Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, October 2, 1993 TAG: 9310020085
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. LENGTH: Medium
"If somebody had bet me Monday we were going to get the pole here, I would have bet against it," he said after circling the .625-mile track at 116.786 mph in his Ford Thunderbird. "We were decent, but . . . "
Ricky Rudd, who almost always does well at the track, took the outside pole in his Chevrolet Lumina with a speed of 116.677 mph.
"I was real happy with that lap," said the driver from Chesapeake. "It's a lot better than we had run in practice. The car really didn't feel that good. It was loose up off the corner. It really comes down to choosing the right tires. You've got to get 'em buffed just right."
For a driver who has never won here, Rudd has as good a record as anybody. He has finished in the top 15 at North Wilkesboro in every race since the spring event of 1984, a span of 19 events.
Irvan, like Rudd, found some speed between practice and qualifying. Irvan's pole-winning time of 19.266 seconds was almost three-tenths of a second better than his fastest practice lap.
"The quickest I'd run in practice was a .53 and I thought maybe I could squeeze a little bit off that," Irvan said. "But when I went by the [scoring] board and saw it was a .26, it shocked me as much as anybody."
Kyle Petty was third fastest, at 116.423, in a Pontiac Grand Prix. He was followed by Terry Labonte in a Chevy (116.189 mph) and Harry Gant in a Chevy (116.129).
Also in the top 10 were Mark Martin in a Ford (116.105 mph), Darrell Waltrip in a Chevy (115.932), Bill Elliott in a Ford (115.902), Sterling Marlin in a Ford (115.878) and Dale Earnhardt in a Chevy (115.854).
One row behind Earnhardt, starting 11th, is Rusty Wallace, who trails Earnhardt by 82 points in the battle for the Winston Cup championship.
Irvan is driving the car he used to win the pole and the race at Martinsville Speedway last weekend. However, North Wilkesboro has not been one of his strongest tracks.
"I've had some fourths and fifths here, and I have run decent here, but I've never been in a car that has been right there running for the lead," he said.
His record doesn't mean a lot, though, because this will be his first race here in Robert Yates' Thunderbird, which Irvan took over after the death of Davey Allison.
"Larry McReynolds [the team's crew chief] has always had good stuff here at Wilkesboro," Irvan said. "And Davey won here last year. So the whole combination is there."
Irvan has four poles and two victories in 1993, but he does not appear to be a threat to win the most poles this season. Ken Schrader has six, with four to be determined.
The angriest driver Friday was Brett Bodine, who usually is mild-mannered even in the worst of circumstances. He was furious after making the first qualifying run of the day, which was 26th fastest. He shouted at Gary Nelson, NASCAR's Winston Cup director, after emerging from his car. Bodine then stomped to the NASCAR trailer to complain to Les Richter, NASCAR's vice president.
"They let that helicopter land [just before qualifying] and it blew stuff all over the race track!" Bodine said as he headed toward his team's truck."
He still was upset at the end of the session, saying: "There's too much money and hard work going into this for [NASCAR] to let something like this happen. We had one of the quickest cars in practice, and you know that the first guy out is going to be at a disadvantage, but to fly a helicopter in there and completely cover turns three and four with dirt and grass - that's more than we should have to run against."
Bodine and the other 19 drivers who finished out of the top 20, including Morgan Shepherd (21st), Geoff Bodine (23rd), Dale Jarrett (24th) and Rick Wilson (37th) will have an opportunity to improve their positions in a second round of time trials at noon today. As many as 34 cars will start the race, scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. Sunday.
\ BEGGARLY WINS POLE: Barry Beggarly of Pelham, N.C., the 1993 NASCAR Winston Racing Series national champion, won the pole for today's Lowe's 150 Late Model Stock Car race at a speed of 113.493 mph. Dennis Setzer of Hickory, N.C., has the outside pole. Dale Earnhardt Jr. qualified 19th. Seventy cars made qualifying runs. Among those in the top 20 for the 32-car field were Jeff Agnew of Floyd (sixth), Ronnie Thomas of Christiansburg (12th), Kelly Denton of Bristol (15th), Tommy Spangler of Abingdon (17th) and Frankie Pennington of Lexington (18th).
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB