THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, October 19, 1996 TAG: 9610190491
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ROCKINGHAM, N.C. LENGTH: 58 lines
If anyone has forgotten that there still is a three-way race for the 1996 NASCAR Winston Cup championship, Dale Jarrett reminded them Friday at North Carolina Motor Speedway.
Jarrett won the pole for Sunday's AC Delco 400 with a lap of 157.194 mph in his Ford Thunderbird.
``I think it certainly shows them that we mean business,'' Jarrett said, referring to Jeff Gordon and Terry Labonte, the other two competitors for the title. ``We're not going to be happy just finishing third.
``We just want them to know that we're here to race and we're going to to try to make this a three-way battle for the championship when the time comes for (the final race of the year at) Atlanta.''
Jarrett is 92 points behind Gordon, who leads Labonte by a single point.
``Obviously, we'd like to be in the lead by 92, but we're in a good position,'' Jarrett said. ``We know what we have to do. We have to go try to win the race and finish as far in front as we can and, hopefully, that will gain some points.''
Jarrett had the benefit of a recent test here, which frequently gives a driver enough of an edge to win the top starting spot. This was Jarrett's second pole this year but only the third of his career.
``We came down here really prepared for qualifying because of the test last week,'' he said. ``That allowed us to come here ready. I ran two laps of practice this morning. We found out that what we came with was really the best setup. I got in as close to a perfect lap as I could get. Everything was pretty close to just what we wanted.''
Tires will be the key to Sunday's race, Jarrett said.
``This racetrack is back to like it was before it was repaved,'' he said. ``The tires are going to go away in a hurry, and the key Sunday is going to be the guy who keeps his tires on the car the longest and whoever is fastest with those older tires, because they can become old after about 20 laps.''
Ricky Rudd was second-fastest in another Ford at 156.683 mph, followed by Jeff Gordon at 156.468 in the fastest Chevy Monte Carlo, Mark Martin at 156.388 in a Ford and Bobby Labonte at 155.982 in a Chevy.
John Andretti was sixth-fastest at 155.928 mph, followed by Robby Gordon (155.849), Kenny Wallace (155.557), Ted Musgrave (155.544) and Todd Bodine (155.458).
Among other qualifiers, Dale Earnhardt was 15th-fastest, Terry Labonte 19th and Rusty Wallace 25th.
At the other end of the lineup, at least seven drivers have a big battle on their hands to get into the race.
Ed Berrier was 38th-fastest and currently holds the final qualifying spot. He was followed by Billy Standridge, Michael Waltrip, Ward Burton, Robert Pressley, Norm Benning, Johnny Benson Jr. and Terry Byers.
Benson crashed his Pontiac Grand Prix during his run. He was unhurt but will have to try again today in a backup car.
The second round of time trials, at 9:30 a.m. today, will determine starting positions 26 through 38 and the provisional starting spots. MEMO: Qualifying results/C5 by CNB