Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, October 23, 1993 TAG: 9310230100
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ROCKINGHAM, N.C. LENGTH: Medium
Jarrett led the session with a lap of 146.647 mph on this 1.017-mile track to claim the 21st starting spot. Had he run the lap in Thursday's first round, Jarrett would have started 10th.
Earnhardt starts 22nd after a lap at 145.975 mph, which was about 1.3 mph faster than his best run Thursday.
"We're going to start 22nd and Rusty [Wallace] is 18th, so we'll be right there with him," Earnhardt said of his rival for the Winston Cup points title. "We were both out in practice this morning and we were running about the same times, so I think we'll be pretty close in the race, too."
Earnhardt leads Wallace by 82 points.
T.W. Taylor qualified in the 26th spot to earn the last frontstretch pit. He was the only other driver to snare one of the coveted spots in Friday's session. Greg Sacks, Michael Waltrip and Rick Wilson were in the top 26 after Thursday's first round, but stood on their times and were shuffled to backstretch stalls after Friday's session. Cars that have to pit on the backstretch usually lose positions during yellow-flag stops.
Kenny Wallace was 29th after Thursday's first-round, but his time was disallowed and he was not allowed to requalify Friday after NASCAR inspectors found an extra set of tires in his garage Friday morning. Crew chief Jeff Hammond was fined $2,000 and the team had to use a provisional start for the 41st spot.
NASCAR rules allow each team three sets of tires for practice and qualifying. Teams found with extra tires are fined $500 a tire and banned from the track for the rest of the day.
Meanwhile, Jerry O'Neil crashed on the backstretch during his qualifying run, wiping out his Chevrolet Lumina. O'Neil was unhurt.
\ ROUGH RIDE FOR GEOFF BODINE: Since taking over the late Alan Kulwicki's Ford Thunderbird team four races ago, Geoff Bodine has slipped from 11th to 14th in Winston Cup points and still is seeking his first top 10 finish in the car.
Bodine has been in a slump since his victory at Sears Point, Calif., in May, with only one top 10 finish. In any event, the slate was cleaned when he took over Kulwicki's car beginning in September in Dover, Del.
"It hasn't been going the way we'd like it to," Bodine said. "We wrecked at Dover and then had that overheating problem at Martinsville and wrecked on the first lap at North Wilkesboro. We were hoping we would have won a couple by now.
"But I'm happy we're doing it now instead of next February. It's good to get the bugs worked out now."
\ JARRETT'S TEAM HURTING: Dale Jarrett isn't running all that well here this weekend, but that is not the only problem for his team.
Crew chief Jimmy Makar will be the team's jack man this weekend, substituting for Barry Hinze, who broke a hand at North Wilkesboro and still is bothered by a back injury he suffered at Richmond.
Makar is not an ideal replacement. He has damaged cartilage in his right knee and faces off-season surgery. "I just hope it'll last these three races," he said.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB