ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, June 22, 1996 TAG: 9606240142
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: MILLER 400 NOTES
DATELINE: BROOKLYN, MICH.
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
Fate made it happen, but it turned out car owner Richard Petty's first pole position since 1979 also came on the 10th anniversary of the 1,000th start of his NASCAR Winston Cup career.
The anniversary is worth noting because the moment was so special to Petty.
His three daughters, Rebecca, Sharon and Lisa, came to Michigan International Speedway with the rest of his family June 21, 1986, to help celebrate. And when it came time to start the race, his daughters gave the command, ``Daddy, start your engine.''
``I'd been in a race car for a long time and done a lot of things, but that was probably the most emotional I'd ever been in a race car,'' he said. ``I'm glad my sunglasses were on where they couldn't see my emotions.
``It was great. All of 'em had that Southern accent, 'Deh-da.' You know what I mean? It wasn't only emotional for me, but it was emotional for a lot of fans, and a lot of racing people.''
Petty retired as a driver at the end of the 1993 season with 1,185 starts and 200 victories.
INJURED DRIVER REPORTS: Dale Jarrett didn't let a broken leg and a broken rib get in the way of driving Friday, or making public appearances Thursday.
Jarrett is recovering from a slight fracture of his lower right leg and a broken left rib, which he suffered in a crash during qualifying June 14 at Pocono.
Still on crutches, Jarrett hobbled through a full schedule during the day Thursday and put in a full day at the track Friday.
He appeared at Ford's annual employee day in Dearborn on Thursday morning, had lunch with Ford executives and made another appearance at Hudson Technologies, an associate sponsor of his Grand National car, on Thursday afternoon.
Jarrett was given the opportunity to skip the appearances, but he declined.
``The way I look at it, if I can get in a race car and drive a race car, there's no reason I can't make a fan's day,'' Jarrett said.
Meanwhile, Lake Speed discovered Wednesday that he cracked one of his ribs in his crash during the Pocono race.
Speed obviously didn't let the injury slow him, qualifying ninth for Sunday's Miller 400. But he also lined up Greg Sacks as a standby relief driver.
``I'm sore, but I'm getting better,'' Speed said. ``Yesterday I didn't think I would even be able to get in a car, much less drive it.''
BARFIELD IN ELLIOTT'S CAR: ARCA driver Ron Barfield qualified Bill Elliott's car Friday because substitute driver Todd Bodine was in Myrtle Beach, S.C., qualifying for today's Grand National race there.
Bodine will be back in Michigan to practice this morning before returning to South Carolina for the 5 p.m. race. Then he'll come back to Michigan.
Said Barfield, ``I'm getting a lot of time on the race track and maybe it will help me out in the ARCA race'' today.
Barfield was 39th fastest of 40 cars in Winston Cup qualifying Friday.
BURTON SLOWS: Jeff Burton was fastest in practice Friday, but when qualifying came, he dropped to 25th.
``Yeah, we only lost six-tenths'' of a second, Burton said. ``That's just an awful lap. That's the slowest we've run all week.''
TO THE BACK: Mark Thompson, who won the pole Thursday for today's ARCA race, wrecked his car in the final ARCA practice Friday and will have to start today's race from the back of the field in a backup car.
``We're sure we cut a left front tire,'' Thompson said. ``I'm just sick about it. The backup is a good car, but not as good as this one.''
LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. 1. Derrike Cope prepares to get out of his car afterby CNBqualifying second for Sunday's Miller 400 with a lap of 184.153 mph
on Friday in Brooklyn, Mich. 2. Bobby Hamilton is congratulated by a
crew member after winning the pole Friday for Sunday's Miller 400 at
the Michigan International Speedway. KEYWORDS: AUTO RACING