Winston Open Live Report by Angela Walker

I went to the track on Friday night for the Winston Select qualifying and Winston Open Twin 25 qualifying races. During the first race, several cars were bottoming out going into turn one, causing sparks to fly. There were several comments on the radio about being careful because Robert Pressley was closing in on a group on cars. Jeremy Mayfield won the first race. Race 2 soon followed and I heard Derrike's crew on the scanner telling him about the lines cars were taking around the track in the first race. They then started joking around about changing the pit board sign to a different color for the 600 so Derrike could see it. Someone suggested putting stars on it or going to Kmart and getting a blue light.

The cars started out onto the track and Derrike said he was running 3600 RPM in 2nd gear. The green flag flew and it didn't take long for Derrike to tell the crew that he was bottoming out. He was assured that it "will get better when the pressure gets up". The caution flag flew on lap #4 when Rick Mast's car lost an engine. The crew asked Derrike how the car felt. He replied that the car was "turning good, just bottoming out". He was also asked what the motor felt like and he said "pretty good". The green flag came out and Derrike passed Todd Bodine for seventh place. On lap 19, he passed David Green for sixth. Jimmy Spencer won the second race, and Derrike finished sixth. Derrike was asked what the temperature was, he replied "235, been that way all day". Someone then asked "How'd the car feel?" and Derrike said "Not too bad. We'll talk about it when I get in there".

It was hot and humid for the Winston Open and Select on Saturday. We had great seats in the Diamond Tower and could see the entire track. As it would turn out later on, most of the action would happen right in front of us. Derrike started 12th and was told to "Have a good one". On lap 12, he was in 15th spot. I heard him say he couldn't grip the race track. Someone said, "It must be that set of shocks". By lap 28, Derrike was back to 12th spot. He tried to pass the #50 several times but the #50 was too strong on the straightaways. On lap 40, Derrike was in 10th spot when Ward Burton's engine blew up. Derrike wanted to know if he should pit or not. He was told to do whatever the leaders did and "You're not gonna gain 10 positions now anyway". Derrike said the car was tight. Derrike finished 11th and Jeremy Mayfield went on to the Winston Select.

The Select was a crash fest. Ernie Irvan spun and crashed right in front of us. We also had a good view of the Earnhardt/Waltrip/Andretti melee and Terry Labonte's fireball. Terry's crash was the scariest of the night and we were glad to see him run from the car. It looked like it was Jeff Gordon's race to win but going into the final lap, his car sputtered and Mark Martin took home the big prize. All in all, it was an enjoyable race and I'm looking forward to the Coca Cola 600.