Pontiac Excitement 400 Preview

March 2, 1997
Richmond International Raceway
Richmond, Virginia
Race 3 of 32 on Winston Cup circuit

TV: ESPN, 1 p.m. EST 

Laps: 400
Track length: 3/4 mile
Race length: 300 miles
Banking: 14 degrees
Purse: $1.4 million

Qualifying record: Jeff Gordon, 124.757 mph, 1995
Race record: Davey Allison, 107.709 mph, 1993

DRIVERS TO WATCH


Jeff Burton -- the 1994 Rookie of the Year keeps threatening to 
    win a race, and winning here would be in front of a home 
    crowd; currently fourth in points and coming off a third 
    place performance at Rockingham; finished fourth in this 
    race last year and third in the fall race.

Dale Earnhardt -- new crew chief Larry McReynolds hasn't ended 
    Earnhardt's winless streak -- which now stands at 28 races; 
    an absolute non-factor at Rockingham last week; heads to 
    Richmond with an impressive record of five wins, 24 top-fives 
    and 29 top-10s in 36 starts at Richmond; had four top-fives 
    in short-track events last year, which is a little off the 
    pace of his usually impressive short-track mark; has 26 wins 
    in 155 career short-track starts; he is off to the worst start 
    of his Winston Cup career.

Jeff Gordon -- looks to become the first driver in history to 
    open the Winston Cup season with three straight victories; 
    comes into the race as the defending event champion and the 
    qualifying record holder; on short-tracks, Gordon was 
    devastating last year -- finishing in the top five in all 
    eight races and winning half of the short-track races.

Bobby Hamilton -- is quietly establishing himself as one of the 
    more consistent drivers at Richmond, finishing each of the 
    last four races in the top 10 (average finish of seventh); 
    had a pole and seven top-10s on short-tracks last season; 
    team owner Richard Petty is far and away the winningest 
    driver ever at Richmond -- with a record 13 victories.

Ernie Irvan -- earned a win in the fall race and looks to 
    become the first driver to win two-in-a-row at Richmond 
    since Terry Labonte in 1994-95; four wins and 20 top-10s 
    in 62 career short track starts.

Dale Jarrett -- had a break-through year on short-tracks last 
    season with four top-fives in eight events; finished third 
    in points collected on a short-tracks last season; picked up 
    where he left off last season, with strong pre-wreck 
    performance at Daytona and a nearly dominating performance 
    before finishing second to Jeff Gordon at Rockingham. 

Terry Labonte -- remains steady as can be; comfortably third in 
    points and continuing his consecutive starts streak -- which 
    reaches 540 this week; a two-time winner at Richmond (fall 
    1994 and spring 1995), with 23 top-10s in 37 starts at this 
    track; has eight wins and 108 top-10s in 158 career 
    short-track starts.

Mark Martin -- still isn't up to speed on the superspeedways, so 
    he'll hunt for his first win since October 1995 at Charlotte;
    a solid peformer on short-tracks, winning two poles 
    including the fall at Richmond; has five wins and 50 top-10s 
    in 91 career short-track starts; handling problems at 
    Rockingham left him with a 13th place finish -- his first 
    finish outside of the top 10 in 17 races.

Rusty Wallace -- was second to Jeff Gordon on short-tracks last 
    season and is certainly not ready to hand over his crown as 
    "king of the short-tracks"; had a pair of wins and six 
    top-10s in the eight short-track events last season; career 
    record of 20 wins and 73 top-10s in 106 short-track starts 
    remains mind-blowing.

1996 Rearview: Jeff Gordon, who finished next to last in the
    first two races of the year, put it all together to win the 
    1996 Pontiac Excitement 400.  Gordon was a contender 
    throughout, pulling into the lead for good on lap 350. 
    Gordon kept his Chevrolet Monte Carlo ahead of a bunch of 
    Fords during three race re-starts to take the victory.  
    Bobby Hamilton, who had led a race-high 129 laps, was involved 
    in a bizarre post-race incident when John Andretti rammed into 
    the rear of Hamilton's Pontiac Grand Prix in apparent 
    retaliation for a bump he received from Hamilton near the 
    end of the race. 


1996 Top 10 Finishers


 1. Jeff Gordon (24), Chevrolet Monte Carlo, $92,400
 2. Dale Jarrett (88), Ford Thunderbird, $44,225
 3. Ted Musgrave (16), Ford Thunderbird, $42,200
 4. Jeff Burton (99), Ford Thunderbird, $22,350
 5. Mark Martin (6), Ford Thunderbird, $37,850
 6. Bobby Hamilton (43), Pontiac Grand Prix, $37,900
 7. Rusty Wallace (2), Ford Thunderbird, $28,375
 8. Terry Labonte (5), Chevrolet Monte Carlo, $34,475
 9. Ricky Rudd (10), Ford Thunderbird, $27,875
10. Bill Elliott (94), Ford Thunderbird, $27,225

Margin of Victory: 0.56 second
8 caution flags for 36 laps
25 lead changes among 11 drivers


Past Champions:

1996  Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 102.750 mph
1995  Terry Labonte, Chevrolet, 106.425 mph
1994  Ernie Irvan, Ford, 98.334 mph
1993  Davey Allison, Ford, 107.709 mph
1992  Bill Elliot, Ford, 104.378 mph
1991  Dale Earnhardt, Chevrolet, 105.397 mph
1990  Mark Martin, Ford, 92.158 mph
1989  Rusty Wallace, Pontiac, 89.619 mph
1988* Neil Bonnett, Chevrolet, 66.401 mph
1987  Dale Earnhardt, Chevrolet, 81.520 mph
1986  Kyle Petty, Ford, 71.078 mph
1985  Dale Earnhardt, Chevrolet, 67.945 mph
1984**Ricky Rudd, Ford, 76.736 mph
1983  Bobby Allison, Buick, 79.584 mph
1982  Dave Marcis, Chevrolet, 72.914 mph
1981  Darrell Waltrip, Buick, 76.570 mph
1980  Darrell Waltrip, Chevrolet, 67.703 mph
1979  Cale Yarborough, Oldsmobile, 83.608 mph
1978  Benny Parsons, Chevrolet, 80.304 mph
1977  Cale Yarborough, Chevrolet, 73.084 mph
1976+ Dave Marcis, Dodge, 72.792 mph
1975  Richard Petty, Dodge, 74.913 mph
1974  Bobby Allison, 74 Chevrolet, 80.095 mph
1973  Richard Petty, 73 Dodge, 74.764 mph
1972  Richard Petty, 72 Plymouth, 76.258 mph
1971  Richard Petty, 70 Plymouth, 79.836 mph
1970  James Hylton, 69 Ford, 82.044 mph
1969  David Pearson, 69 Ford, 73.752 mph
1968  David Pearson, 68 Ford, 65.217 mph
1967  Richard Petty, 67 Plymouth, 65.982 mph
1966  David Pearson, 64 Dodge, 66.539 mph
1965  Junior Johnson, 65 Ford, 61.416 mph
1964  David Pearson, 64 Dodge, 58.660 mph
1963  Joe Weatherly, 63 Pontiac, 58.624 mph
1962  Rex White, 61 Chevrolet, 51.360 mph
1961  Richard Petty, 60 Plymouth, 62.460 mph
1960  Lee Petty, 60 Plymouth, 62.250 mph
1959  Tom Pistone, 59 Thunderbird, 56.860 mph

* Name of race changed from Miller High Life 400 
**Name of race changed from Richmond 400
+ Race changed from 500 laps to 400 laps