Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, August 14, 1993 TAG: 9308140048
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: BROOKLYN, MICH. LENGTH: Medium
Schrader was the point man in an assault on the previous mark of 178.196 mph, set last August by the late Alan Kulwicki. Schrader's fast lap of 180.750 mph was just one of 12 that bettered the record by Kulwicki, who died in a plane crash April 1.
It was the fifth pole of the season and 16th of his career for Schrader, whose Chevrolet Lumina was one of three cars that broke the 180-mph barrier on the 2-mile, high-banked oval.
Most of the drivers gave credit for the faster speeds to a new radial racing tire brought to the track by Goodyear.
"Goodyear brought a good, fast tire here, and that makes it easier to drive down in the corners," said Schrader, who qualified fourth here for the June race. "We didn't change anything big on our car from last time. The only thing we did was make little changes, playing with my mind to make me feel a little better."
Lake Speed, driving in his second race as the replacement for Davey Allison, who died July 13 after being injured in a helicopter crash, paid a dividend to his new team, taking the second spot with a lap of 180.257 mph in a Ford Thunderbird.
Ricky Rudd, winner of the June race at Michigan and another Lumina driver, was third at 180.207, followed by the Fords of Morgan Shepherd (179.497), Ted Musgrave (179.386) and rookie Todd Bodine (179.109) and the Chevrolet of series points leader Dale Earnhardt (179.024).
Also faster than the record were Bill Elliott (178.971), rookie Jeff Gordon (178.744), Rusty Wallace (178.448), rookie Bobby Labonte (178.408) and Mark Martin, coming off his first victory of the season last Sunday at Watkins Glen, N.Y., at 178.222.
Rudd, still looking for his first pole of the season, was on top until Schrader turned his lap late in the long qualifying session. But it was no big surprise since Schrader also was the quickest in practice with an unofficial lap of 181.800.
"I thought it might hold up," Rudd said. "But Ken Schrader cranked off a pretty good lap earlier in the day and he did it again in qualifying. It was hotter when we qualified, and Earnhardt had run some good speeds and he didn't do it in qualifying. I was hoping most of 'em would slow down in qualifying."
Schrader said, "I knew what I had to beat, but I didn't know what Lake Speed could run. There really wasn't anything else to worry about. I went out and ran as fast as I could."
Speed, who made his debut with Robert Yates Racing at Watkins Glen by qualifying fourth and finishing 27th in the race, said, "Almost, but not quite.
"But I'll tell you what: These guys have treated me like I've been there forever. They've been supporting me with everything they've got, telling me to go for it and get it and putting great race cars out there for me. My confidence is a lot better this weekend than it was last weekend."
Terry Labonte and rookie Jeff Davis crashed during time trials, with Davis bouncing off the fourth-turn wall during his qualifying lap and Labonte minutes later hitting in the same area considerably harder. Neither was injured, and both are expected to try to qualify today.
The top 20 positions were locked in Friday, with the rest of the 40-car field to be set today after another round of time trials.
Among the drivers who didn't qualify in the top 20 was Ernie Irvan, who flew in Friday after spending Thursday with wife, Kim, as she gave birth to their first child, a daughter they named Jordan Leigh.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB