
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, August 28, 1993                   TAG: 9308280169
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BRISTOL, TENN.                                LENGTH: Medium

VIOLENT THUNDERSTORM HITS BRISTOL, WIPES OUT QUALIFYING FOR BUD 500

Qualifying for the Bud 500 at Bristol International Raceway on Friday night was postponed because of a severe thunderstorm that hit shortly before the session was supposed to begin at 5:30 p.m.

Time trials for all 32 starting positions in tonight's 500-lap NASCAR Winston Cup race will be at 1 p.m. today. Alan Kulwicki, who died April 1 when his plane crashed en route to the spring Winston Cup race here, holds the track record at 122.474 mph.

Qualifying for Friday night's Food City 250 Grand National race also was washed out. The field lined up based on championship points, with leader Steve Grissom on the pole.

The storm lasted about 70 minutes, dumping about 2 1/2 inches of rain on the .533-mile track. Fans scurried under the grandstands or back to their cars, while some crew members ran to their car-haulers and others huddled under tarps along pit row.

Several bolts of lightning hit at or near the track, briefly knocking out power several times. One bolt seemed to strike in the infield. Several crew members said afterward they felt the electricity from the bolt, but they were not actually struck. There were no immediate reports of injuries.

The rain turned the infield into a huge lake, and track workers used gasoline-powered equipment to pump it out. The concrete track dried quickly, and the Food City 250 started as scheduled.

But some front-stretch pits were little more than big puddles well into the race, despite the efforts of crew members to push the water out.

Before the storm hit, Greg Sacks slightly damaged his Chevrolet after hitting the turn 4 wall in Winston Cup practice, while Dale Jarrett spun and grazed the wall with his Chevy.

Keywords:
AUTO RACING

by CNB