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

DATE: SATURDAY, August 27, 1994                   TAG: 9410050006
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BRISTOL, TENN.                                 LENGTH: Medium

`BANDIT' STEALS BOTH BRISTOL POLES

Even though he hasn't won a race in his final year, you just had to figure the ol' Bandit, Harry Gant, would pull something out of the bag before his NASCAR driving career came to an end.

And the 54-year-old veteran did that in spectacular fashion Friday evening as part of his final weekend as a driver at Bristol International Raceway, winning back-to-back pole positions for the Grand National and Winston Cup races.

Gant's lap of 124.186 mph in his Winston Cup Chevrolet Lumina was the fastest of the 42 drivers trying to qualify for tonight's Goody's 500.

``We're thrilled to death here tonight,'' Gant said shortly before starting Friday night's Food City 250 from the pole. ``We needed to do something this year for the fans. We haven't been doing much. But the cars have been real fast all evening.

``We're still waiting for our '94 highlight film, so maybe we started the ball rolling, and some good things will happen for us ... I'd sure like to win at least one of these last10 races. We haven't been real close so far, but I think we're getting closer.''

Gant's car is on Hoosier tires, as is Geoff Bodine's Ford Thunderbird, which took the outside pole with a speed of 124.042 mph.

Terry Labonte, with the fastest Goodyear car, took the third starting spot in his Chevy at 123.970 mph. Rusty Wallace was fourth at 123.610 mph in a Ford, and Joe Nemechek was fifth in a Chevy at 123.491 mph.

Also in the top 10 were Dick Trickle at 123.237 mph in a Chevy, Ward Burton in a Chevy at 123.221 mph, Mark Martin in a Ford at 123.174 mph, Rick Mast in a Ford at 123.150 mph and Bobby Labonte in the fastest Pontiac Grand Prix at 123.095 mph.

Besides Gant and Bodine, others in the top 10 on Hoosiers are Nemechek, Burton and Mast.

Others who qualified Friday evening included Bill Elliott in the 11th spot, Jeff Gordon in 12th, Dale Earnhardt in 14th, Kenny Wallace (substituting for injured Ernie Irvan) in 15th and Darrell Waltrip in 16th.

``The Hoosier tires were a tick quicker in qualifying,'' Gant said. ``Now we've just got to see which one lasts longer in the race.

``We won both poles tonight, and I guess some people think that might be a little greedy,'' he said. ``But that's the way it's supposed to be as far as I'm concerned.''

At the other end of the lineup, a number of top drivers will have to scratch and claw for one of the 34 regular (or two provisional) starting spots. But the second round of time trials is at 1 p.m. today, so it will be difficult for drivers to match the speeds they posted in the cooler conditions of Friday evening's first round.

Todd Bodine was 34th fastest Friday, followed by Dave Marcis, Jimmy Spencer, Jimmy Hensley, Larry Pearson (driving Ricky Rudd's car), Jeff Green, Phil Parsons, Lake Speed and Loy Allen. Pearson qualified Rudd's car after Rudd left for Winston-Salem, N.C., to be with his wife, Linda, as she delivered their first child.

Gant's pole-winning run qualified him for the 1995 Busch Clash at Daytona International Speedway, but he said he will pass.

``I won't come out of retirement to run the Busch Clash next year,'' he said. ``Somebody else can run it in this car if NASCAR will let them.''

Keywords:
AUTO RACING

by CNB