Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, October 15, 1995 TAG: 9510160104
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAN UTHMAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MARTINSVILLE LENGTH: Medium
The 122 Late Model Stock drivers entered in today's Taco Bell 300 at Martinsville Speedway weren't likely to get much sleep Saturday night anyway.
They most likely would be tossing and turning in their beds, with thoughts of the division's richest purse ever, $90,520, bouncing in their heads.
But thanks to rain Saturday afternoon, nap time will get even shorter. Race officials were forced to reschedule Saturday's qualifying round to 9 a.m. today. The race is scheduled to begin at 12:30 p.m.
The usual two-lap qualifying run will be whittled to one, another reason drivers aren't likely to rest easy.
"There's no lap to mess up on," Christiansburg native Ronnie Thomas said. "If you do any slipping and sliding, you'll be out of it."
With so many drivers entered, qualifying was likely to be unpredictable anyway. With no margin of error, the field could include some surprising names and newcomers.
"Some guys are going to get in that wouldn't have gotten in with two laps," Thomas said.
As much as the drivers will have to battle the unusual circumstances, however, some are having a hard enough time battling their cars.
Shayne Lockhart, who took home the champion's purse of $25,500 in the Miller Genuine Draft 300 last spring at Martinsville, has been trying to set his car up the same way he had it in that race. So far, that hasn't happened.
"We just can't seem to get a handle right now," Lockhart said.
But Lockhart does have one advantage - he'll go out late in the qualifying. Many in the pit area said the latter drivers in the qualifying lineup would be better off than the early ones. With overnight temperatures expected to drop to the 40s, the track will be cold when qualifying begins. There also won't be any rubber laid down yet, so there won't be much for early drivers to hold onto.
"I'm glad I'm not in the top 10 or 15," said Lockhart, who will be the 87th to attempt to qualify. "The pressure is really on the first few. You don't know if the track's going to hold you or not."
One of the drivers who will have to test the track early is a driver that Lockhart originally said would have a good shot at taking the checkered flag - 20-year-old Nathan Buttke. Buttke finished second behind Lockhart here in March, and has won seven races in 1995.
"It's going to be better to go later," Buttke said.
Although having just one lap might let some upstarts into the field, the more experienced drivers in the back of the qualifying order may hold the best advantage.
"Those guys without a lot of laps on this track will be hurt," said Johnny Rumley, a recent winner on the Busch Grand National circuit at Dover, Del. "And those first 15 or so that go out are going to be sweatin' bullets."
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB