Ricky Rudd found out the hard way: What works at Bristol is frowned upon by NASCAR when it comes to Sonoma.

NASCAR claimed Rudd spun Davey Allison on purpose to gain the lead one lap from the finish of the 1991 Banquet Frozen Foods 300 at Sears Point Raceway. Instead of receiving the checkered flag, Rudd was shown the black flag, the victory went to Allison and a raging Rudd likened the decision to pro wrestling.

And who says road racing is boring?
The excitement started 11 laps from the finish when Richard Petty crashed hard in Turn 1, just before the cars crest the hill on the two-plus mile course that winds its way through the hilly countryside of the North Bay.

That bunched the field, allowing road race expert Tommy Kendall, filling in for the injured Kyle Petty, to take the lead following a final round of pit stops. He was followed by Rusty Wallace, Mark Martin, Allison and Rudd.

When the green flew, Kendall took off, while Wallace's car began to fade with engine problems, handing second place to Martin. Martin's Ford steadily gained on Kendall's Pontiac, setting up a prelude of what was to come with just a handful of laps to go.

Heading into Turn 7, the horseshoe-shaped turn on the north side of the track, Martin made the pass for the lead but when Kendall tried to battle back, the two cars touched and went spinning off into the dirt.

That handed the lead to Allison, who appeared to be on his way to victory despite constant pressure from Rudd. That is, until Rudd ended up knocking Allison out of the way in Turn 11, the other 180-degree corner just a few hundred yards from the finish line.

Allison was able to right his Ford and continue, some four and a half seconds behind Rudd -- but no threat for the victory, or so both drivers thought.

"I had the line," Allison said. "I didn't cut anybody off. I wouldn't have expected it at that time."

Rudd admitted there was contact, but it wasn't intentional.

"I got into the corner and the car wheel-hopped a little bit," he said. "It was an accident."

NASCAR officials, reviewing the videotape of the incident, disagreed. Race director David Hoots made the initial determination to black flag Rudd, while NASCAR vice president Les Richter decided to assess Rudd a five-second penalty following the race.

According to NASCAR, if there are not enough aps left to assess a penalty during the race, a time penalty can be imposed after the race -- without appeal. Rudd was issued a five-second time penalty, which effectively handed the win to Allison.

"[Rudd] came into the rear end of [Allison's] car, which caused him to spin," Richter said. "[Rudd] was racing hard into the corner to get the win. There comes a time when we have to make a ball-and-strike call."

Rudd came up with a different analogy.

"The best thing I can compare it to is the World Wrestling Federation," Rudd said. "NASCAR makes its own rules."

Rudd and crew chief Waddell Wilson were particularly incensed that no penalty was assessed to Kendall for what they believed was a similar occurance, but Richter disagreed.

Because Kendall's car suffered a flat tire, forcing him to pit and eventually leading to an 18th-place finish, Richter said "it took care of itself. We may have black-flagged him as well."

Wallace was able to soldier his wounded car around the track for a third-place finish, followed by Ernie Irvan and Ken Schrader. Martin wound up ninth.

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