Bodine, Rudd, Irvan turn Sears Point into short track

Road-course racing is generally characterized as a genteel and gentlemanly sport, with passes and rough driving rare. When it comes to action, most stock-car fans point to short tracks.

Well, in the 1993 Save Mart 300 at Sears Point International Raceway, Geoff Bodine, Ricky Rudd and Ernie Irvan turned a road course into a short track, and convention on its ear. And long before NASCAR officials ever considered the idea of a green-white-checkered finish, this race provided a sneak preview.

For the first 50 laps, it looked like a typical road-course race, as Dale Earnhardt dominated and appeared well on his way to the win. But an incident on Lap 53 involving Derrike Cope and Tommy Kendall wrecked Earnhardt's chances at victory, although he did rally from 36th to finish sixth despite a badly-damaged car in the ensuing craziness that occurred in the final 25 laps of the event.

A crash involving Dorsey Schroeder with three laps remaining required one last caution, and as the pace car brought the field around at a snail's pace, officials were able to get the track ready for a one-lap shootout.

The field barely took the green flag before things went haywire. As Bodine led Rudd, Irvan and Kenny Schrader up the hill into Turn 2, all heck was breaking loose behind, as Dale Jarrett spun in the middle of the track, clipping Davey Allison's front bumper. Allison's car went careening into the tire barrier as the rest of the lead-lap cars took evasive action.

Two turns later, Bodine nearly lost it, getting completely sideways thanks to what he felt was a tap from Rudd. The second-place Rudd swerved to the right in an effort to clear Bodine's almost-out-of-control car, but somehow Bodine gathered things back up and continued without losing a position.

''I thought I was 90 degrees sideways at one point,'' Bodine said. ''I thought I felt the impact of sheet metal. I don't know how it got straightened out. I reached back into my dirt-racing days and pulled something out.'' (Continued)