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NASCAR Winston Cup Series Dura-Lube 500 Report: #16 Ted Musgrave

5 November 1997

 
 #16 Ted Musgrave, Family Channel/Primestar Ford Thunderbird
 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
 Dura-Lube 500 Presented by Kmart Race Report
 Phoenix International Raceway
 November 2, 1997
 
        TED MUSGRAVE RACE RECAP: DURA-LUBE 500 PRESENTED BY KMART
 
PHOENIX, AZ - While not the fastest thing under the Phoenix desert sun for 
Friday's qualifying, Musgrave's No. 16 Ford was good enough to make the first 
round to start firmly in the 23rd positions, two spots better than his 1996 
effort. Hopefully Sunday's effort would be a similar improvement, two spots 
better than fourth (1996) would have been a welcome relief to what has been a 
tough fall stretch. 

After Saturday's impressive performance by the Roush Truck teams, who 
finished one and two, Ruttman and Bown, respectively, Musgrave, too, was 
ready to make his mark. He proved to be second only to an indomitable Bobby 
Hamilton, the race's defending champion, and showed himself to be the fastest 
car on long runs during practice. 

Sunday was a travesty of the idea of "fair." Musgrave moved handily into the 
top 12 by the first pit stop on lap 60, only to move backwards after a loose 
set of tires left him struggling to maintain his position on the lead lap. 
The terrible part wasn't losing the first lap, everyone was confident that it 
wasn't going to be a problem to get it back once on fresh rubber. The 
terrible part was losing the second lap only moments later, when a crash 
brought on by Ward Burton just as the leaders were about to pit put many cars 
laps down, as the leaders were then able to pit under yellow. Musgrave fought 
valiantly to get a lap back, and in fact did stay ahead of then leader Rusty 
Wallace for almost 70 laps before going the second lap down again, and thanks 
to the duration of green lap runs for the last two-thirds of the race, was 
only able to climb back to 22nd. He fell to 10th in the overall standings as 
teams head to Atlanta in two weeks' time for the final Winston Cup event. 



By Roush Racing Public Relations