The start of the race was delayed 42 minutes due to rain. It was then red-flagged on lap 321 for 33 minutes for rain, red-flagged again for 18 minutes after Darrell Waltrip's wreck that resulted in his fuel-cell rupturing and then red-flagged for 1 hour and 7 minutes before it was eventually called and Jeff Gordon awarded the win.
Fans kept themselves occupied by doing the wave and playing with beach balls. The brightly colored rain-gear made for what looked like an 80,000+ person hunters convention. Remington Arms and Realtree Camouflage made the right decision to get involved in this sport!
"Jet Truck" operaters Danny Taylor and Rick Kerns may have "led" more laps than race winner Jeff Gordon.
This is only the 2nd race at BIR to be called or shortened due to inclement weather. In 1983, the Busch 500 was shortened to 419 laps as a result of rain. Darrell Waltrip was the eventual winner ahead of Earnhardt and Bobby Allison, the only drivers to complete 419 laps.
The following are a number of the comments during the lengthy breaks.
Dale Earnhardt "It's a little tight right now, but we're working on that. We're just hummin' and bummin' right now. I'm trying to be patient. We've got a good race car, and I feel like if we wait until the right time we'll be OK."
Jeff Burton on his run-in with Bill Elliott. "It was certainly more my fault than it was his. I got up under him in the middle of the back straightaway. I was trying to get my lap back. The guy behind has t give a little bit to the guy up front and I didn't do that.
Terry Labonte commenting on the confusion surrounding whether he was leader or not at the second red-flag. "We were sitting there and if the leaders come down pit road, we were going to stay out so we could lead a lap. Then they didn't come down pit road, so we came in to get four tires so we could come out ahead of them. It just so happened we were sitting on pit road, they red-flagged the race. We're sitting here in pretty good shape now. I hope my car's a little bit better than it was on that last set of tires. We were pretty good early, but on that last set, the car got way too tight.
Darrell Waltrip's wreck resulted in the the second red-flag of the day after his fuel-cell burst. "Everybody gets doubled up on the retsrts, and it's going to be exciting for awhile. I hate I got involved in it. I was having a pretty decent run. I think I could have had a decent finish.That's more than we have been showing. We'll get them next week. I've seen drivers at Indy try to start the car and the motor ain't even there. I didn't have any idea the fuel-cell was busted. We'll get 'em at Wilkesbor, my favorite track.
I hate double file restarts. I've alwaysasked 'em to do single-file restarts. It would cut down on the wrecks. Maybe that's my way of thinking and not theirs.
During the first rain-delay, Waltrip pked some fun at Rusty Wallace. "The car was pushing a little on me. There's a big hole right up there in the front. I was pretty good after they adjusted it. I didn't have any downforce. You can ask Rusty Wallace about that. You can't race without any downforce.
Larry McClure, owner of the Kodak Chevrolet commented on the circumstances surrounding his driver Sterling Marlin being penalized a lap - then having the penalty overturned after NASCAR the details. "They told us we were out of the box on the pit stop. We let the car down and went back around. It's either one lap or let the car down and go back around. That's what we did. They gave us our lap back. Now if it'll quit raining, we'll see what we can do.
During a "playfull" scuffle during the third red-flag session, Jeff Torrence, a crew member of the Kellogg's team - received a cut over his eye requiring six-stitches. Jeff Gordon during the first rain delay - "Goodyear has a real good tire here. It seems to stay with us for awhile. I'm real happy with em'. You try to tell them (Goodyear) every little detail. I notcied on old tires, the car chatters quite a bit. You don't know if it's the tires or the concrete track or the buildup of rubber on the race track. It could be a combination of things. You've got to be real, real careful.
Rusty Wallace- "The car's good, but it's a little loose right now. Gordon is quicker than I am right now, so it's all I can do to keep running like I'm running. These guys always give me killer pit stops. That's what it takes to win races -- you've got to drive hard, keep the fenders on it and have good pit stops.
Bill Elliott on the contact with Jeff Burton. "I guess Jeff was trying to get his lap back. Some days, that's just racin', but I don't understand it. Bristol has got me bit, and there ain't much you can do about it.
Mark Martin - "We've got about a third-or-fourth place car. I really thinks I can race the 2 and the 3, but I can't race that 24. Man - he's just stuck it through the corners. It may be six-inches between us when we go into the corners, but after awhile he's away from me and gone.
I don't know what that (the rumors of Martin's health) all about. I'm as healthy as ahorse right now, the strongest I've ever been. I just don't know how people come up with stuff like that, that I'm fixing to die of cancer or something. It just beats the heck out of me.
