richmond last year 98 was able to threat his way through an accident and went on to win best shot since then in 1982 he did race to a second place he finished second to darrell waltrip at Dover an event he was right on Darrell's back bumper similar this although he was actually a little closer in that Dover situation at 19 number 308 400 laps around [Music] [Applause] interval staying about the same now as has been unable to close in the last few laps the Obon is bowling on two thirds position but he's about a half a straightaway behind Kyle Petty and Alan Kulwicki remains in fourth he is about 15 to 20 car lengths behind Neal Bannen the leader working some of this lower traffic again laughing Jerry Cranmer already putting to go as they come by this time it'll be 11 to go for Dale Earnhardt I already much without his budding music career which is basically on hold [Applause] Wiki holding down for a strong run for Ellen rut is shown in good position as he is laughs down right behind him is Richard Petty he was on the same lap with Ricky Rudd one lap down and look at the damage to the [Music] contact with a few cars there's some tire rubbing there on both the right and the left side of that number 43 machine again Rajat and set here in this on the same laugh fighting for fifth here when you play on the line and football as you did the number 27 car and the 9 machine are both two laps down but they are battling for support and Bill Elliott intense and that is actually the seventh place machine of Bill Parcells there on the end of that tandem again Wallace is [Music] eight right now two laps down ninth is Elliot and he's two laps down and just ahead of them understandings in seven is the number 35 biofilm our season second week in a row Parsons has turned in a strong run second week in a row he lost the left hole in the race had he not lost that he was a candidate for top five we left out the brett bodine there in the rundown larry fred is shown an eighth right now and Rusty Wallace in ninth and Phil Elliott in tenth position six laps to go it looks as if they learn art is going to win this race because he has stretched out the advantage down significantly over Kyle Petty it's about perhaps a second and a half straight away and then here comes Neil Bonnett bonnet however appears to be struggling with that car as Alan Kulwicki now certainly in a better position up to this point this season Bill Elliott of course winning out of the box at Daytona earn-out won two in a row Rockingham and Richmond a super speedway and flirt super speedway run picking up an Atlanta win situation similar today and look like Benny Parsons had it wrapped up late yellow joonie win here would be the fourth time in six races giving him a commanding lead in that category begin PD because of the mask our point standing structure yeah I have a big lead but it won't be the kind that looked insurmountable and this one series like Formula One or IndyCar racing nobody else has consistently finished in the first three there are two laps to go the next time by Dale Earnhardt we'll get the white flag signifying one more lap to go they really have it going it seems like it may well be something in the chassis but what's like everybody who becomes dominant in the series the chassis maybe the most significant factor but it's one of several the white flag is displayed by Harald kinder the NASCAR starter Dale Earnhardt is on his last lap this will be his 24th career win his fourth win of 1987 out of six races the only other two winners Ricky Rudd and of course the winner of a tone of 500 Bill Elliott Dale Hurd third place goes to Neil Bonnett although Alan Koh when he was right on his back bumper in his Kyle Petty in second Neal Bannen finishing fourth those on the lead lap so the crew headed by Kirk Shelburne een celebrates in the pit area they will be going to Victory Lane with their driver there are the pit crew members the crew chief shall Burdine and of course the owner is Richard Childress and right now Dale Earnhardt is dilling going down pit road headed for Victory Lane and we will be having an interview with him from Victory Lane in just a moment once again Dale Earnhardt back at North Wilkesboro the winning car is not in victory lane but rather is being fueled and checked over by the NASCAR technical people and we'll be having our winner interview here in just a moment as Dale Earnhardt has once again won another race on the Winston Cup circuit here's Jerry punch well Dale Earnhardt still sitting in this Wrangler Chevrolet and a oak first of all congratulations on a super run today Thank You Jerry you know the guys doing super job this cars the same car we ran at Richmond and wrecked up up there and you know it's just a good day for us curtain all the guys did a good job in the pits and lose engine ran smooth all day we just nearly now have no problems we didn't have to change the car much at all we maybe returned a wedge but one time it you know it's a good day I like to thank all our sponsors you know Wrangler and Goodwrench and all the people who helped us and you know they do an awful good job for this year it's hard to get four tires here even under yellow Dale and get back out without losing the lap but the Wrangler crew Kirk and the guys did a tremendous job in the fence they did they're you know they they're key to this race car running so good and doing so good they just keep doing a good job every week and they don't matter where we go race they then you know they pumped up for it everyone's wondering what can stop Dale Earnhardt he's on a roll four wins and six starts I mean is there anybody that anybody can handle you well you know they get your cars right there you know it's early in the season and a lot of teams has gotten you people on their teams and new drivers with different crew chiefs so you know they're uh they've got a lot of dudes it I figure about you know in a several races they're midseason it's gonna be a lot to ever what it isn't well the man who has a momentum he bounced one off the wall last week at Darlington yet came home to victory late he wins again today at North Wilkesboro let's go up to dick Berggren with the fellow who finished in second place and a solid second position it was for Kyle Petty Kyle good run today yeah we had a real good run you know it the first couple laps our first couple pit stops the tires pushed pretty good but eddieandlynn and Glen Leonard the crew worked great and got to sit go forward back up front we run pretty good you came real real close but Earnhardt just seems so strong this year can anybody blow him off or is he just that tough right now he's tough he's tough they got in and out of pitch real good everything worked real good with him but what what happened was at the end of the race we changed tires and and the Sun came out and I think I heard a slope in the car got a little bit looser than what I did what I wanted I could run with him for 10 or 15 laps but then the car got a little bit loose and he got away from me and one of the first people down to congratulate Kyle Petty was Barbara hilly the fellow that owns a third place car of Neil Bonnett upstairs go ahead Thank You dick and Gerry well today's winners circle interview has been brought to you by the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company no matter how far you go Goodyear takes you home we asked the question at the start of a program who can beat Dale Earnhardt and the question was answered today nobody so perhaps the guy they affectionately call Ironhead is becoming our Iron Man of Winston Cup racing [Music]

Channel: NASCAR

Views: 54,319

Keywords: NASCAR, motorsports, racing, stock car, Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, chase elliott, fantasy sports, fantasy fastlane, glass case of emotion, ryan blaney, crash, wreck, pileup, pit road, penalty, race track, super speedway, highlight

Id: i2VrbPwt1DA

Length: 136min 46sec (8206 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 13 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/Jakepetrolhead]

I'll admit to not knowing much about ovals, but it's nice to see there's at least some effort to preserving this historic track in digital form - if only it was possible to resurrect it for actual motorsport.

[u/DustyHighgroove]

Definitely will be downloading this one for loop in the man-cave.

[u/natural_imbecility]

I miss those cars.

[u/ThisIsPureCancer]

Winston

"No Bull"

[u/Kngbee13]

Kinda wish they hadn't spoiled the race results in the description lol