Elliott wins one for the old guys

Monday, Aug. 5, 2002 | 10:09 a.m.

Brickyard Results

Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Lap Length: 2.5 mile oval

1. (2) Bill Elliott, Dodge, 160, $449,056.

2. (35) Rusty Wallace, Ford, 160, $307,850.

3. (18) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 160, $253,750.

4. (5) Ryan Newman, Ford, 160, $247,000.

5. (7) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 160, $225,278.

6. (21) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 160, $204,728.

7. (6) Steve Park, Chevrolet, 160, $176,275.

8. (4) Robby Gordon, Chevrolet, 160, $167,431.

9. (37) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 160, $135,025.

10. (17) Dale Jarrett, Ford, 160, $166,625.

11. (40) Bobby Labonte, Pontiac, 160, $172,028.

12. (1) Tony Stewart, Pontiac, 160, $185,953.

13. (31) Terry Labonte, Chevrolet, 160, $143,508.

14. (30) Ken Schrader, Pontiac, 160, $134,575.

15. (33) Dave Blaney, Ford, 160, $133,125.

16. (14) Michael Waltrip, Chevrolet, 160, $119,875.

17. (41) Hut Stricklin, Dodge, 160, $110,175.

18. (25) Ricky Rudd, Ford, 160, $151,292.

19. (29) Jeff Green, Chevrolet, 160, $108,075.

20. (10) Joe Nemechek, Chevrolet, 160, $118,325.

21. (36) Ted Musgrave, Dodge, 160, $102,475.

22. (3) Dale Earnhardt Jr, Chevrolet, 160, $125,280.

23. (32) Bobby Hamilton, Chevrolet, 160, $121,344.

24. (34) Jerry Nadeau, Dodge, 160, $102,755.

25. (27) Kyle Petty, Dodge, 160, $102,055.

26. (16) John Andretti, Dodge, 160, $128,008.

27. (8) Sterling Marlin, Dodge, 160, $149,142.

28. (9) Mark Martin, Ford, 160, $133,858.

29. (23) Jeff Burton, Ford, 160, $139,592.

30. (19) Ward Burton, Dodge, 160, $137,930.

31. (15) Jimmy Spencer, Dodge, 159, $96,925.

32. (26) Kenny Wallace, Chevrolet, 158, $93,830.

33. (22) Ricky Craven, Ford, 155, $103,675.

34. (20) Todd Bodine, Ford, 149, engine failure, $118,092.

35. (39) Elliott Sadler, Ford, 141, crash, $100,650.

36. (13) Mike Skinner, Chevrolet, 126, engine failure, $92,545.

37. (11) Johnny Benson, Pontiac, 106, engine failure, $119,215.

38. (28) Casey Atwood, Dodge, 97, crash, $92,335.

39. (12) Jeremy Mayfield, Dodge, 79, engine failure, $100,610.

40. (24) Geoffrey Bodine, Ford, 50, crash, $92,150.

41. (38) Kurt Busch, Ford, 34, crash, $100,045.

42. (42) Brett Bodine, Ford, 11, crash, $91,940.

43. (43) Mike Wallace, Pontiac, 10, crash, $92,071. ------

Average Speed of Race Winner: 125.033 mph.

Time of Race: 3 hours, 11 minutes, 57 seconds.

Margin of Victory: 1.269.

Caution Flags: 8 for 36 laps.

Lead Changes: 16 among 10 drivers.

Lap Leaders: T. Stewart 1-12; K. Wallace 13; D. Earnhardt Jr 14-16; T. Stewart 17-37; J. Mayfield 38; B. Elliott 39-52; J. Andretti 53; B. Elliott 54-70; T. Stewart 71-77; B. Elliott 78-98; S. Marlin 99; B. Elliott 100-128; J. Nemechek 129; M. Martin 130-133; T. Stewart 134-136; R. Wallace 137-148; B. Elliott 149-160.

