Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 21, 1991 TAG: 9104210124
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: D9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. LENGTH: Medium
Bodine sped around the five-eighths-mile oval at 116.237 mph in the second of two qualifying laps, stealing the top starting spot from Alan Kulwicki by .66 of a second.
Kyle Petty will start the 400-lap, 250-mile race third, Harry Gant fourth and Rusty Wallace fifth. Rounding out the top 10 were Dale Jarrett, Rick Mast of Rockbridge Baths, Va., Geoff Bodine, Ken Schrader and Joe Ruttman.
"We haven't had a whole lot of positive things happen to us this year, especially with all the turmoil we just went through and the new people in charge of the team," Bodine said. He was speaking of former crew chief Larry McReynolds leaving to join Davey Allison's team.
"But Kenny [Bernstein, car owner] has pulled them together and just made them come back as a unit and come back strong. And this shows that the guys have done that."
Bodine has qualified well this season, but he is still looking for his first top-10 finish. His best race was at Rockingham, where he finished 13th. He is 19th in points.
The rear of the 33-car field is almost as notable as the front. Bill Elliott needed a provisional starting spot to make the race, as did Richard Petty and Charlie Glotzbach. Glotzbach is driving relief for the injured Sterling Marlin.
The race, scheduled to start at 1 p.m., will be shown on a tape-delay basis by ESPN at 8 p.m. Monday.
\ Moving gingerly to ease the pain, Marlin lowered himself into his Maxwell House Ford on Saturday morning to take the required practice lap that will allow him to start today's race.
One week after the fiery crash at Bristol, Va., that sent him to the hospital with second-degree burns, Marlin still hurts every time he stretches the tender areas on his inner thighs, shoulders, right elbow, face and hands. It was the worst injury of his 15-year Winston Cup career.
Marlin, wearing a custom-tailored, loose-fitting driver's suit, plans to run one lap today before letting Glotzbach take over.
His team had scheduled a news conference for him after qualifying Saturday, but he wasn't up to it. Marlin did talk about his accident, his recovery and his return to the track with Maxwell House team publicist Chris Browning.
"The car just turned around so fast when it blew the tire," Marlin said. "When I felt the heat and saw the flames, I just automatically covered my face up and tried not to breath anything in and just hoped the car would hurry up and stop so I could get out of it.
"I talked to Dr. [John] Lynch [Marlin's treating physician] and he said maybe I could go home this Wednesday, but the wounds still will not be healed yet. If I can make as much progress in the next two days as I have in the last two days, I'll be in real good shape."
\ At the end of qualifying Saturday, Mast was allowed one more lap because the timing system had failed during the second lap of his original qualifying run. Mast improved on his time by almost a mile per hour and will start seventh instead of 22nd. . . . Johnny Rumley of Winston-Salem took the lead for good on lap 62 and held on to win the Lowe's 150 race for late model stock cars Saturday. Paul Radford of Ferrum, Va., was sixth.
by CNB