Gordon Charges Through Field To Win The Winston Move With 19 Laps Remaining Seals Victory In 70-Lap Race

Jeff Gordon’s qualifying gamble paid off quite handsomely Saturday night in Concord, N.C..

Making up for an overly aggressive move that cost him in the time trials, Gordon charged through the field at Charlotte Motor Speedway and won The Winston, the 13th annual all-star event for stock car racing’s top series.

“Everything just kind of went our way. Tonight could not have worked out any better,” said Gordon, who won $207,500 from the $1.1 million purse.

Gordon overshot his pit stall during Friday night’s time trials, relegating him to the 19th spot on the race’s 20-car starting grid. But he quickly worked his way into contention, took the lead 19 laps from the end of the 70-lap race and pulled away to his second victory in three years.

“Our car was just awesome for me to get through traffic like I did,” said Gordon, who became just the third driver to win the event more than once. Dale Earnhardt won the race three times and the late Davey Allison was a two-time winner.

Bobby Labonte wound up about 15 car lengths behind in second and his older brother, 1996 Winston Cup champion Terry Labonte, was third.

Little finishes fourth

Spokane’s Chad Little finished fourth in The Winston Open qualifying race in Concord.

Little started on the pole and was hoping to earn the final spot in The Winston.

Little earned $13,000 for his effort. He led the first 20 laps of the 50-lap race.

The winner of The Winston Open automatically qualified for the circuit’s all-star race, and that went to Ricky Craven, who started in the third spot in the Open.

Boat qualifies for Indy

Billy Boat, the only driver bumped from the Indianapolis 500 lineup a year ago, was the fastest among eight qualifiers and gave the hard-luck A.J. Foyt team two cars solidly in the race.

A week earlier, Scott Sharp crashed for the second time and was hospitalized with a head injury.

Then on Friday, Johnny O’Connell, subbing for Sharp, dislocated the arch of his left foot in another crash and will not race at Indy.

“Luck’s a funny thing. Sometimes you’ve got it and sometimes all you can find is bad,” said Boat, who averaged 215.544 mph for the four laps.

The only Foyt driver who hasn’t crashed this month is Davey Hamilton, who qualified last week at 214.484 for a spot in the middle of the third row.

Arie Luyendyk won the pole position last week at 218.263.

The eight qualifiers left only two of the 33 spots to be filled today. After the end of qualifications, the track will be closed until race day, except for a final two-hour practice Thursday.

Indy notes

Scott Goodyear has had more than the race on his mind this month. His wife, Leslie, delivered Thursday evening. Hayley Alexandra Goodyear checked in at 7 pounds, 15 ounces and measured 19-1/2 inches.

Mary Fendrich Hulman, chairman emeritus of the Speedway and the matriarch of the Hulman-George family, has been inducted into the Speedway Hall of Fame. Also inducted Friday night was two-time Indy 500 champion Gordon Johncock.

Mary Hulman is the widow of Tony Hulman, who purchased the Speedway in 1945. Johncock, a veteran of 24 Indy 500s, recorded victories in 1973 and 1982.