THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, July 27, 1996 TAG: 9607270384
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: TALLADEGA, ALA. LENGTH: 56 lines
Having recently joined the club of drivers who are rumored to be in trouble with their car owners, Jeremy Mayfield took the next step Friday at Talladega Superspeedway.
By winning the pole for Sunday's DieHard 500, Mayfield became the latest member of the Drivers-Rumored-To-Be-In-Trouble-Who-Dig-Themselves-Out Club.
Mayfield won his first career pole with a lap of 192.370 mph around this 2.66-mile, high-banked track in his Ford Thunderbird. The pole was Cale Yarborough's second as a car owner.
``I'm just amazed for once that everything went our way,'' Mayfield said. ``This is the first time any big thing has really happened in my career, as far as Winston Cup goes. I don't know what to say. I'm kind of in awe right now. I probably had more attention today when I got out of my car than all the other races put together.''
Jeff Gordon took the outside pole in his Chevrolet Monte Carlo with a lap of 191.417 mph, followed by Dale Jarrett in a Ford at 191.088, Dale Earnhardt in a Chevy at 190.806 and Lake Speed in a Ford at 190.522.
Rounding out the top 10 were Ernie Irvan (190.412 mph), Jeff Burton (190.321), Mark Martin (189.959), Darrell Waltrip (189.913) and Johnny Benson Jr. (189.748).
Mayfield, 27, is in his third year in the Winston Cup series. This is his first year driving for Yarborough. And until today, the rumor mill had Mayfield pegged as one driver who probably wouldn't be returning to the same car in 1997.
``At this time, there's not really a lot to address,'' Mayfield said. ``You know how this time of year there are a lot of rumors flying around. Things might be different next year. I don't know at this time.
``Things are really going good here. I'm real happy with the team. My focus right now is to stay with Cale Yarborough Motorsports at least for the rest of the year. I've just got to keep focus on the way things are going and not worry about next year.''
Mayfield's pole-winning lap came on his first lap around the track. He had the option of taking a second lap, but he shut his motor off on the backstretch.
``The motor got hot,'' he said. ``I knew It wasn't going to make a second lap. We had a lot of tape on the grille. We put more tape on than we normally do.''
After the first lap, the temperature had risen to a dangerously hot 250 or 260 degrees, so Mayfield's team told him to shut it down.
``That's our race motor,'' he said. ``That's the only motor we've got. I'm sure it would have damaged the motor if we'd taken another lap. We couldn't take a chance and tear up the motor that we wanted to run Sunday.''
At the other end of the lineup, Gary Bradberry, 30th-fastest, will be on the bubble during today's second round of time trials. Bradberry, who is not eligible for a provisional starting spot, is trying to make his first race at Talladega, which is near his hometown of Chelsea, Ala.
Behind Bradberry, in order of their speeds, are Geoff Bodine, Brett Bodine, Joe Nemechek, Chad Little and Bill Elliott. by CNB