Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 23, 1994 TAG: 9407230046
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: TALLADEGA, ALA. LENGTH: Medium
Earnhardt won the pole Friday - his second of the year - with a lap of 193.470 mph in his Chevrolet Lumina. Pepsi 400 winner Jimmy Spencer took the outside pole with a speed of 193.006 mph in his Ford Thunderbird.
It was the first time a DieHard 500 pole winner had topped 193 mph since Mark Martin won the top starting spot for the 1989 race at a speed of 194.8 mph.
"We just ran a fast lap, really," Earnhardt said. "This is the same car we sat on the pole with down at Daytona [for the Pepsi 400 earlier this month]. It's the same engine and everything.
"We went a little conservative in practice. We were a little conservative on the spoiler and a little conservative on taping the front end up. If you heat an engine up too much in practice, it takes a little out of it. I wanted to save everything you can for qualifying. We waited until we qualified to go for it."
Earnhardt, as he did after winning the Daytona pole, dedicated the pole to Neil Bonnett, who died in a crash at Daytona in February.
Spencer said he was "a little upset" he didn't win the pole.
"You know Earnhardt, he's the best," Spencer said. "The man didn't run a good lap all day today [in practice], but I knew all along he had something. He did it at Daytona and he did it again here today."
Loy Allen, who has had plenty of power here and at Daytona, won the third starting spot at 192.765 mph in his Ford. Ken Schrader was fourth fastest at 192.370 mph in a Chevy, followed by Ernie Irvan at 192.328 mph in a Ford.
Also in the top 10 were Mark Martin at 191.815 mph in a Ford, Todd Bodine at 191.524 mph in a Ford, Sterling Marlin at 191.470 mph in a Chevy, Michael Waltrip at 191.371 mph in the fastest Pontiac Grand Prix and Wally Dallenbach at 191.248 mph in a Pontiac.
With 51 cars vying for 40 regular starting spots, the second round of qualifying, today at 10:45 a.m., will be critical for a number of drivers, including several regulars.
Among the drivers who were 36th fastest or lower are Joe Nemechek, Dick Trickle, Ritchie Petty, Jeff Burton, John Andretti, Dave Marcis, Jimmy Hensley, Joe Ruttman, Derrike Cope, Ward Burton and Bobby Hamilton.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB