Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 5, 1994 TAG: 9403050083
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
Dale Earnhardt, Dale Jarrett and David Bonnett were only three of the 17 drivers sent packing after time trials, even after the field was swelled to 39 cars with five provisional starters.
The most notable non-qualifier was Tommy Houston, who had driven in every Grand National race - 360 consecutive events - since the series started in 1982. Houston was 35th fastest Friday. He missed the race by one spot, but did not try to buy a ride.
"I'm going home," he told a track reporter. "We knew it was going to end some time. This is actually a relief."
Houston said his plans were uncertain. "I might sell the team, or I might be back at a race later this year," he said.
Green's lap of 121.841 mph beat Harry Gant's 1988 record of 121.218 mph. Robert Pressley, who qualified second at 121.742 mph, and Joe Nemechek, third fastest at 121.578 mph, also beat Gant's record. Pressley and Nemechek drove on Hoosier tires; Green used Goodyears.
The top 10 qualifiers also included Randy LaJoie (121.120 mph), Kenny Wallace (120.957), Jason Keller (120.455), Terry Labonte (120.385), Gant (120.203), Jimmy Spencer (119.575 mph) and Roy Payne (119.506).
The race begins at 1:15 p.m. and will be shown live on TNN cable.
\ THE PITS FOR RUDD: With the entry list for Sunday's Pontiac 400 swollen to 46 cars, there wasn't enough space under the Winston Cup garage roofs to accommodate everyone.
Ten teams were forced to set up open-air stalls next to the building or along the fence on the inside of turn 4.
Ricky Rudd, as a new car owner, was one of the drivers relegated to the overflow area. Garage spots are allocated by owner points, and 1993 points are used until after the Atlanta race on March 13.
"Oh man, it's terrible," Rudd said of the pit problem. "We can't get the car set up. We're on a hill and in a hole."
To be set up properly, a car needs to be on the sort of level surface a garage stall provides. None of the overflow spots was level.
"If you come here and unload and your car runs good, you're OK," said the Chesapeake driver. "But if you have to make adjustments, you're in trouble."
To make matters worse, Rudd had the disadvantage of taking to the track first for qualifying. His speed was 33rd fastest.
So today will be a nail-biting time for Rudd and his team. If they slip out of the top 34, they won't make the race. They have no provisional starting spots available to them - another drawback of being a new car owner.
"We're in a risky spot to stand on our [Friday] time, and we're in a risky spot to do it again" today in second-round qualifying, said crew chief Bill Ingle.
\ LIGHTS OUT: After yet another severe winter storm, the Wood Brothers spent most of the week without power at their shop in Stuart. The Ridgeway-based Hubert Hensley team had the same problem.
Car owner Leonard Wood, who fields Morgan Shepherd's Fords, said the power went out Tuesday morning and didn't come back on until Friday morning. By then, the team was here at the track.
The team used generators to provide power, but they were severely hampered.
"It just sort of stops you," Wood said. "We weren't set up to run the big machines. We couldn't operate the lathes and the milling machines and others. And it creates some problems when you've got cords running all over the place."
Wood said all of Patrick County was without power, which created a problem in getting gasoline. Only one dealership in the county had gravity-fed pumps. That meant there were long lines of customers waiting to get gas for their generators and vehicles. "It looked like the energy crisis," Wood said.
\ SPONSOR NEWS: Kendall Motor Oil has become the primary sponsor of the Sabco Racing Pontiac Grand Prix driven by Bobby Hamilton. The Pennsylvania company had been an associate sponsor.
\ JARRETT RESTING: Former Winston Cup champion Ned Jarrett is resting at home in Hickory, N.C., after successful surgery Monday to repair a ruptured disk in his back. Jarrett, a radio analyst, expects to return to the circuit in time for the TranSouth 400 on March 27 at Darlington, S.C.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB