AC Delco 400
North Carolina Motor Speedway
NASCAR Winston Cup Series
1996 Race No. 29
Ricky Rudd remained on the track while the other contenders made a final pit stop, and the decision gave him a victory yesterday in the AC-Delco 400 at North Carolina Motor Speedway in Rockingham.
The win extended his string of consecutive seasons with at least one victory to 14 -- second among active drivers to Dale Earnhardt's 15 straight.
Rudd led for 81 laps, including the final 74, and beat the Ford of Dale Jarrett to the finish line by 3.39 seconds -- nearly a full straightaway on the 1.017-mile oval .
We had a very good car . It was unbelievably good, really good on hot tires and at that time any time the caution came out, you came to pit road whether you had five laps on your tires or 10. Everyone hit pit road to get tires because it made a big difference.
"We had a day that was a frustrating day. I think that day there were 15 cars on the lead lap, and every time we came into the pits there would be a foul-up on our pit stop. We'd come in leading or running second and come out of the pits the last on the lead lap.
"We'd run 50 or 60 laps, finally get back in the lead again, the caution would come out and we'd come in and then go back to being the last-place car. And, it went like that all day long.
"It finally got down toward the end of the race, and as the owner AND the driver, I could make the call. After having so much abuse and it wasn't working right that day, I told my crew chief, Richard Broome, 'Find somebody that is out of the race. We need to do something different. We'll worry about our problem later, but right now go get somebody off another crew.' [Owner] Bobby Allison's car had dropped out, and we got the tire changers off the 12 car, and the next stop was just as bad. They were having trouble.
"We finally worked our way back to the front after that. We were leading the race. The caution came out, and we'd been on those tires probably 30 laps at least. And Richard said, 'Come on in to pit, Rooster. Come on in and get your four tires.' And I remember I said, 'I'm not coming. I'm not coming in.' I thought if we come in we'll lose the race because we won't have enough time to make it up this time. There aren't enough laps left. It had taken us about 50 laps to dig us out of the hole we'd get in. And Richard said, 'But, you've got to come in and get tires. We're at Rockingham.' And I said, 'I'm not coming in.'
"Anyway, they restarted it. Our car was that good on older tires. It would really shine, and we ended up winning the race ."
Ps Car Driver Sponsor Make Lps Pts Bs Money Status
1 10 Ricky Rudd Tide Ford 393 180 5 90,025 Running
2 88 Dale Jarrett Quality Care/
Ford Credit Ford 393 180 10 62,125 Running
3 5 Terry Labonte Kellogg's Corn Flakes Chevrolet 393 165 46,725 Running
4 28 Ernie Irvan Texaco/Havoline Ford 393 165 5 35,950 Running
5 99 Jeff Burton Exide Batteries Ford 393 160 5 25,675 Running
6 18 Bobby Labonte Interstate Batteries Chevrolet 393 155 5 33,300 Running
7 6 Mark Martin Valvoline Ford 393 146 31,100 Running
8 2 Rusty Wallace Miller Ford 393 142 28,900 Running
9 3 Dale Earnhardt GM Goodwrench Service Chevrolet 393 133 5 30,700 Running
10 23 Jimmy Spencer Camel Cigarettes Ford 393 134 28,100 Running
11 8 Hut Stricklin Circuit City Ford 392 130 17,400 Running
12 24 Jeff Gordon DuPont Refinishes Chevrolet 392 132 5 35,000 Running
13 4 Sterling Marlin Kodak Film Chevrolet 392 124 29,150 Running
14 21 Michael Waltrip Citgo Ford 392 126 5 23,700 Running
15 7 Geoff Bodine QVC Ford 392 118 28,200 Running
16 11 Brett Bodine Lowe's Ford 391 115 23,200 Running
17 22 Ward Burton MBNA America Pontiac 391 112 29,200 Running
18 16 Ted Musgrave The Family Channel Ford 391 109 22,700 Running
19 81 Kenny Wallace Square D Ford 391 106 15,400 Running
20 33 Todd Bodine Skoal Bandit Racing Chevrolet 390 103 25,850 Running
21 17 Darrell Waltrip Parts America Chevrolet 390 100 21,525 Running
22 41 Ricky Craven Kodiak Chevrolet 390 97 21,325 Running
23 25 Ken Schrader Budweiser Chevrolet 390 94 21,125 Running
24 87 Joe Nemechek Burger King Chevrolet 389 91 20,925 Running
25 42 Kyle Petty Coors Light Pontiac 389 88 20,925 Running
26 98 John Andretti RCA Ford 387 90 5 13,525 Running
27 95 Gary Bradberry Shoney's Inn Ford 387 82 10,125 Running
28 43 Bobby Hamilton STP Pontiac 386 79 20,225 Running
29 75 Morgan Shepherd Remington Arms Ford 385 76 13,025 Running
30 71 Dave Marcis Prodigy Chevrolet 377 73 12,825 Running
31 90 Dick Trickle Heilig-Meyers Ford 353 70 12,600 Running
32 94 Bill Elliott McDonalds Ford 326 67 19,000 Handling
33 77 Bobby Hillin Jasper Engines Ford 311 64 9,400 Water Pump
34 37 Jeremy Mayfield Kmart/Little Caesars Ford 311 61 16,300 Accident
35 9 Lake Speed Spam Ford 305 58 16,200 Running
36 15 Wally Dallenbach Hayes Modems Ford 303 55 16,175 Running
37 29 Robert Pressley Cartoon Network Chevrolet 294 52 16,175 Running
38 1 Rick Mast Hooters Pontiac 281 49 16,100 Engine
39 12 Derrike Cope Badcock Home
Furnishings Ford 267 51 5 17,675 Accident
40 30 Johnny Benson Pennzoil Pontiac 225 43 17,100 Running
41 78 Billy Standridge Wilson Racing Ford 140 40 9,100 Running
42 40 Robby Gordon First Union Pontiac 4 37 9,100 Running
Time of Race: 3 hours, 16 minutes, 03 seconds
Margin of Victory: 3.397 seconds
Average Speed: 122.320 mph
Cautions: 7 for 46 laps
Lead Changes: 21 among 10 drivers
Post Race Awards for the AC-Delco 400 -- North Carolina Motor Speedway
Unocal 76 Challenge ($121,600):
Unclaimed - $129,200 at Phoenix International Raceway, Oct. 27
NASCAR Winston Cup Leader Bonus ($20,000):
Unclaimed - $30,000 at Phoenix
Gatorade Front Runner Award ($10,000):
Dale Jarritt - Quality Care/Ford Credit Ford
AP Parts Meet the Challenge Award ($2,500):
Ward Burton - MBNA Pontiac
True Value Man of the Race ($2,000): Ricky Rudd - Tide Ford
Plasti-Kote Winning Finish ($2,500):
Richard Broome, crew chief - Tide Ford
Western Auto Mechanic of the Race ($2,000):
Buddy Parrott, crew chief - Exide Ford
Goody's Headache Award ($1,000):
Derrike Cope - Badcock Home Furnishings Ford
NASCAR Winston Cup Rookie of the Race ($1,000):
Johnny Benson -- Pennzoil Pontiac
UAW-GM Teamwork of Excellence Award ($5,000):
Richard Broome - Tide Ford
RCA Pit Strategy Award ($5,000): Richard Broome - Tide Ford