THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 25, 1995 TAG: 9502250326
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ROCKINGHAM, N.C. LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines
Against his best instincts, Jeff Gordon adopted a qualifying strategy of less is more at North Carolina Motor Speedway on Friday and it won him the pole for Sunday's Goodwrench 500.
Gordon drove his Chevrolet Monte Carlo so conservatively around the 1.017-mile track during qualifying that he was sure his lap was slow. But his speed of 157.052 miles per hour was the fastest among the 44 drivers who completed runs and was a track record.
``I was really surprised at the lap we ran,'' Gordon said. ``It felt too smooth and too clean to be that fast. It didn't feel as fast as it was. It didn't feel as fast as I'd practiced.''
Ricky Rudd, whose Ford was one of the quickest cars in morning practice, won the outside pole at 157.052 miles per hour. Brett Bodine, who is mourning the death of his team's jackman, Sidney Winningham, in a traffic accident on Tuesday, was third fastest in another Ford at 156.168 mph, followed by Geoff Bodine in a Ford at 156.101 mph and Ken Schrader in a Chevy at 155.663 mph.
Also in the top 10 were Derrike Cope in a Ford at 155.610 mph, John Andretti in a Ford at 155.439 mph, Ricky Craven in a Chevy at 155.109 mph, Rick Mast in a Ford at 155.050 mph and Todd Bodine in a Ford at 154.939 mph.
So where were all the heavyweights? Most of them failed to make the top 20.
In fact, only one of the top five finishers in last Sunday's Daytona 500 managed to crack the top 20 and qualify Friday. Mark Martin, who was third in the 500, qualified 19th in his Ford.
Daytona winner Sterling Marlin was 26th-fastest Friday. Runner-up Dale Earnhardt was 21st. Ted Musgrave, who was fourth in the 500, was 23rd-fastest Friday. And Dale Jarrett was only 24th-fastest in Robert Yates' formidable Ford.
Perhaps Gordon's strategy would work for them. He had one of the fastest cars in practice here last fall, but only qualified 15th.
``I found out that every time I go for the pole here at Rockingham I end up about 10th or 15th, so this time we did the opposite,'' Gordon said. ``We ran a smooth lap, especially through (turns) one and two. The key is getting through one and two.''
Gordon said it was one thing to know he needed to drive easy through those turns, but another thing to actually do it.
``I can tell myself that, but I can't make myself drive any easier,'' he said. ``That's just part of my driving style. My foot came off the throttle when I needed it to, and it usually doesn't do that here at Rockingham.''
Steve Grissom might want to take Gordon's advice. He spun and hit the turn two wall during his run and will have to requalify during the second round of time trials at 11:30 a.m. today.
``I was going for it, but I got loose coming off the second turn,'' Grissom told Chevy's Ray Cooper. ``I just tried too hard. There's no frame damage to the car. There's just some damage to the left rear quarter-panel. So we'll try to come back on Saturday and get in a good lap.''
Other drivers who failed to crack the top 40 were Gary Bradberry, Steve Kinser, Ben Hess, Mike Chase and James Hylton, who did not attempt to qualify. Chase, who failed to qualify for the Daytona 500, was fired moments after he posted the slowest qualifying lap Friday and replaced by Jimmy Hensley, who will requalify the car today. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Jeff Gordon
by CNB