Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, October 16, 1994 TAG: 9410180042
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: D8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOHN A. MONTGOMERY SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: MARTINSVILLE LENGTH: Medium
The question is, what will Green give the field?
If history is any indication, not much.
On Saturday, points leader David Green won the pole for the 300-lap Busch GN portion of today's Advance Auto Parts 500. Green has won eight poles this year, tying him with Brett Bodine for third on the all-time single-season list. Only Jeff Gordon (11 in 1992) and Sam Ard (10 in 1983) have won more poles.
In his six career Busch GN races at Martinsville as part of the Slim Jim team, Green has equaled or improved his starting position - and his finish - each time. Since 1991, Green's Martinsville starting positions have been 26-13-12-7-1. He has finished 30-25-6-6-2.
In March, Green started on the pole of the Miller Genuine Draft race. He finished close behind winner Terry Labonte.
``It's pretty important to start on the pole at Martinsville,'' Green said, noting the relative shortness (.526 miles) of the track. ``We need to get our car just a little bit better. It's not quite as good as it was here in the spring.''
Green's qualifying time of 20.683 seconds (91.553 mph) was .045 seconds ahead of Connecticut's Randy LaJoie, who will start on the outside.
Winston Cup driver Dick Trickle, substituting for injured Rodney Combs, and Mike Wallace will start on the second row.
Trickle is making the 20th Busch GN start of his career.
``The guys worked with me real good and gave me a good car,'' Trickle said. ``This bunch has made it easy for me. We've only had two hours of practice together and I'm almost on the pole. I thought we had a shot at the pole.''
Johnny Rumley, who will start on the pole of today's 200-lap Late Model Stock Car event following the Busch GN event, qualified ninth among the 42 GN cars.
NOTES: Before Saturday's qualifying, DeWalt Industrial Tool Company announced the signing of a two-year agreement with Hermie Sadler and his crew chief, Bobby King, starting in 1995 at Daytona. Sadler, driving the Virginia is For Lovers Chevrolet through this season, qualified fifth for the Busch GN race. Current DeWalt driver Bobby Dotter qualified eighth.
Larry Pearson, who qualified 10th, still is battling some aftereffects of an injury suffered last week at Charlotte. Jimmy Hensley, of Horsepature, took some practice laps Saturday and is available as Pearson's relief driver if needed.
Hensley and Pearson rank sixth and seventh, respectively, in GN career earnings.
Ridgeway's Rodney Sawyers and Langley track champion Phil Warren were victorious in 50-lap Late Model Stock heats following the GN qualifying. The top six finishers in each heat advanced to today's 200-lap race, joining the top 20 qualifiers (from a field of 82) who were timed Friday.
Racers who finished in positions 2 through 6 in Warren's heat were Ray Young, Rusty Wood, Dennis Setzer (who started at the rear), Mike Porter and Rocky Mount's Rick Sigmon, respectively. Sigmon, who will finish 1994 in the top 10 in points at Franklin County and New River Valley Speedways, slipped in when Stacy Puryear was disqualified.
Sawyers won the first heat when apparent winner Rayvon Clark was disqualified because of an offset in his chassis. The other five who advanced from that heat were Philip Gann, Nathan Buttke, Danny Fair, Robert Turner and Martinsville winner Mike Buffkin.
Prominent area drivers Bobby Radford and Frankie Pennington narrowly missed finishing among the top six in the second heat.
A number of cautions marred the first heat. Christiansburg's Ronnie Thomas was injured in an early collision and was taken to Martinsville Memorial Hospital for observation.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB