Motor Racing Roundup : Lake Speed Scores First NASCAR Victory in 500 at Darlington

Lake Speed scored his first NASCAR Winston Cup victory Sunday at Darlington Raceway, winning the TranSouth 500 by 19 seconds at Darlington, S.C.

Speed, a Jackson, Miss., native, was making his 164th Winston Cup start, and the $49,435 he won made him the 30th driver in the series to surpass the $1-million mark in career winnings. Speed’s total is $1,037,300.

Speed, driving an Oldsmobile, took the lead for good on lap 319 when Sterling Marlin made his final pit stop.

Alan Kulwicki finished second in a Ford.

Finishing third was Davey Allison in a Ford. He battled with Marlin for the position until the final lap when Marlin’s Oldsmobile ran out of gas. Marlin finished fifth, one lap off the pace. Bill Elliott was fourth in a Ford, also one lap behind the winner.

Speed averaged 131.284 m.p.h. in the race, slowed by eight caution flags for 42 laps as a pair of multicar accidents eliminated many of the top drivers, but there were no injuries. There were 18 lead changes among 11 drivers. Speed led four times for 179 laps, including the final 49, in the 367-lap event on the 1.366-mile track.

Darrell Gwynn of Miami turned in a 5.337-second run to defeat Rocky Epperley of Lynwood, Calif., to win the Top Fuel championship in the International Hot Rod Assn. Super National drag races at DeSoto Memorial Drag Strip at Bradenton, Fla.

Cincinnati’s Mark Oswald took top honors in the Funny Car class, and the Pro Stock title went to Ricky Smith of King, N.C.