Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 2, 1994 TAG: 9407020026
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. LENGTH: Medium
A last-minute, near-desperation qualifying run by Ward Burton put him in the 43-car field in today's Pepsi 400 and knocked out Dallenbach, whose No. 43 Pontiac Grand Prix team had elected to stand on its Thursday speed.
It was the second race in a row Dallenbach missed and the fifth this season.
A grim-faced Dallenbach, who loves the superspeedways, wasted no time leaving the track as Petty searched for words to explain the problem.
`You got to run fast enough to make it," he said. "We did everything except what it took to run fast."
Crew chief Robbie Loomis said, "We've been in this shape before. We've just got to dig ourselves out of this hole."
Burton has missed four races himself.
"Man, I feel for [Dallenbach]," he said. "There's not a worse feeling in the world. It's so degrading and demoralizing to go homefrom a race when you've run up front before."
Burton seemed to come out of nowhere to ruin the day for the Petty camp with a run that lifted the spirits of his own team.
Burton didn't get to qualify during Thursday's first round because his team still was installing the motor he leased from the Morgan-McClure team and engine builder Runt Pittman. He only had six laps of practice Friday morning before damaging his transmission.
The team managed to get the transmission replaced but didn't fire the engine until there was only 30 seconds to spare on their qualifying deadline.
"I tell you what, it was do or die," Burton said after winning the 40th starting position at 185.644 mph.
The regular provisional starting spots went to Rick Mast, who has had trouble getting a new car up to speed, and to Bobby Hamilton. Bill Elliott elected to take a champion's provisional for the 43rd spot, standing on his Thursday speed even though he was only 44th fastest.
\ LAST-MINUTE TROUBLE: Pole winner Dale Earnhardt burned a piston in the engine of his Chevrolet Lumina during the final Winston Cup practice Friday.
He reportedly damaged the power plant at the beginning of the session while pace car driver Elmo Langley were escorting the race cars down pit road to allow them to gauge the speed limit on their tachometers.
Crew chief Andy Petree said the team would change engines before today's race.
\ THE FASTEST PETTY: The upset winner of the weekend among the racing Petty family is Ritchie Petty, who outran his first cousin's and his uncle's cars to take the 35th starting position for today's race.
Petty, driving an unsponsored car prepared on a shoestring budget by his brothers, with help from his father, Maurice, made the field during the first round of time trials Thursday at a speed of 186.131 mph.
Cousin Kyle didn't make the field until the second round on Friday, qualifying in the 36th starting spot at 186.100 mph. And Richard's car failed to qualify.
Ritchie Petty's qualifying run was particularly notable in that it was more than 2 1/2 mph faster (or almost seven tenths of a second on the stopwatch) than his best practice lap Thursday.
\ TWO $5,000 FINES: NASCAR levied fines of $5,000 to the teams of Darrell Waltrip and Joe Nemechek for taking steps that could have hindered the effectiveness of the roof flaps on their Chevys.
"During pre-qualifying inspection Thursday, NASCAR inspectors found tape covering a small gap around the roof flaps of Waltrip's car," a NASCAR statement said. "The tape was removed by inspectors, but four pieces of tape were put back in place by the team before Waltrip qualified which covered not only the gap, but the flap hinges."
During the same inspection, inspectors found that Nemechek's team had used silicone to fill the same gaps, which are located where the flaps are hinged to the roof.
NASCAR levied the fine because it determined that the tape and the silicone made it more difficult for the flaps to open.
"It must have helped us so much, that's why we qualified 34th," Waltrip said.
But NASCAR spokesman Kevin Triplett said the issue was safety, not performance, and if NASCAR found any similar efforts in the future, the fines would be higher or the team might even be suspended.
\ TURNS OF THE SPONSOR WRENCH: Mark Martin and team owner Jack Roush announced Valvoline had extended its contract for several more years, but the company said its policy was not to say how many.
Also, Dick Trickle and the Active racing team, owned by Dean Myers, has obtained sponsorship for today's race and the Brickyard 400 from Skybox International, a trading card company about to introduce a NASCAR set.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB