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
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ison
d up veil
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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.”
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HERE ARE THE
When you’re discussing something as important as
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It’s a fact: the Air Force needs highly-qualified, dedi
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Get together with an AFROTC representative and
discuss the program. We’ll give you all the facts. It
could be one of the most important talks you’ve ever
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IN THE GRAND TRADITION OF
OLD TEXAS WHERE MOTHER
TAUGHT DAUGHTER THE FINE
ART OF SEWING — SO HELEN
MARIE TAUGHT EDITH MARIE
THE SECRETS OF SEWING AND
ALTERATIONS.
“DON’T GIVE UP — WE LL
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AT WELCH'S CLEANERS, WE
NOT ONLY SERVE AS AN EXCEL
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TO FIT EVENING DRESSES,
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3819 E. 29th (TOWN & COUNTRY SHOPPING CENTER)
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