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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 13, 1978)
Sean Petty ^lose car race km for new fan jtwas a calm Sunday afternoon in the Brazos Valley. But just a (distance out of College Station at Texas World Speedway, the icc was being shattered by the roar of engines as the United (W es Auto Club championship was being decided at the Texan 250. asarace that unbelievably, was not decided until the last six laps, ling to an auto race for the first time, I, like most others who never been to an auto race before, did not know what to expect, ewthat the cars averaged about 165 m.p.h. during the race but I not really know how fast that was until my head was whipped ileft to right as the cars passed in front of me. lie whole environment at a race is completely different from any J ir sports event. The fans are different, the ceremony is unique more than anything else, the race drivers and their driving ability :e nothing you have seen in your life. inday was a big day for Texas World Speedway as three races erun and the main one, the Texan 250, would decide who was the USAC driver in the country. edule,iM ouston s A J- Foyt led the field in points going into the race and k Nov least ninth to win his first USAC championship in e Dpf J ears ', th er e were 29 other drivers in the race determined to oyts efforts, three in particular. Terry Ryan, who was right owl bid idling ptembei, ' well 'man res i what, ison d up veil tCII p« national Unheal id Foyt in points, Bay Darnell and Gary Bowsher all had a shot |e title. Foyt had won the pole position the day before, setting a |se record during qualifications the stage was set for what would turn out to be one of the fastest losely competed 250 miles of car driving I have ever hoped to jl 'Course, the only other 250 miles of driving I had seen before ven j Was d r * v * n g to Dallas on 1-45. Come to think of it, there are drivers there who could probably run right there with Foyt. r fansi-Hke Connor, who does the lap by lap commentary, ordered the pit members off the track after they had rolled the thousands illars in cars into place. This was followed by the famous race statement by Apollo 12 astronaut Dick Gordon, “Gentlemen, your engines." d with that command came one of the loudest roars I’ve ever I'The cars rolled out of the pit area onto the track, falling in id the pace car. As they circled the 2-mile oval and passed the sfor the first time, I had a feeling of a field general watching his roll by in formation. The second time around brought the cars a ne\iji r together, each car moving to within inches of the car in front of iska (ra e tension mounted, the crowd rose to its feet, then all of a he post' >n, the pace car dropped into the pit area, the flag was dropped wy 0Vf: he race was on. B no ‘ se l eve l increased to the point that you couldn’t hear the ibthata n speaking next to you. The cars roared by the stands and the guess,! aulation of cars, engines and noise combined to shake the :n $1.3# s. a AthleS : pacesetters quickly moved to front of the pack, Foyt among ftherfi Bobby Allison and Ryan were literally right on his tail. ntlingm : F* (* rea was a different race in itself. The pit crews raced e 1958 ^ ea . ot her a nd the clock to get their driver back in the race et Oltlii u *f>' v ' n g up his position. Each man knew his job and each did it [real efficiency. Within a matter of seconds, all the cars were 3n the track and waiting to get the green flag. The flag was ed and the race went on. ou think that you have been tailgated on the freeway, you ain’t lothin until you have been to a race. At one point, approxi- three feet separated the three leaders, now that’s tailgating, ey were going 165 m.p.h. reis a reason for such extremely rude driving behavior. When m get close in behind the car in front, it creates a draft that e car behind, thus saving fuel. to my surprise, the race seemed to fly by. The lead ex- ‘d hands several times during the race. Foyt led, then Allison, yan and back and forth all day. The 125 lap race wound down with Foyt getting closer and closer to his goal, had more pit stops than any other driver and it looked like he t finish until the 78th lap. After that, Foyt looked like he had lough tailgating for the day and left the pack about half-a-mile Ihim. looked invincible until lap number 90 when he suddenly Idown. There was no smoke from his car that would show signs own engine. There just wasn’t any speed. Foyt started drop- ack while Allison moved way out in front, on lap 97 Foyt seemed to get new life, or at least his car did. was way out in front until lap 110 when his AMC Matador I smoking but he kept running. Foyt moved up, then Allison uothe pit and surprisingly returned. Then in another surprise, ent into the pit. crowd came to its feet. Would Foyt return? Yes, he came in *hind Allison who was passing the pit exit. With 13 laps left, I'as in second. A few laps later, Allison lost power again and vertook him to keep the lead and win the Texan 250 and more ffltly, the USAC championship. dbre I knew it, I had sat threw 250 miles, 125 laps and two "'fracing. And as I watched A.J. Foyt roll into the winner’s began to understand why racing fans love the sport. I “ that race drivers are true athletes who must be alert the race because there are no time-outs in auto racing. You can’t Play going 165 m.p.h. ible to i ery20« Oilers slip by Pats THE BATTALION Page 11 MONDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 1978 United Press International FOXBORO, Mass.