Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, April 17, 1993 TAG: 9304170164
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. LENGTH: Medium
OH BROTHER! AN ALL-BODINE FRONT ROW
EVEN STRANGER than Brett Bodine winning the pole just ahead of brother Geoff was the fiasco caused when Ricky Rudd took a swipe at the younger Bodine.\ Winning a pole position for a NASCAR Winston Cup race usually brings congratulations from one's fellow drivers, but one of the first things Brett Bodine received Friday after winning the pole for Sunday's First Union 400 was a swing and a miss from Ricky Rudd's fist.Rudd, still angry about a crash he believes Bodine caused at Bristol two weeks ago, threw a wild haymaker that missed Bodine as the pole winner tried to walk away from the ugly encounter in the garage at North Wilkesboro Speedway, witnesses said.
The incident occurred moments after Bodine took the top starting position for Sunday's race with a lap of 117.017 mph.
Brett's older brother, Geoff, qualified second at 116.677 mph to complete an all-Bodine front row - a first for the racing family, both brothers said.
But this accomplishment was overshadowed by the one-punch, no-fall attack launched by Rudd.
Winston Cup Director Gary Nelson will be meeting with both drivers this morning, NASCAR spokesman Chip Williams said.
Rudd left the track soon after the incident and was unavailable for comment.
But after Bodine got out of his Ford Thunderbird following his pole-winning run, he said Rudd came up to him and told him, "That was a nice qualifying run. Too bad it's for no good because I'm going to put you in the fence."
"He was very adamant and he took a swing at me," Bodine said. "He missed.
"If you can't control your emotions any better than that outside a race car, then you don't belong in a race car," Bodine said. "I just don't believe in solving problems that way. It was totally uncalled for."
Bodine said Rudd "thinks I took a cheap shot" at Bristol and put him into the wall. Bodine said he was hugging the yellow line at the bottom of the track in a turn when Rudd's car made contact with his and crashed.
"I hope he goes and watches the films," Bodine said. "I thought maybe I did bump him. But I watched the replay. I didn't mess up. I was down in the bottom lane, out of the way."
As for the action on the track Friday, Bodine said he had a perfect qualifying lap after struggling during practice.
"When we unloaded today, we weren't that good," he said. "So we backed up, put the car on the scales, changed springs and regrouped. Our second set-up was much faster."
Said Geoff: "I'm happy for Brett and I think this all-Bodine front row is neat. You know, we've been trying to do something like this for a long, long time. But it always seemed we'd end up first and third or second and third."
Ernie Irvan was third fastest at 116.520 mph; followed by Ken Schrader at 116.309 mph and Hut Stricklin at 116.231 mph. Also in the top 10 were Terry Labonte at 116.213 mph, Jeff Gordon at 116.141 mph, Sterling Marlin at 116.135 mph, Rusty Wallace at 116.111 mph and Rudd at 116.105 mph.
Those who failed to make the top 20 Friday included Davey Allison (22nd), Dale Earnhardt (24th), Kyle Petty (26th), and Darrell Waltrip (31st). They can try to improve their starting position to 21st during a second round of time trials today at 12:15 p.m.
But it didn't take much to have a bottom-20 run Friday at this .625-mile track. The difference between Bodine's pole-winning effort and the 113.367 mph lap of Jimmy Means, who was 37th and slowest, was only 0.619 seconds on the stopwatch.
Meanwhile, Philip Smith of Kernersville, N.C., won the pole Friday for today's Lowes 150 modified race at 120.922 mph - a speed almost four miles per hour faster than Bodine's. The modified race starts at 1 p.m.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING