THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 16, 1995 TAG: 9502160514
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DENISE MICHAUX, LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE
DATELINE: DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines
Ricky Rudd isn't sure he wants to be the ``bait'' for Friday's IROC race at Daytona International Speedway, but he doesn't have a choice.
Rudd drew the pole for the 100-mile all-star event, the opener of a by-invitation-only, four-race series.
``I'm not sure the pole is the place to be,'' the Chesapeake native said. ``I think I'd rather be starting third than first. You are kind of like bait sitting out there on the pole. You might lead going into turn 1, but you probably aren't going to lead the first lap unless you can make that Avenger awfully wide.''
The 12 drivers will compete in identically prepared Dodge Avengers.
Dale Earnhardt, who won the race last year, will start on the outside pole - the same position he earned for Sunday's Daytona 500 and for last Sunday's Busch Clash, which he won.
Indy-car driver Al Unser Jr. drew the third spot, followed by road racer Steve Millen and Scott Pruett, who will be racing Indy cars this season. Defending series champion Mark Martin drew the seventh spot.
NASCAR drivers have won 10 of 18 IROC championships and tend to leave the road racers in awe when they hit the track.
``I still haven't figured out why I get passed,'' Hurley Haywood said. ``They know why but I don't know.''
Tom Kendall, however, thinks the cars have been set up so well that ``it gives road racers like us a chance.''
The cars might give them a chance, but Earnhardt, Ken Schrader, who will start eighth, and Jeff Gordon, who starts 12th, aren't going to make it easy.
The three were flying down the backstretch during a practice session earlier in the week, running three-wide. When they came up on turn 3, something had to give.
``I looked over at Schrader, and he's not even looking at me,'' Gordon said. ``I looked over at Dale and he's grinning and waving. I figured nobody was going to lift. It's hard to figure, that the 23-year-old would be the one to lift, but somebody had to be the smart one in that crowd.''
``I'd hate to think Jeff Gordon was the smartest guy out there,'' Schrader said with a laugh.
Gordon, who will be the youngest driver ever to compete in the IROC series, not only drew the rear spot of the field, but he also will be piloting a pink car.
``I think we can get to the front in that pink car,'' Gordon said. ``It doesn't matter what color it is.''
BENDER LEADS: Tim Bender led second-day qualifying for Saturday's Goody's 300 with a lap of 184.949 mph to put him in the 26th starting position.
Hermie Sadler of Emporia, Va., turned the second-fastest lap at 183.217, a big improvement over Tuesday's speed of 180.697, which left him in danger of not making the field.
``We're not off to a real good start, with this new team having to go through second-day qualifying,'' Sadler said. ``We were a little conservative on the setup today; we just wanted to get a good lap in. We probably could have gone even faster.
``We just changed the motor. We started losing power with the other motor and we just didn't have time to change it (Tuesday).''
FINE UPDATE: Not to be left out, four Grand National series crew chiefs were issued fines Wednesday.
Jim Murray, crew chief for Kenny Wallace, and Dick Bown, crew chief for Jim Bown, were fined $500 apiece for not having a reverse gear in the transmissions.
Bob Labonte, crew chief for Terry Labonte,, and Cliff Green, crew chief for Harris DeVane, were fined $100 apiece for using air filters that did not meet NASCAR specifications.
Over the weekend, NASCAR fined four Winston Cup teams a total of $90,300. by CNB