Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 26, 1994 TAG: 9403260087
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: DARLINGTON, S.C. LENGTH: Medium
Robinson, the lone female regular in the series, could muster only the 44th fastest time during the second round of qualifying Friday. The provisional starting spots, 41st and 42nd, went to Dennis Setzer and Stevie Reeves.
Michael Waltrip had qualified 10th in the first qualifying session Thursday, but his run was disqualified after inspectors found that his Pontiac Grand Prix had an illegally offset rear end. Waltrip tried again Friday and earned the 27th starting spot.
The race starts at 1 p.m.
\ TIRE WAR: In the tire war, this is shaping up to be a big weekend for Goodyear.
In today's Grand National race, only two of the top 10 starters - Harry Gant in third and Robert Pressley in seventh - are on Hoosiers.
And only one Hoosier driver - Geoff Bodine - is in the top 20 for Sunday's TranSouth 400 Winston Cup race.
Bodine qualified seventh, but it was a wild ride. He nearly spun out coming off turn 4.
"That scared me," he said. "At least we're in the race, and I have a race car. That lap scared the hell out of me. I was out of control."
The second fastest Hoosier driver was Jeff Burton, at 22nd. Joe Nemecheck was 29th fastest, Ward Burton 36th, Greg Sacks 38th and Loy Allen was flirting with an early trip home at 44th fastest.
Goodyear has a new tire here this weekend. Given the fact that 25 of its drivers, including Dave Marcis, broke the track record, it appears the tire giant came here well prepared.
\ IROC FOLLIES: Today's second round of the International Race of Champions, which won't be aired by ABC until May 15, hopefully will be a better contest than last year's snoozer, now memorable only because the late Davey Allison won.
The problem is that the Indy car and sports car drivers in the field are totally outmatched by the stock car drivers, who have a lock on experience at this tough old oval.
But it was entertaining to listen to the non-Winston Cup drivers describe their impressions Friday.
Politically-minded sports car driver Tom Kendall, remembering how vociferously President Clinton was booed here in 1992, said on his first lap he "felt a lot like Bill Clinton did on his first night in the White House - like he had no credentials to be there."
Jack Baldwin found himself asking, "Did I really bring my brand new Busch car to this place?"
Said Danny Sullivan: "Everybody kind of scares you with all the stories and I get here and [sprint car driver Steve] Kinser has already hit the wall twice."
"Dad said it's a one-groove race track," said Al Unser, Jr., who has never raced here. "I came out here today and you know, Dad wasn't lying."
When Sullivan suggested the NASCAR stars "will have to figure out a way to pass us" because most start near the back, Baldwin broke in: "Trust me, buddy, they'll know."
NASCAR drivers in the race are Dale Earnhardt, Mark Martin, Rusty Wallace, Kyle Petty and Dale Jarrett.
\ SULLIVAN'S WOES: Danny Sullivan said Friday that his part-time Winston Cup ride, dead after two races, will resurface later this year.
"We're regrouping," he said. "We're going to come back later this year with a car, but whether it will be with [sponsor] Checkers, I don't know."
Sullivan said the Felix Sabates-provided Pontiac Grand Prix he was driving was simply not up to snuff. He hopes to return with a Ford or Chevrolet.
Perhaps the biggest hurdle, Sullivan said, was the competitiveness of the Winston Cup fields. At Atlanta, the car he was driving had qualified 14th last fall at the same track. "I was a half a second quicker in the same car two weeks ago and was 45th," he said.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB