THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 5, 1994 TAG: 9408050721
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: INDIANAPOLIS LENGTH: Long : 109 lines
To Rick Mast and his team, it was most appropriate that the first winner of the number one starting position for the first Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway should be - car No. 1.
And before his lap of 172.414 miles per hour in his Ford Thunderbird, when the 37-year-old native of Rockbridge Baths, Va., sorely needed advice about a speedway that was changing by the minute, Mast turned to the speedway's number-one hero - four-time Indy 500 winner A.J. Foyt.
``I asked A.J. what he thought the weather would do to the race track,'' Mast said. ``This track has its tendencies, and a man like that you listen to. We kind of adjusted to what he recommended. And sure enough, it worked.''
This was Mast's second career pole, and it was worth about $65,000 and a new van, which apparently will go to his car owner, Richard Jackson. Mast's first pole came at Atlanta in November 1992. He has never won a Winston Cup
race in his seven years on the circuit.
Mast's pole-winning run on Hoosier tires flew in the face of all the predictions of how qualifying would go here.
His team was 14th in the qualifying line. He began his run at 2:31 p.m. Indianapolis time (3:31 EDT). But after all the talk of how terrible it would be to qualify in the heat of the afternoon, it happened to be cloudy and cool in the wake of a noontime thunderstorm. So it ended up being a perfect time to run.
Dale Earnhardt, who was 13th in the qualifying line, just ahead of Mast, turned his unlucky number to his advantage to win the outside pole for Saturday's race at 171.726 mph.
``My lap was good,'' Earnhardt said. ``I didn't exit turn one as hard as I wanted to. I should have been in the throttle quicker. But I'm comfortable with it.''
Soon after Mast and Earnhardt ran, the sun started squeezing through the clouds, and there wasn't another run over 170 mph until almost 5 p.m.
Jeff Gordon, 71st in the qualifying line, reached 171.125 mph in his Chevy at 5:06 p.m. to win the third starting spot. Geoff Bodine, running at 5:01, was fourth-fastest in his Ford at 170.982 mph. And Bobby Labonte was fifth-fastest at 4:58, reaching 170.794 mph in his Ford.
Also in the top 10 were Bill Elliott at 170.338 mph in a Ford at 4:56 p.m., Brett Bodine at 170.084 mph in a Ford under the clouds at 3:23, Ricky Rudd at 169.983 mph in a Ford at 5:21, Sterling Marlin at 169.766 mph in a Chevy at 4:36 and Mark Martin at 169.690 mph in a Ford at 4:19.
Despite 85 entrants (68 drivers completed qualifying runs), the only surprises in the top 20 were Geoff Brabham in 18th and Rick Bickle in 19th.
Still, this was a qualifying session unlike any other in recent Winston Cup history. Before it started at 3 p.m., nearly every driver was wracked with tension.
``The pressure was unbelievable here,'' Geoff Bodine said. ``I've been racing a long while, and this is the most pressure I can remember in a long time. I'm glad it's over. It was the most butterflies I've ever had.''
``I've never been as excited and nervous at the same time as I was today,'' Gordon said. ``My heart was just pounding.''
Mast said he wasn't nervous. Whether that is true, he certainly knew satisfaction and joy by the afternoon's end. What started out as a bad day ended as the most glorious of his Winston Cup career.
In the morning, during the random draw to establish the order for qualifying, ``we pulled 14 and it just about broke my heart,'' Mast said.
Then during morning practice, the track started playing games.
``The track changed a lot from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.,'' Mast said. ``It probably changed more than any race track I've ever seen. Everybody kept adjusting. I felt like I had a good handle on it at the end of practice, and then it rained. And then I didn't have a clue.''
That's when he went to Foyt for advice.
The track won't change much, Foyt told him, adding, ``It'll just stick better.''
Armed with that advice, Mast and his team made a few minor changes.
As for his lap, Mast said: ``The car was a little tight off (turn) two. Three was perfect. And coming off four, the back end kicked out twice, but it came right back and then it was basically hang on to the checkered flag.''
As for the performance of the Hoosier tires, only Mast and Geoff Bodine were in the top 10.
A crowd estimated at 100,000 - smaller than many predictions but still undoubtedly the largest in NASCAR qualifying history - gave every driver a warm ovation, no matter who it was.
And there should be a pretty good crowd here today because for many drivers, the second round of time trials, scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. EDT, will be even more nerve-wracking than the first.
Among those who are outside the top 40 are Tim Steele in Bobby Allison's Ford (42nd), Harry Gant (44th), Foyt (45th), Loy Allen (46th), Kyle Petty (47th), Dick Trickle (48th), Robert Pressley (50th), Bobby Hillin (54th) and Gary Bettenhausen (55th). Also, the engines in the cars driven by Ken Schrader and Wally Dallenbach broke during their runs, so they will have to go again.
For Mast, however, the only work to do is getting ready for the race.
``We've done this for one lap,'' he said. ``But we've got a lot to do on Saturday.'' ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS COLOR PHOTOS
Mast won his second career pole with a lap of 172.414 mph in a Ford
Thunderbird. He has yet to win a Winston Cup race in seven years.
Earnhardt won the outside pole at 171.726 mph in a Chevrolet Lumina.
He is a six-time Winston Cup series champion.
Photo
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Rusty Wallace pulls out of pit road onto the Indianapolis Motor
Speedway front straightaway. About 100,000 fans were watching.
by CNB