Wallace wins from pole

qualifying run in first round Bud Pole qualifying on Friday -- his thirdconsecutive Food City 500 pole.

He led 425 of the 500 laps and held off a
determined Mark Martin by just 22/100ths of a second to record his 49th career
Series win, the fifth for this event and his 7th overall at the 0.533-mile
Bristol Motor Speedway with 36 degree banking in the turns.

Just as he did in 1993, the last time Wallace won this race from the pole, he
completed a 'Polish Victory Lap' in honor of 1992 Series champ Alan Kulwicki
who lost his life in an airplane crash en route to Bristol a few days prior to
the race.

Martin advanced to the runnerup spot when Dale Jarrett had problems during his
last pit stop under caution for a spin at Lap 274 by Steve Park. Jarrett
finished in third.

John Andretti, fastest second round qualifier, patiently worked his way into
4th from his 26th starting position. Andretti was followed across the stripe
by the current points leader Jeff Burton, who advanced through the field from
31st.

Jeff Gordon, the defending race champion, saw some more bad luck come his way
today when Jerry Nadeau spun before 350 laps were complete collecting Gordon
and Rookie Tony Stewart, who had been waging battle for the second spot.
Gordon managed to finish a very respectable sixth after his car suffered heavy
front-end damage, while Stewart got together with Martin before Lap 400,
cutting a tire and wound up 2 laps down in 15th.

Stewart's teammate Bobby Labonte, who started 3rd, was involved in an accident
in the early stages of the event and would up 37th, some 27 laps down.

Dale Earnhardt came from 34th to finish 10th, just one spot behind Ward
Burton, who started from the 38th slot.

The race was slowed by seven cautions over the span of 2 hours, 51 minutes and
30 seconds. There were just 10 cars remaining on the lead lap and 40 cars
finished the event. Nadeau, Ernie Irvan and Ricky Rudd will show a DNF for
the Food City 500.

The NASCAR Winston Cup Series now travels to Martinsville, Va. for the Goody's
Body Pain 500 next Sunday. The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will compete in
the NAPA 250 at Martinsville on Saturday.

FOOD CITY 500

BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY

BRISTOL, Tenn. - Results of the Food City 500 NASCAR Winston Cup Series race
at the Bristol Motor Speedway, 4/11/99:

1. (1) Rusty Wallace, Ford, 500

2. (8) Mark Martin, Ford, 500

3. (16) Dale Jarrett, Ford, 500

4. (26) John Andretti, Pontiac, 500

5. (31) Jeff Burton, Ford, 500

6. (2) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 500

7. (13) Ted Musgrave, Ford, 500

8. (14) Kyle Petty, Pontiac, 500

9. (38) Ward Burton, Pontiac, 500

10. (34) Dale Earnhardt, Chevrolet, 500

11. (10) Kenny Irwin, Ford, 499

12. (39) Michael Waltrip, Chevrolet, 499

13. (30) Terry Labonte, Chevrolet, 499

14. (24) Sterling Marlin, Chevrolet, 499

15. (4) Tony Stewart, Pontiac, 498

16. (6) Kenny Wallace, Chevrolet, 498

17. (21) Jimmy Spencer, Ford, 498

18. (7) Bobby Hamilton, Chevrolet, 498

19. (32) Rick Mast, Ford, 498

20. (20) Ken Schrader, Chevrolet, 498

21. (33) Mike Skinner, Chevrolet, 497

22. (18) Brett Bodine, Ford, 497

23. (43) Steve Park, Chevrolet, 497

24. (40) Chad Little, Ford, 497

25. (23) Bill Elliott, Ford, 497

26. (17) Elliott Sadler, Ford, 497

27. (37) Jeremy Mayfield, Ford, 496

28. (25) Geoffrey Bodine, Chevrolet, 495

29. (42) Johnny Benson, Ford, 495

30. (15) Wally Dallenbach, Chevrolet, 494

31. (29) Dick Trickle, Chevrolet, 493

32. (12) Darrell Waltrip, Ford, 491

33. (35) David Green, Chevrolet, 490

34. (22) Dave Marcis, Chevrolet, 490

35. (28) Kevin Lepage, Ford, 489

36. (27) Joe Nemechek, Chevrolet, 478

37. (3) Bobby Labonte, Pontiac, 471

38. (5) Ricky Rudd, Ford, 410, Handling

39. (36) Buckshot Jones, Pontiac, 406

40. (11) Robert Pressley, Ford, 403

41. (9) Ricky Craven, Ford, 401

42. (19) Jerry Nadeau, Ford, 335, Accident

43. (41) Ernie Irvan, Pontiac, 144, Handling

Time of race: 2 hours, 51 minutes, 39 seconds
Margin of Victory: 0.223 seconds

Average Speed: 93.366 mph

Lead Changes: 7 among 5 drivers

Caution laps: 7 for 57 laps

Lap Leaders: Rusty Wallace 1-197, Tony Stewart 198-252, Michael Waltrip
253-254, Wallace 255-294, Ward Burton 295-305, Wallace 306-344, Mark Martin
345-351, Wallace 352-500

Top-10 in Points: (1) Jeff Burton 1,064; (2) D. Jarrett 1,012; (3) B. Labonte
959;
(4) M. Martin 955; (5) J. Gordon 940; (6) T. Labonte 910; (7) W. Burton 892;
(9) J. Mayfield 852; (10) M. Waltrip 842