Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 12, 1994 TAG: 9403120094
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: HAMPTON, GA. LENGTH: Medium
Another Hoosier driver, Geoff Bodine, qualified second for Sunday's Purolator 500 with a speed of 179.829 mph in his Ford as Hoosier-shod cars took six of the first 10 starting positions.
It was Hoosier's third pole this year in four Winston Cup events. Allen also won the Daytona 500 pole, and Bodine took the top spot at Rockingham, N.C. In the races, however, the Indiana racing tire company still hasn't had a car finish in the top 10, and Allen failed to make the race in Richmond on March 6.
"This year has been feast or famine for us," said the 27-year-old driver from Raleigh, N.C. "I think the whole year is going to be like that.
"The Hoosier tire was a big deal today. They have a really fast tire here."
But will it hold up during the race?
"I think they'll be fine," said Bob Newton, Hoosier's president. "We'll have to see.
"I thought by the fourth race [of the season] that we ought to be pretty good. But don't forget that we're still rookies in Winston Cup."
Said Allen: "Hoosier has done a lot of tire testing down here and got all that worked out. I think they've really got a good tire. I think we had 30 laps on one set of tires and they really didn't fall off any. Actually, they got a little quicker as we went along."
Bodine said, "I feel like they'll be real good in the race. We know for sure these are good race tires. We knew for sure at Rockingham [the tires] weren't. At Richmond, we didn't know. But we know these are good race tires."
Allen's lap beat the previous record of 180.183 mph set by Rick Mast in qualifying for the fall 1992 race at the track. Allen was the only driver over 180 mph and the only one to beat the record.
Terry Labonte, third fastest in qualifying, had the quickest Goodyear-shod car and the quickest Chevrolet; his speed was 179.587 mph. Mark Martin was fourth fastest, going 179.405 mph in a Ford equipped with Goodyears. Rookie Joe Nemechek, another Hoosier driver, qualified fifth in a Chevy at 179.328 mph.
Also in the top 10 were Ford/Goodyear drivers Rich Bickle (179.293 mph) and Ernie Irvan (179.030), Hoosier driver Ward Burton in a Chevy (179.030), Goodyear driver Chuck Bown in a Ford (179.024) and Hoosier driver Greg Sacks in a Ford (178.907).
Fifty cars made qualifying runs. With a maximum of 43 starting spots available, today's second round of qualifying at 10:30 a.m. will be crunch time for another large group of drivers and teams.
After Friday's time trials, Ridgeway's Jimmy Hensley held the 40th and last regular starting spot. Dale Jarrett, who already has used two of the three provisionals available to him, was in a mildly precarious position at 36th fastest.
"I've got a lot of qualifying comments, but no one could print 'em, so I'll just keep 'em to myself," Jarrett said.
Rick Mast of Rockbridge Baths was 37th fastest, Hut Stricklin was 38th and Jeremy Mayfield was 39th. Those outside the top 40, in order, were Jim Sauter, Wally Dallenbach, Dave Marcis, Hoosier driver Darrell Waltrip, former Indianapolis 500 champion Danny Sullivan, Billy Standridge, Jimmy Horton (driving Jimmy Means' car), Mike Wallace (driving Junie Donlavey's car), Rick Carelli and Buddy Baker, who crashed during his qualifying run.
Waltrip was surprisingly slow - eighth among nine Hoosier drivers. Unlike Jarrett, Waltrip didn't lose his sense of humor after his poor run.
"I'm the proud owner of one of the slowest cars here," he said. "But that's subject to change. We think we know what's wrong, and we'll try to fix it tomorrow."
Waltrip doesn't have to worry about making the race. If all else fails, he will get a provisional starting spot as a former Winston Cup champion.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB