- 1983 Winchester 400
The fourteenth annual Silver Creek Winchester 400 was held under American Speed Association sanction on October 2, 1983, at the
Winchester Speedway .Proving once again to be one of the most dominant drivers in “400” history,
Mike Eddy collected his second win in the 1983 running of the fall classic. After, once again, dominating most of the day, Eddy overcame some late pit strategy to score the win. Wisconsin’sDick Trickle started from the pole, but it was Bob Strait shooting into the lead at the drop of the green. Starting third, Eddy quickly worked to the front and took over the lead on lap 14. The first round of pit stops came on lap 96, when the caution waved for a spin by Dennis Vogel. Under caution, Trickle would assume the lead for one lap before giving way toAlan Kulwicki . Strait went back to the lead on lap 114, but began to suffer tire problems as Eddy reassumed the lap on lap 133.The eventual-winner got a big scare on lap 183. Attempting to lap the now ill-handling car of Kulwicki, Eddy and he made contact sending Kulwicki hard into the outside wall. Eddy lost the lead as he pitted to repair some minor damage, but was able to charge back through the field, passing Harold Fair for the lead on lap 200.
As usual, the demanding Winchester highbanks proved to be hard on equipment. Defending race winner
Rusty Wallace lost three laps with a flat tire. Five-time winner Bob Senneker suffered rear end problems and would later crash out of the event on lap 252. Mark Martin dropped out with ignition trouble, but returned to the race as a relief-driver for Bob Sensiba in the middle stages of the race. After leading for a brief stint, Strait retired with overheating problems.Back behind the wheel, Sensiba spun on lap 375 to bring out the final caution of the race. Under the yellow, Eddy gave up the lead to pit for fresh tires while runner-up Butch Miller decided to gamble and try to hold off the field on older tires. The gamble failed as Eddy stormed by for the lead on lap 387 and pulled away for his second win in the past three years. Miller came home second followed by Jim Sauter, 1980 winner Terry Senneker, and Tom Jones. Eddy collected $10,800 for his day’s work.
External links
* [http://www.winchesterspeedway.com/ Winchester Speedway website]
* [http://www.craracing.net/ Official CRA Website]
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