Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, October 29, 1994 TAG: 9410310050
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PHOENIX LENGTH: Medium
But Marlin finally was heard from again Friday when his lap of 129.833 mph in his Chevrolet Lumina broke the Phoenix International Raceway record and gave him his first pole position of the year for Sunday's Slick 50 500.
``I've always enjoyed this track,'' the 37-year-old driver from Columbia, Tenn., said. ``There's something about it. I just like the dogleg in back and the way it's laid out. It seems to suit my style.''
Marlin knocked off Rusty Wallace, who has the outside pole at 129.190 mph in his Ford Thunderbird.
Bill Elliott was third fastest at 129.009 mph in a Ford, followed by Ricky Rudd in another Ford at 128.981 mph and Dale Jarrett in a Chevy at 128.908 mph.
Also in the top 10 were Mark Martin (Ford, 128.663), Ken Schrader (Chevy, 128.571), points-winner Dale Earnhardt (Chevy, 128.562), Brett Bodine (Ford, 128.493) and Lake Speed (Ford, 128.374).
Marlin's lap eclipsed the record of 129.482 mph set by Bill Elliott last year. It was the 19th new track record in 30 races this year. And Marlin was the 16th different pole winner this year - a record for the modern era of Winston Cup racing. The previous high was 15 in 1982.
``I got loose qualifying,'' Marlin said. ``I didn't think I had a good lap, but it turned out it was. The shade came over turns one and two and I felt like I got through there real good. But I got real crossed up in the center of [turns] three and four and lost about a 10th [of a second] trying to get it hooked back up.''
So, what went wrong after February?
``Bad luck,'' he said. ``We've probably had four races all year where we run all day and didn't have any trouble. We've had terrible luck all year. We lost five engines, been in a couple of wrecks, [had] flat tires and what have you.
``From Richmond on, it's been something like that all year. We had a top-five car in a lot of races and something went wrong. So maybe we'll get it all out of our system and get right for next season.''
Marlin, who is 14th in points, has had even more trouble in qualifying than in races this year. He hasn't started in the top five since the Pepsi 400 at Daytona in July, where he was fourth.
``We don't know what the problem is,'' Marlin said. ``We've tried to figure it out. We can't figure it out. Larry [team co-owner Larry McClure] has been about ready to kill us.''
One of the day's more surprising runs was by five-time pole winner Geoff Bodine, whose lap of 126.676 mph was only 33rd fastest.
``That's pitiful,'' he said.
But Jeff Burton, who like Bodine is on Hoosier tires, had a ready explanation. ``These tires are junk,'' he told Estes.
``Hoosier brought a tire here that's at least a half-a-second off. You can't make up for what isn't there.''
Burton was 32nd fastest. The quickest Hoosier driver was Greg Sacks, who was 27th after two days here testing.
Those at the bottom of the qualifying lineup, and in danger of missing the race, include Ward Burton (40th fastest), Jeff Purvis (42nd), Rick Carelli (44th), Loy Allen (45th), and Hut Stricklin, who spun twice during his run and did not finish.
The second round of time trials is at 3 p.m. today.
by CNB