Andretti in spin but still wins
In spite of spinning out early on in the race, John Andretti returned to the fray to win the NASCAR Winston Cup Series Goody's 500 on Sunday
Andretti's spin at the Martinsville Speedway put him a lap down, but the Pontiac driver refused to give up and he finished ahead of second-placed Jeff Burton and Jeff Gordon in third.
'The car was awesome. It spits concrete,'' Andretti said. 'I'm so happy I can barely stand.'
It was his second career victory and first at Martinsville Speedway.
With 11 laps to go, Andretti passed Gordon and then gunned for the Ford of Burton.
'As fast as he came, I knew it was going to be hard to hold him back,'' said Burton, who had led for 99 laps.
The pair raced alongside each other for three laps and then Andretti pulled away, winning by 1.066 seconds.
Team owner Richard Petrty was thrilled with the result, saying, 'Good weekend. We got behind, got a lap down and were able to make that back up. That was a heck of a race.''
Burton's second place meant he extended his Championship points lead to 85 over Dale Jarrett, who was eighth.
NASCAR Goody's 500 Results
1. (21) John Andretti, Pontiac
2. (3) Jeff Burton, Ford
3. (9) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet
4. (22) Mike Skinner, Chevrolet
5. (2) Mark Martin, Ford
6. (34) Kenny Wallace, Chevrolet
7. (5) Rusty Wallace, Ford
8. (31) Dale Jarrett, Ford
9. (6) Ken Schrader, Chevrolet
10. (10) Kyle Petty, Pontiac
11. (11) Rich Bickle, Pontiac
12. (20) Darrell Waltrip, Ford
13. (17) Sterling Marlin, Chevrolet
14. (14) Brett Bodine, Ford
15. (37) Terry Labonte, Chevrolet
16. (13) Jimmy Spencer, Ford
17. (38) Chad Little, Ford
18. (26) Wally Dallenbach, Chevrolet
19. (39) Dale Earnhardt, Chevrolet
20. (1) Tony Stewart, Pontiac
21. (28) Kevin Lepage, Ford
22. (7) Ernie Irvan, Pontiac
23. (16) Robert Pressley, Ford
24. (8) Bobby Labonte, Pontiac
25. (23) Steve Park, Chevrolet
26. (41) David Green, Chevrolet
27. (18) Ward Burton, Pontiac
28. (36) Elliott Sadler, Ford
29. (15) Ricky Rudd, Ford
30. (25) Bill Elliott, Ford
31. (33) Dick Trickle, Chevrolet
32. (4) Jerry Nadeau, Ford, 494
33. (24) Bobby Hamilton, Chevrolet
34. (43) Derrike Cope, Pontiac
35. (40) Johnny Benson, Ford
36. (27) Kenny Irwin, Ford
37. (35) Joe Nemechek, Chevrolet
38. (30) Geoffrey Bodine, Chevrolet
39. (29) Michael Waltrip, Chevrolet
40. (19) Ted Musgrave, Ford
41. (32) Jeremy Mayfield, Ford
42. (12) Rick Mast, Ford
43. (42) Ricky Craven, Ford
(Full results to follow)
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