INDIANAPOLIS -- The young guns of NASCAR grabbed most of the attention through the first half of the Winston Cup season, but the sport's old guard stole the show Sunday in the ninth running of the Brickyard 400.

Bill Elliott, two months shy of his 47th birthday, used a late four-tire pit stop to track down 45-year-old Rusty Wallace and win his first Brickyard 400 before more than a quarter of a million spectators at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

"There was a lot of emotion here today," said Elliott, who won for the second week in a row and climbed into sixth place in the Winston Cup points standings. "It seems like it's been a lifetime getting here and I don't know how to describe it."

Elliott, 14th on NASCAR's all-time win list with 43, suffered through a six-year drought from 1995-00 in which he did not win a race driving for his own team.

At the end of the 2000 season, Elliott sold his team and went to work for Ray Evernham's new Dodge team. He has posted three wins in little over a season and a half.

"It seems like everybody is too easy to count you out and then you stop believing in yourself," Elliott said. "When Ray came to me, I couldn't understand -- with my past record -- why he would want to hire me. At that point in time, I hadn't done much of anything.

"It's been a long time coming. I'm on the shorter end of the stick than these younger guys -- they've got a lot of future, a lot of years left to go. Regardless of how long I drive ... the sport is eventually going to push you out; that's part of evolution. I'm just proud of where I am today, I'm proud of the accomplishment."

Elliott led five times for a race-high 93 laps, but it was a decision by crew chief Mike Ford to take on four tires during a yellow-flag pit stop with 32 laps remaining that kept him out front.

Elliott was leading when the caution came out on lap 128. Another of NASCAR's old guard, 45-year-old Dale Jarrett, beat everyone out of the pits but was penalized when he left with the gas catch can stuck on the car. Jarrett went from the lead to 28th place.

"I don't really know what happened with that pit situation," Jarrett said. "We didn't get the catch can out for some reason so I had to come back in.

"Bill Elliott had a great day and I had a great car. Could we have held him off? I don't know but we were in the position. We made a mistake and it takes a perfect day here (to win) and Bill and those guys had a perfect day."

Pole-sitter Tony Stewart grabbed the lead on the restart but Wallace took the lead three laps later. Wallace, who took two tires on the last stop, held the lead for 12 laps but couldn't outrun Elliott, who had four fresh tires.

Elliott passed Wallace on the bottom of the track entering Turn 3, then held off Wallace after a restart with four laps remaining and pulled away to a 10-car-length victory.

"With 10 laps to go, I'm sitting there saying 'Man, I've got this thing won, I think I can hold them off,' " Wallace said. "And then I went off of (turn) two, got loose and (Elliott) got his nose underneath me and then that was it."

While veterans Elliott and Wallace took the top two spots, youngsters Matt Kenseth, Ryan Newman and Kevin Harvick rounded out the top five.

Las Vegas native Kurt Busch finished 41st after being wrecked by Jimmy Spencer on the 35th lap.

Stewart, an Indiana native who was closing in on his first Brickyard 400 win, slipped back after losing the lead late in the race and finished 12th. He led four times for 43 laps.

Following the race, Stewart was involved in an altercation with an Indianapolis Star photographer. A witness reported that Stewart threw "several punches" at Gary Mook after Stewart exited his car in the garage area.

A NASCAR spokesperson said series officials were looking into the matter and that president Mike Helton would speak to all parties involved before determining if Stewart would be punished.

Stewart left the track without talking to reporters, and team owner Joe Gibbs was left to answer for his driver.

"I would say this is probably the number one place that he wants to win a race," Gibbs said. "It's a bitter disappointment and I think when you get him in that situation, it is hard for him to even talk.

"Sometimes I think he says things that he wished he hadn't have said and so, to be truthful, we've kind of tried to say, 'Hey, Tony, the best thing to do might be to not say anything,' so maybe some of that is our fault."

Defending race winner Jeff Gordon, celebrating his 31st birthday Sunday, finished sixth and was followed in the top 10 by Steve Park, Robby Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Jarrett.

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