Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 9, 1994 TAG: 9407090018
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LOUDON, N.H. LENGTH: Medium
Irvan's run of 127.197 mph in Robert Yates's Ford Thunderbird was 29.944 seconds Qualifying results in Scoreboard. B4 on the stopwatch. It was the only qualifying run for Sunday's Slick 50 300 under 30 seconds and it beat Mark Martin's year-old record of 126.871 mph (30.021 seconds).
Jeff Gordon, who qualified second at 126.884 mph in a Chevrolet Lumina, also broke Martin's record.
"It was just a matter of getting the right lap in," Irvan said. "If you got in hard [in the corners], you got up in the marbles and your lap was done."
"It's 95 degrees outside and it's tearing up the track a little bit," he said. "But it's not the race track's fault. They've made an effort. We have these 12-inch tires and the cars going faster and the engines are making more horsepower. All these sorts of things are tearing up the race track."
So, for the second time in three races, and for the second year in a row in New Hampshire, the nation's top stock car racers faced a weekend of racing under subpar conditions. As you might expect, they didn't relish the thought.
"It's bad out there, folks," said Geoff Bodine, who qualified 16th. "Last year it didn't tear up until Saturday afternoon, and it's only Friday."
"The track is all screwed up," said Rusty Wallace, who qualified 18th. "Turns three and four are terrible."
"You could see tracks where the cars before you went," said Bobby Hamilton. "I hope these guys can start making some money so they can keep these tracks up."
Equally hot and humid weather at Michigan three weekends ago caused a repaved section of turn three to break up, leading to a number of accidents before and during the race.
But Sterling Marlin, after qualifying seventh at 126.103 mph, said: "It's a lot worse than Michigan. Rocks were everywhere on the track, and I'm not really sure what to expect Sunday. We'll just have to make the best of it."
While everyone found themselves slipping through the corners, some drivers endured it better than others.
Dale Earnhardt, after bombing out with the 43rd-fastest qualifying lap, said: "I was doing a little dirt-tracking out there, but I didn't want to. I got out of the groove, got in them loose stuff and I was gone then."
But Bobby Labonte qualified fourth at 126.500 mph even though he blew his qualifying engine in practice and had to qualify with his race motor. Labonte, calling his run "a conservative fast lap" said he "basically had to run on the apron most of the way around."
Behind Irvan and Gordon, Ricky Rudd was third fastest in a Ford at 126.643 mph. "I couldn't believe I slipped and slid as bad as I did and still ran a 30-flat," Rudd said.
Ken Schrader was fifth at 126.446 mph, followed by Ted Musgrave in a Ford at 126.316 mph, Marlin, Derrike Cope at 125.869 mph, Morgan Shepherd at 125.803 mph and Martin, who ran 125.790 mph.
Bob Bahre, the founder and chairman of the 1-mile oval, said track workers planned to apply sealer to the asphalt in the corners overnight and have three sweepers standing by here to clear the gravel out of the turns today and during Sunday's 300-mile race.
"We're not really concerned about the track breaking up so you couldn't run on it," Bahre said. "It's a question of the little marbles getting on the track and the drivers running on those marbles. This never would have happened if it was a cool day. But we feel the sealer will take care of the problem."
After similar problems here last year, Bahre said the section of pavement that began disintegrating was ground out and repaved immediately after the race and again in October. "We thought that would take care of it," he added.
Whatever happens, the drivers on Friday were already preparing for a slippery race.
"It's where we're going to have to race this weekend and we're just going to have to live with it," Irvan said. "We know the track is going to have marbles on it. We're just going to have to get our cars to work in those marbles. It's just going to make this weekend a little tougher."
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB