Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 2, 1990 TAG: 9003023325
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Frank Vehorn Landmark News Service
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"I knew my car was fast enough to beat everyone else; I just wanted to make sure that I didn't beat myself," Petty said after winning the first pole of his Winston Cup career.
Petty, 29, did his job well, qualifying for Sunday's race at a speed of 148.751 mph.
Mark Martin, coming off a controversial victory in the Pontiac 400 at Richmond, Va., was second, at 147.623 mph.
Alan Kulwicki was third, followed by Dale Earnhardt, Darrell Waltrip, Ken Schrader and Rusty Wallace.
Martin's team was fined $40,000 and 46 Winston Cup championship points when inspectors discovered an illegal part on his car after his victory at Richmond.
"It would have meant a lot to me and this team to win the pole, but hopefully we can win the race Sunday and put all that to rest," Martin said of the controversy. "But I am happy for Kyle. He's had a tough wait for his first pole."
Petty, who is in his second season with the Felix Sabates Pontiac team, had not won a pole in 276 previous qualifying attempts on the circuit. The closest he had come was a second to Waltrip in qualifying for the 1988 summer race at Daytona.
"The only thing that surprises me about winning the pole is that I didn't beat myself," Petty said. "After Mark and Alan [Kulwicki] made their qualifying runs, I knew my car was fast enough to beat them if I didn't mess up."
Petty said the only problem he had during his qualifying trip around the 1.017-mile oval was a severe case of nerves.
"I was hyperventilating and couldn't breathe," he said.
"Right now, I am just relieved that qualifying is over and I won the pole. When a crew gets a car fast enough that it is among the fastest in practice, it is up to the driver to put it on the pole.
"But in my case, I usually lose more time than I pick up when it comes to qualifying. I am just not a very good qualifier."
Petty said his poor qualifying record probably was a result of learning his racing habits from his father, Richard, NASCAR's all-time leading race winner but also a notoriously poor qualifier.
The elder Petty's last pole victory was at Bristol, Tenn., during the 1979 season.
Petty's pole victory gives him the opportunity to collect the Unocal Challenge bonus, which stands at $228,000 for Sunday's race.
The bonus is offered to the driver who can win both the pole position and the race. The only time the bonus has been won was when Rusty Wallace did it in last year's Goodwrench 500.
\ Harry Gant won the 11th pole of his Busch Grand National career, taking the top qualifying spot for the Goodwrench 200.
Gant, driving a Buick, turned a fast lap of 145.361 mph in winning the pole for Saturday's 200-mile race at North Carolina Motor Speedway.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB