New crew chief, same results for Jeff Gordon

Mike Harris

Monday, Oct. 4, 1999 | 11:13 a.m.

MARTINSVILLE, Va. - The difference between Ray Evernham and successor Brian Whitesell was obvious after the latter's first victory as Jeff Gordon's crew chief at the NAPA AutoCare 500.

His shirttail was hanging out.

Evernham, Whitesell's mentor the last six years, was rarely caught with a hair out of place as he directed Gordon to his first 47 victories and all three of his NASCAR Winston Cup championships.

Other than that little sartorial slip, Whitesell's debut as crew chief for the No. 24 Chevrolet was so much like an Evernham performance that it probably sent a shudder through the garage area.

Evernham, who resigned last Wednesday to begin putting together his own team, was the consummate gambler - and usually made the gamble work.

On Sunday at Martinsville Speedway, Whitesell played long odds, keeping Gordon on the track while all the other contenders pitted for fresh tires 15 laps from the end of the 500-mile race.

"First of all, you've got to have someone with the guts to make a call like that," Gordon said after holding off hard-charging Dale Earnhardt for his series-high sixth victory of the season and first in eight starts.

"Once that call is made, you've got to have a driver that doesn't put a negative feeling on it right away," he added. "In a situation like that, instead of saying, 'Man, there's no way I'm going to hold these guys off,' I said, 'What I've got to do is get a really good restart,' which I did."

Earnhardt was third, behind Gordon and Bobby Labonte, for the restart on lap 482. As Gordon drove away, the second- and third-place cars got hung up in traffic.

Earnhardt got past Labonte the next time around the half-mile oval, then cleared the lapped traffic and went after Gordon, falling just two car-lengths short at the end.

"I might have overdrove the car trying to catch him at first," Earnhardt said. "He played the cards right. I got to him too late."

Despite being weakened by a stomach flu, Earnhardt appeared on the way to his third victory of the season until Chad Little spun in turn four on lap 475, bringing out the last of eight caution flags.

That's when the pressure fell on Whitesell.

"Jeff makes a decision like that easy to make," said Whitesell, a picture of calm confidence.

"We knew if we got back in the pack it was not going to be a good thing. We had nothing to lose. We either win the race of finish about fifth," said Whitesell, the team's engineer and the man Evernham picked to succeed him.

"That answers a lot of questions, doesn't it?" Gordon said as he celebrated the his first victory in eight races. "Brian did a great job. I'm proud of him."

Gordon also gave credit to Evernham, his crew chief for every race since the three-time Winston Cup champion was Rookie of the Year in 1993 before leaving to start his own team.

"This team kept faith in themselves and in one another," Gordon said. "But we wouldn't be here today if it weren't for Ray Evernham. He's the one who orchestrated these guys. I think this is a sign of good things to come."

Whitesell agreed, saying, "The reason we're here is Ray Evernham. He taught us how to do it."

Gordon, who averaged 72.624 mph, led only twice for a total of 29 laps. The first time he led was on lap 416, but Kenny Wallace took over the top spot four laps later and Earnhardt passed him for the lead on lap 431.

Asked if he knew Earnhardt was catching him at the end, Gordon, who last pitted for tires on lap 419, said, "That wasn't a pretty sight. I never drove a race car smoother than that in my life. I had to take care of those tires."

Referring to a race in August in Bristol, Tenn., in which Earnhardt won after bumping leader Terry Labonte into the wall on the last lap, Gordon grinned and said, "To be honest, going into that lap turn, all I could think of was Terry Labonte. I didn't want (Earnhardt) to get to my rear bumper.

"He gave me a nudge, but it was after the checkered flag."

Geoff Bodine finished third, followed by Rusty Wallace, who made up a lost lap on the final yellow, and brother Kenny, Mike Skinner, Kyle Petty and Labonte.

Skinner, who led 138 laps, and Labonte, who led 120, both fell out of contention after their final stops.

But Labonte made the biggest gain in the series championship, vaulting past Mark Martin into second, although he trails leader Dale Jarrett by 251 points with six races remaining.

Jarrett lost two laps early, getting caught in the pits when a yellow flag came out. He came back to finish one lap down in 10th.

Martin had a terrible day, bouncing off the wall twice and wound up 16th, three laps behind. He fell 276 points behind Jarrett and 25 in back of Labonte.

Most of the excitement in the early part of the race was caused by former short track rivals Kenny Irwin and top series rookie Tony Stewart.

Stewart spun Irwin out twice in the early going, bringing out the first two caution flags. On the ensuing restart, Irwin retaliated, slammed into Stewart and also took out Brett Bodine.

Stewart threw the heat shields from his race shoes at Irwin's windshield and reached into the car to take a swipe at his rival as Irwin went by under caution the next time around.

A NASCAR spokesman said a decision on any possible penalties levied against the drivers would come today after a review of the videotapes.