Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 8, 1991 TAG: 9103080324
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: MARTINSVILLE LENGTH: Long
And the sermon didn't come courtesy of the church.
"Alan Dillard, our team owner, took both of us into the shop and said, `What's the problem?' " Hill said.
"We had run awful at Rockingham [N.C.] the day before, and Alan wanted some answers. Is it the motor, the chassis, Elton or me?
"He put it on the line. Basically, he said, `Look, guys, we'd better get our act together.' "
Whatever Dillard's sermon, the message was heard. Only five days removed from a tortoise-like Rockingham run, Sawyer ran like a rabbit on Thursday at Martinsville Speedway, winning the pole for Sunday's Busch Grand National portion of the Miller 500 tripleheader.
"This has got to be a big morale booster for the team, plus it helps the driver's confidence, too," said Sawyer, after winning his first pole in 144 career GN races.
Hill, who along with the crew burnt the midnight oil working on the team's car, said winning the pole may cure his recent case of insomnia.
"Nobody could sleep after Rockingham. So we all sat down to see what we could do," Hill said. "We worked our tails off changing some things on the chassis of the car. The bottom line is we worked harder this week and it paid off."
For now, at least. Sawyer's qualifying speed of 91.196 mph was scoffed at by some teams because his Buick ran Hoosier tires. Three of the top five qualifiers ran Hoosiers instead of the Goodyear radial being used on the GN cars at Martinsville for the first time.
"The Hoosiers will slow down a second a lap after about 50 laps into the race," predicted one top crew chief whose car qualified on Goodyears.
In rebuttal, Hill said: "Out of all the tracks, I think the Hoosier is best here. I don't think this tire will back up on Sunday."
Sawyer's only thought now is scoring his first GN win. He seemingly had this race in hand last March when he slowed for a yellow caution light that was mistakenly left on too long on a green-flag restart.
"Brain-fade," the Chesapeake driver said. "A win Sunday would help me forget that."
Dave Rezendes, Bobby Labonte, Butch Miller and defending GN champion Chuck Bown completed the top five.
Other notables making the top 20 included favorite Jimmy Hensley (seventh), Tommy Ellis (eighth), Tommy Houston (ninth), Harry Gant (11th) and Jack Ingram (13th).
Mike Oliver, a 29-year-old Alabama driver making his GN debut, originally qualified second, but his time was later disallowed when NASCAR officials discovered his Pontiac's chassis did not meet the required offset rule.
Oliver's car was offset one inch to the left. A GN rule instituted this season states that all cars must have a zero offset, meaning the chassis sits squarely on all four wheels.
GN director Robert Black said Oliver can start at the rear of one of Saturday's qualifying races and try to win a spot in Sunday's field, if he can correct his car's problem.
A stunned Oliver took the bad news well, but admitted, "I can't remember a day of my life that had such a big buildup and such a big letdown."
\ Who needs practice time? Apparently not three-time Martinsville Modified winner George Kent.
Kent, whose team didn't arrive at the track until close to noon, limiting his practice time to "maybe five laps," won the Modified pole nevertheless.
"Hey, we've been here a couple times," quipped Kent, after hitting a lap of 97.297 mph.
"I came down here once on Saturday, took a provisional and won the race.
"Seriously, it [arriving late] is not the smart thing to do. But it's nice when it does work."
The 41-year-old Horseheads, N.Y., driver said he and his team didn't leave Preston, Conn., where they picked up a new race car, until 11:30 Wednesday night.
"There was a holdup getting the car done," Kent said. "We had to make some changes on it. We drove straight through, except for a stop at McDonald's. I got a little sleep on the way, I reckon."
Carl Pasteryak, of Lisbon, Conn., earned the outside pole at 97.282 mph.
Rocky Mount's Don "Satch" Worley, the only area driver who competes full-time on the Modified circuit, qualified 10th.
\ Speedway President Clay Campbell refuted speculation that the track may soon drop the Modified class from its racing schedule.
"This is strictly incorrect," Campbell said. "It's a rumor and nothing more. We feel the 1992 schedule will remain the same."
The predominantly Northern-based Modified division runs three races a season at Martinsville.
\ LUGNUTS: Venerable Joe Thurman turned a few heads by making the GN field in first-round time trials. Thurman, the Rocky Mount insurance broker whose racing career appeared to be at an end late last season, qualified 20th in a Buick he purchased from 1988 GN champion Larry Pearson. . . . Thurman out-qualified such notables as Dale Jarrett, Steve Grissom, Kenny Wallace and Tom Peck, all of whom will now be forced to make Sunday's starting field in Saturday's 25-lap qualifying heats. . . . Sawyer's racing wife, Patty Moise, withdrew her entry. Moise's GN effort is on hold because of a lack of sponsorship to field a second car out of the Dillard shop. . . . Modified drivers Roger Hill and Bob Park saw their cars wiped out in a morning practice crash. The gas throttle on Hill's car stuck heading into turn one, causing a collision with Park that sent both cars hard into the second-turn wall. Neither driver was seriously injured. . . . Today's activities will be dominated by the Late Model Stock Car division. First-round time trials begin at 2 p.m. . . . The 500, which starts at noon, will be taped for later showing by the The Nashville Network. The airing date has yet to be released.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB