The decision to have California's Auto Club Speedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway switch fall dates for the 2009 season did more than bring a Labor Day race back to the Southeast. Now a part of the 10-race Chase for the Sprint Cup, teams contending for the title now must redouble their efforts on the 2-mile oval in the Inland Valley.

That's similar to the situation in the 1985 Western Winston 500, when the season's championship battle between Darrell Waltrip and Bill Elliott came down to the final race at Riverside International Raceway. The 2.62-mile road course had been on the NASCAR schedule since 1958, but starting in 1981, the January season opener was moved to November, making it the season finale.

“

I'd be lying to you if I told you I wasn't relieved when [Elliott] had trouble. I took it pretty easy after that.

”

DARRELL WALTRIP

Despite an amazing 11-win season for Elliott, Waltrip was able to compile consistent finishes, allowing him to erase a 200-point deficit in a seven-race span, and giving him a tenuous 20-point cushion as the series headed west. And both expected the battle to go down to the wire, as Elliott and Waltrip had Riverside victories on their resumes.

Waltrip qualified third and Elliott fifth, setting up what promised to be a furious finish. Certainly Waltrip expected that he'd need every point he could collect to hold off the hard-charging Georgian. The same could be said for Elliott, who knew what he needed to do to overcome Waltrip's advantage.

What neither driver expected was the failure of an $8 shifter pin in Elliott's car soon after the green flag dropped.

"The first thing in our game plan was to lead a lap [for the five-point bonus]," Waltrip said. "I was trying to get that done right about the time that Bill had his trouble.

"I didn't want his having trouble to change our game plan because I felt it was a perfect plan. But I'd be lying to you if I told you I wasn't relieved when he had trouble. I took it pretty easy after that."

Elliott said the trouble started with what seemed to be a normal upshift on Lap 6.

"I was shifting from third to fourth when it just broke," Elliott said. "It hadn't before this year, but sometimes things break. It was just a little part and there's nothing you can do about it." (Continued)