THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 27, 1996 TAG: 9610270173
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C8 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PHOENIX LENGTH: 75 lines
While his brother Terry was trying to adjust to a broken bone in his left hand, Bobby Labonte was busy breaking the track record on his way to the pole position for today's Dura-Lube 500 at Phoenix International Raceway.
``I was driving my guts out,'' Bobby Labonte said after capturing the top starting spot with a lap of 131.076 mph in his Joe Gibbs-owned Chevrolet Monte Carlo.
``It was hung out,'' Labonte said after his two-lap run. ``I drove into turn 1 so hard the first lap, I knew I had messed (it) up really bad.
``The second lap was better. It stuck real good - better than I thought it would. We were tickled to go that fast, but we didn't have any idea we could.''
Terry Labonte, meanwhile, adjusting to the constraints created by his damaged left paw, qualified 30th. He had been one of the fastest drivers in the morning practice despite his injury.
``We ran quicker than that in practice and thought we were in pretty good shape,'' he said. ``It takes me a couple of laps to get going, and that wasn't a good lap.''
As Bobby Labonte won his third pole of 1996 (and his third in the last six races), newcomer Mike Skinner captured the outside pole with a speed of 130.695 mph, which also broke the record of 130.020 set last year by Bill Elliott. The top six drivers surpassed Elliott's standard.
``I almost wrecked on the second lap,'' Skinner said. ``The first lap was a good lap, and I felt like the second lap was going to be better. But the driver was just too overaggressive in (turns) 3 and 4, and the car went sideways.
``It scared the hell out of me, but that's what you've got to do if you want to win the pole.''
Ricky Rudd was third-fastest in a Ford Thunderbird at 130.496 mph, followed by Ken Schrader in a Chevy at 130.354 and Dale Jarrett in a Ford at 130.110. Also in the top 10 were Mark Martin (130.058), Kenny Wallace (129.997), Rick Mast (129.992) Rusty Wallace (129.959) and Jeremy Mayfield (129.805).
Jeff Gordon, who trails Winston Cup points leader Terry Labonte by 32 points, qualified a lowly 19th. It will be his lowest starting position since he went off 21st at Atlanta in March. And it was the first time in 13 races he had qualified outside the top 10.
``We've been OK, but we really weren't set up to qualify,'' Gordon said. ``I don't know why we can't get it to go any faster than we did, but we just didn't. We're going to be good in the race.''
All of the Winston Cup regulars made the race in this single round of qualifying. Friday's first round was canceled because of high winds and near-sandstorm conditions.
Provisional starting spots went to Ricky Craven, Bobby Hillin, Ward Burton, Hut Stricklin and Winston West series drivers Lance Hooper and Jeffrey Krogh.
SPRAGUE WINS TRUCK RACE: Jack Sprague passed Johnny Benson Jr. on the outside with 14 laps to go in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race to claim his fourth victory of the year.
``We were pretty evenly matched on horsepower,'' Sprague said. ``I finally got him on the outside and luckily enough won the race.''
Sprague's victory moved him to 99 points behind series points leader Ron Hornaday Jr., who finished seventh. Sprague trails Mike Skinner, who is second in points, by 27. Skinner edged Ted Musgrave for fourth place.
``Pretty much the only way either of us are going to get around Ron is he's going to have to mess up pretty bad,'' Sprague said.
FINAL PRACTICE: Rusty Wallace blew his engine in the final Winston Cup practice Saturday after recording the fourth-fastest lap of the session. Mark Martin was fastest in the session, followed by Ted Musgrave, Bobby Hamilton, Wallace and Ricky Rudd.
PIT NOTES: Felix Sabates formally announced that he has hired Tony Glover as crew chief for Robby Gordon's No. 40 Coors Light Chevrolet. Glover's move from Morgan-McClure Racing, where he'd spent 13 years, became public speculation last week after team manager and co-owner Larry McClure found out his crew chief planned to leave at the end of the season and asked him to leave immediately. . . . Richard Childress has named Jay Sauter as his new Craftsman Truck Series driver, replacing Mike Skinner, who will move up to Winston Cup as a teammate to Dale Earnhardt in 1997. by CNB