1991 Transouth 500
04/07/91 Darlington Raceway
DARLINGTON, S.C. - Ricky Rudd won Sunday's $538,750 NASCAR TranSouth 500 by keeping the golden rule at the fabled Darlington Raceway in focus: Let the race come to you.
Rudd, from Chesapeake, Va., never pushed his luck - or his Chevrolet Lumina. He waited for the early speedsters to fizzle and everyone else to fall victim to problems at the traditionally treacherous raceway.
Rudd beat Davey Allison's Ford by almost half a lap on the 1.366-mile circuit to earn $62,185 and take the Winston Cup points lead from Dale Earnhardt, who dropped out with engine trouble.
For nearly 400 miles, Rudd was content to buy time. He circled with care, letting others run up front.
After many front-runners were crippled with mechanical problems or sour luck, Rudd took control with 37 laps remaining and pulled away for an easy victory.
``We had our own strategy,'' he said. ``Once I had an understanding of where I was and who I was racing, I didn't have to hustle the car at all.''
Rudd's average speed of 135.594 mph set a track record. Michael Waltrip was foiled by a broken air wrench on pit road. He once led the entire field by a full lap, but he was stuck on pit road for 37.4 seconds while his team tried to change tires.
``It went good from beginning to almost the end,'' he said. ``We let this one get away from us. We led in Atlanta and had problems in the pits, and we had problems in the pits here.''
Waltrip, who led 208 of 367 laps, finished 3rd, a lap back.
Allison, out of sync with the rest of the leaders all day, had to make a pit stop with 37 laps remaining. That gave Rudd the lead for good. ``They played their cards right,'' Allison said. ``Michael (Waltrip) had the fastest car out there, and ours was getting better as the day wore on.''
1 Ricky Rudd
2 Davey Allison
3 Michael Waltrip
4 Mark Martin
5 Rusty Wallace
6 Kyle Petty
7 Ernie Irvan
8 Morgan Shepherd
9 Geoff Bodine
10 Sterling Marlin
11 Jimmy Spencer
12 Bill Elliott
13 Rick Mast
14 Rick Wilson
15 Terry Labonte
16 Brett Bodine
17 Bobby Hillin
18 Dave Marcis
19 Ken Schrader
20 Bobby Hamilton
21 Ted Musgrave
22 Mickey Gibbs
23 Jimmy Means
24 Rich Bickle
25 Darrel Waltrip
26 Joe Ruttman
27 Harry Gant
28 Randy Baker
29 Dale Earnhardt
30 J.D. McDuffie
31 Derrick Cope
32 Hut strictlin
33 Dave Mader
34 Alan Kulwicki
35 H.B. Bailey
36 Chad Little
37 Richard Petty
38 Bill Meacham
39 Dale Jarrett
40 Lake Speed
Time Of Race: 3 hours, 41 minutes, 50 seconds
Average Speed : 135.594 mph
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