Sacks can make history with Talladega Win
ALLADEGA, Ala. (March 28) -- Greg Sacks made a promise to
himself in 1990 that if he ever had another opportunity to win at
Talladega Superspeedway, he would do things differently.
Sacks, a runner-up finisher to Dale Earnhardt in the 1990
Winston 500, held true to his promise last July as he captured
his first Talladega victory in the NASCAR Busch Series event at
the 2.66-mile "World's Fastest Speedway."
This season, instead of working to erase frustration, Sacks
has the opportunity to make Talladegea history. A victory
Saturday, April 26 in the Birmingham Automobile Dealers 500K
presented by EasyCare will make Sacks the first two-time winner
of the five-year-old event. He is the only previous winner
expected to race in the 312-mile event.
"I had come close at Talladega several times in a Winston
Cup car," said Sacks. "I finished second to Dale Earnhardt in
1990. I just missed winning that race. I really felt like I
should have won that one, but I didn't. I made my move too late
on the last lap and I came up about three feet short at the line.
"When I got to Talladega with that Busch car last year and
knew that I had a potential winner, I decided I was going to get
to the front as soon as possible.
"The Busch Series event at Talladega is one of the toughest
on the Busch schedule. All the Winston Cup guys are there, and
then there's about a dozen or so Busch teams that are going to be
right in there. It's as every bit competitive as the Winston 500.
"I told myself after the Winston 500 in 1990 that if I ever
got the opportunity to win at Talladega again that I wouldn't
wait until the last possible second to pass. Fortunately, it all
worked out for me."
A lot of things have worked out for Sacks since he captured
the checkered flag last summer behind the wheel of Gary Bechtel's
Chevrolet. Sacks came to Talladega last July as Bechtel's interim
driver in both the NASCAR Busch Series and NASCAR Winston Cup
Series. This year he returns to NASCAR's most competitive track
with a pair of full-time rides.
He will defend his Busch Series victory in the Birmingham
Automobile Dealers 500K presented by EasyCare in Mike Laughlin's
Hunter's Specialties Chevrolet and he will try to better his 1990
Winston 500 runner-up finish in the Ranier-Walsh Racing
Enterprises/Hardee's Ford on Sunday, April 27.
"Winning races never hurts anyone," said Sacks, who is most
noted for his 1985 victory in the Pepsi 400 at Daytona
International Speedway. "I'd have to say winning that race kind
of put my name back in the lights a little. It gets people
looking at you again as a winner, not just as a guy out there
riding around.
"I've done a lot of winning in my career in other divisions,
like most of these guys out here have, to just go out there and
ride around. My Talladega win didn't change the way I looked at
anything, but I do think it changed the way some other people
looked at my desires.
"I come out here to win races. I think that race kind of
showed that again."
But it wasn't all easy for Sacks, as he had to dodge an
early-race crash to get to the front from his seventh starting
position. He took the lead for the first time on lap 20 and
remained in the lead draft the entire afternoon. He led three
times during the event for a total of 18 laps, including the last
10.
"There were a few cars I knew that were faster than us, but
the important thing at Talladega is to stay on the lead lap and
in the lead draft," said Sacks. "I felt like with the experience
I have at Talladega, I had as good of a shot as anybody.
"When there were about 20 laps to go I decided I needed to
go to the front and not wait until the last lap like I had
before. I knew that once I got up there I was just going to have
to hold them off. Sure enough, when I got up there, I had to
throw a couple of blocks to take the checkered flag."
Joe Nemechek and 1996 NASCAR Busch Series champion Randy
LaJoie finished right behind Sacks, with just one-tenth of a
second separating the first two cars.
Since the NASCAR Busch Series began racing at Talladega
Superspeedway in 1992, the margin of victory in the Birmingham
Automobile Dealers 500K presented by EasyCare has ranged from
eight-one-thousandths of a second to three car lengths.
Busch Pole Award Qualifying for the Birmingham Automobile
Dealers 500K presented by EasyCare is set for Thursday, April 24
at 3:30 p.m. Central, while race time is scheduled for noon on
Saturday, April 26.
The preliminaries for "Track Attack Weekend" come to a boil
with Advance Auto Parts Qualifying Day, Friday, April 25,
featuring Busch Pole Award Qualifying to set positions 1-25 for
the Winston 500.
For ticket information for the Birmingham Automobile Dealers
500K presented by EasyCare or the Winston 500 call the
Talladega ticket office at (205) 362-9064.