Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, April 30, 1994 TAG: 9404300035
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: TALLADEGA, ALA. LENGTH: Medium
With his new Alabama fans loudly rooting him on, Irvan dusted 47 other cars in pole qualifying to win the top starting spot for Sunday's race with a speed of 193.298 miles per hour in the Robert Yates Ford Thunderbird - the No. 28 car that the late Davey Allison used to drive.
Irvan, the defending champion of this race, said he was on a number of radio shows in Alabama Thursday, and "it really made me feel good knowing that the people from Alabama are still pulling for this race team."
This was Irvan's second pole of the season. He also has two victories, leads the Winston Cup points and has finished sixth or better in every race this year except Bristol, where he was 33rd when his engine blew.
But as successful as Irvan has been, it seemed he would never come close to the popularity enjoyed by Allison, who died on July 13 from injuries suffered in a helicopter crash here.
When Irvan took over the car in September, the team received hundreds of critical letters. Although immensely talented, "Swervin' " Irvan was considered something of a renegade, and was widely blamed for the Darlington crash that so badly injured the late Neil Bonnett.
But judging from the roar of the crowd during Irvan's run Friday, it was obvious things had changed.
"Coming down here and getting all the fan support . . . means a lot," Irvan said. "I couldn't hear the crowd, but some people said they were cheering. I know it's going to make Robert [Yates] and [crew chief] Larry [McReynolds] and all the guys feel good, because they've been through some tough times, just like all the people in Alabama have been through some tough times. We're going to give them something to hang on to.
"When I started driving this car, a lot of people would write and ask, `Why did you pick him to drive it?' " Irvan said.
The mail is different now, said McReynolds.
"Now, there's not enough room in which to put all the positive letters," McReynolds said. "And I think 30 to 40 percent of the positive letters are from fans who wrote negative letters last year.
"But if you wrote a script on how to handle something like that, I don't think anyone could have done it better than Ernie. He's always said, `I'm not here to make you all forget Davey Allison.' Davey is always going to be part of this team.
"And there wasn't nobody whispering in Ernie's ear telling him what to say. It was from his heart."
Meanwhile, after missing four straight races, Loy Allen came charging back to win the outside pole in another Ford at 193.193 mph.
Todd Bodine, who ran so well in the Daytona 500 before crashing, was third fastest at 192.874 mph, followed by Dale Earnhardt in the fastest Chevy at 192.726 mph and Jimmy Spencer in another Ford at 192.146 mph.
Also in the top 10 were Ford driver Greg Sacks at 192.054 mph, Ken Schrader in a Chevy at 191.792 mph, Michael Waltrip in the fastest Pontiac Grand Prix at 191.627 mph, Dale Jarrett in a Chevy at 191.489 mph and Sterling Marlin in a Chevy at 191.436 mph.
And at the other end of the field, with plenty to be concerned about in today's second round of qualifying at 11:30 today, are the drivers outside of the top 40: Jimmy Horton, Brett Bodine, Jim Sauter, Jeff Gordon, Wally Dallenbach, Ward Burton, Ronnie Sanders and Geoff Bodine, whose car was unable to qualify after his engine blew as he took the green flag.
Gordon had an unusually bad qualifying run. "The car just never would get up to speed," Gordon said. "It felt dead. The problem is we don't know what the problem is."
The 40th-fastest driver was Kirk Shelmerdine, Dale Earnhardt's former crew chief, who is making his first attempt to qualify for a Winston Cup race after competing in Sportsman, ARCA and Grand National races. Shelmerdine is driving Jimmy Means' Ford.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB