Let The Taming Begin

"The track too tough to tame."
"The lady in black." We all know the nicknames associated with
Darlington Raceway. The drivers especially know the term "Darlington
stripe." Ward Burton was the first to get up close and personal with the
track and the first to gain his stripe during qualifying on Friday. Rookie Kurt
Busch shocked everyone when he ran the fastest lap at 168.048, grabbing his
first career Bud Pole.

Beginning the race alongside Jeff Gordon
in row one, Busch led the first 23 laps, giving the lead up to Mobil 1 driver
Jeremy Mayfield. 32 laps later, the first caution flag flew when Michael Waltrip
was trading paint with the wall. With cars checking up to avoid Waltrip, Jason
Leffler turned around Ron Hornaday. On lap 56, Jeremy Mayfield lead the field to
the pits for the first round of pit stops. Jeff Gordon’s crew, having the end
stall, got him out before everybody else, handing him the lead.

Lap 77 brought out the second yellow of
the day when Dale Earnhardt Jr. got in the back of Hut Stricklin. Dale Jr. would
cause yet another spin out on lap 191, this time his victim would be Stacy
Compton. NASCAR issued Earnhardt a warning for rough driving.

The lead changed hands many times between
Jeff Gordon, Jeremy Mayfield, Dale Jarrett, and pole sitter Kurt Busch. Busch
fell back in the field when he had problems with an a/c. adapter, and on lap 277
he was in the wall. This brought out the sixth caution of the day. It also
brought two other race contenders to the garage area. Dale Jarrett had a
reoccurring problem in his left rear wheel hub, dropping him 11 laps down. Kenny
Wallace, subbing for the injured Steve Park, had a hole in the radiator. Until
then, Wallace had run in the top 15 throughout the day. He finished the race in
41st.

With fifty laps remaining in the Southern
500, Ward Burton held the lead until Elliott Sadler brought out the eighth
caution flag while limping around the 1.366-mile track on a flat tire. Heading
to the pits for the final stop, Gordon came out in the lead yet again, with
Bobby Labonte close behind. Ward Burton sat 3rd in line for the restart. Labonte
passed Gordon and Burton quickly took over the 2nd spot. Jeremy Mayfield was on
Gordon’s bumper, fighting for 3rd. With 19 to go, Robert Pressley spun, bouncing
hard off the inside retaining wall. Pressley was taken to a local hospital with
abdomen and lower back pain; all tests came back negative.

With nine laps left to run, Ward Burton
retook the lead from Bobby Labonte. Burton and Labonte had raced back to the
yellow flag, which was thrown when Ron Hornaday, Joe Nemecheck, and Jimmy
Spencer were involved in separate accidents. The red flag was thrown, halting
the race for clean up. Hearing that rain was less than a mile away, NASCAR
restarted the engines and waved the green with 4 laps to go. Ricky Rudd fought
Jeff Gordon for the 3rd spot while Jeremy Mayfield was battling for second with
Bobby Labonte. Mayfield hit the wall, and behind him Dave Blaney, Dale Earnhardt
Jr., Bill Elliott, Tony Stewart all got together. Ward Burton came across the
line, taking the white flag along with the yellow. Burton collected his first
win of the year and the second win for Dodge. This is Ward’s second win at
Darlington, and first on the year. After starting the race in the 38th spot,
Burton tamed the track after earning his stripes during qualifying.