— To the Houston Oilers, adversity seems to be a mysterious enemy that can b e overcome only by taking a secret po tion at halftime. But the scrappy Oilers, who never seem to lead a game until it’ s over, walked away with thei r seventh win Sunday in their usual heart-stopping fashion. They di$. played superb second-half defense, gutsy and imaginative offense and stunned the favored New England Patriots 26-23. The Oilers, 7-4, staked the PaU riots to a 23-0 lead in the first half and then shut down the New En gland offense in the second half. Quarterback Dan Pastorini rallied his troops and the Oilers took their fifth come-from-behind, second-half victory of the year. “A comeback like that, I won’t ever forget it,” said wide receiver Ken Burrough, who snared three passes for 62 yards. “I think I’ll pur chase a copy of the game film and carry it with me the rest of my life.” Pastorini, who complete only three of nine passes in the first half, ended up with 15 completions in 28 attempts for 209 yards. The game breaker was an 8-yard floater for a touchdown to Richard Caster with 2:39 left. “We’re a second half team,” said Caster, who faked defensive back Dick Conn and was wjde open in the left corner of th^ end zone. “Five of our last six wins have come this way. But this has to be the most gratifying win of the ye%j\ It’s one of the greatest comebacks I’ve ever seen.” Pastorini, who ha$ improved markedly since Phillips took over as offensive coordinator after the fifth game, felt the win was special be cause of the victim. “New England’s a good football team and doesn’t have any weaknes ses,” Pastorini said after the game. “But I think it’s the best game we’ve played together as a t^m. In the first half, we were driving and Dallas rebounds against Packers United Press International MILWAUKEE — Dallas Coach Tom Landry was trying to conduct a post-game interview, but his soft voice was being drowned out by the shouts of several players in the shower. "The Pack WAS back,” yelled one. “Oh yes indeed, the Pack WAS back.” Landry, whose stone-like expres sion never changed, was more dip lomatic. “I still say the Green Bay Packers are a good football team,” he said. “They just happened to catch us on a hot night, and everything was going for us.” It was a classic Landry under statement. The Cowboys, who seemed in trouble after losing two straight games, devastated the Packers with their one-two rushing punch of Tony Dorsett and Robert Newhouse, and embarrassed them with the precision passing of Roger Staubach. The result was a surprisingly easy 42-14 victory, which gave the Cow boys a 7-4 record and kept them one game behind first place Washington in the NFC East. Green Bay, which once led by three games in the NFC Central, now is 7-4 and tied with Minnesota. “The Cowboys came in here with a string of losses and played a very fine game,” said Packers Coach Bart Starr. “We played very poorly, but you saw a team today that played like a Super Bowl team. I don’t think I can expand on that.” Packers quarterback David Whitehurst, who completed only three of 16 passes for 31 yards and an interception, offered a similar explanation. “I don’t want to make any ex cuses,” he said. “We just got beat up out there.” Save for the game’s early moments, when they converted Butch Johnson’s fumbled punt into Barty Smith’s 1-yard scoring plunge, the Packers never had a chance. The Cowboys had 32 first downs; the Packers nine. The Cowboys had 537 total yards, including a club record 313 rushing; the Packers 142. The Cowboys controlled the ball for more than 42 minutes; the Packers just 17. The Cowboys were suc cessful on nine of 17 third down situations; the Packers one of 11. Dorsett gained 149 yards in 23 carries and scored on runs of 33 and yards. Newhouse rushed for 101 yards in 18 attempts, scoring on runs of 14 and 3 yards. INVENTORY REDUCTION SALE 1VERSTOCKED & DISCONTINUED, ITEMS leaned out and remodeled Campus Photo recently and you wouldn't believe 11 We found! 1( tated film and paper Qnda accessories • Movie cameras & projectors • Lentar/Suntar/ Soligar Preset • Takumar Screw Mount • Strobonar/Braun assortment of accessories and "odd" itemsl Many are' one of a kind . If reduced to cost and less . . . All are in limited quantities. These are selected items — not everything is on sale, but come in and browse. Sale runs Nov. 13-18 N J WO- AAtrUS PHOTO CENTEP, INO. 01 University Dr. • College Station .Texas 77840 • 713/846-5418 Staubach, in one of his finest per formances this season, completed 19 of 31 passes for 200 yards *md threw scoring passes of 8 and 13 yards to tight end Billy Joe DuPree. So frustrated was the crowd of 55,256, which braved pfiimmeting temperatures, that it reacted with boos several times in the second half. “I ve always said the Cowboys had the potential to be this good,” Dorsett said. “I don’t care who we play, when we want to win and when we re hungry like we were to day, we can beat anyone.” fumbling. But when we scored our second touchdown (on a sustained drive), we made them aware of what we were.” The Oilers defense held the league-leading Pats’ offense to 11 plays in the second half in control ling the ball for nearly 23 minutes. Rob Carpenter had touchdown runs of 8 yards in the second quarter and 1 yard in the third. Earl Campbell, who rushed for 74 yards, scored on a 1-yard burst for his eighth rushing touchdown of the year, a Houston record. “That was a very disappointing loss, particularly after the lead we had,” said New England Coach Chuck Fairbanks. “We just lost too many opportunities to have the ball in the second game.” The second half was full of game- turning plays. New England, with a 23-14 lead in the third quarter, ap parently had the ball after a punt. But Tim Fox was caught making an illegal block and the ball reverted to Houston. Carpenter scored his sec ond touchdown nine plays later. Houston then regained the ball on an interception and moved to the Pats’ 31. They set up for a field goal, but Pastorini pitched the snap for ward to Carpenter who ran 18 yards to the Pats’ 13. Campbell scored five plays later. “That was the first time we had a chance to use the play, although we’ve had it on the books for nine weeks,” Phillips said. “It’s not that great a play, but it caught them off guard.” New England had one final drive before the Oilers charged back for their winning score. But the Pats failed on a fourth-and-2 situation at the Houston 41 when Grogan could not connect with an open Russ Francis. “That was questionable strategy on my part,” Fairbanks admitted. “But the defense was on the field for too long. And we were getting shorthanded on defense.” HAMLIN TIRE CENTER Monarch TIRES We sell shocks, reliable batteries, Pirelli, Road King, Monarch, Summit on off road and more tires, front end alignment, and computerized spin balancing on all wheels. 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