Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 16, 1995 TAG: 9502160089
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-5 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: DENISE MICHAUX LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE
DATELINE: DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. LENGTH: Medium
Rudd drew the pole for the 100-mile all-star event, the opener of a by-invitation-only, four-race series.
``I'm not sure the pole is the place to be,'' said the Chesapeake, Va., native. ``I think I'd rather be starting third than first. You are kind of like bait sitting out there on the pole.
``You might lead going into turn 1, but you probably aren't going to the lead the first lap unless you can make that Avenger awfully wide.''
The drivers will be running identically prepared Dodge Avengers.
Dale Earnhardt, who won the race last year, will start on the outside pole - the same position he earned for Sunday's Daytona 500 and for last Sunday's Busch Clash, which he won.
Indy-car driver Al Unser Jr. drew the third spot, followed by Steve Millen, a road racer from New Zealand, and Scott Pruett, who will be racing Indy cars this season. Defending series champion Mark Martin drew the seventh spot.
NASCAR drivers have won 10 of 18 IROC championships and tend to leave the road racers in awe when they hit the track.
``I still haven't figured out why I get passed,'' said road-racing specialist Hurley Haywood. ``They know why, but I don't know.''
``I remember coming in as a rookie and listening to every word [the stock-car drivers] would say,'' Pruett said.
Tom Kendall thinks the cars have been set up so well ``it gives road racers like us a chance.''
The cars might give them a chance, but Earnhardt, Ken Schrader, who will be starting eighth, and Jeff Gordon, who will be starting 12th, aren't going to make it easy.
The three were flying down the backstretch during a practice session this week, running three-wide. When they came up on turn 3, something had to give.
``I looked over at Schrader, and he's not even looking at me,'' Gordon said. ``I looked over at Dale and he's grinning and waving. I figured nobody was going to lift.
``It's hard to figure that the 23-year-old would be the one to lift, but somebody had to be the smart one in that crowd.''
``I'd hate to think Jeff Gordon was the smartest guy out there,'' Schrader said with a laugh.
BENDER LEADS: Tim Bender led second-day qualifying for Saturday's Goody's 300 with a lap of 184.949 mph to put him in the 26th starting position.
Hermie Sadler of Emporia, Va., turned the second-fastest lap at 183.217, a big improvement over Tuesday's speed of 180.697, which had him in danger of not making the field.
``We're not off to a real good start, with this new team having to go through second-day qualifying,'' Sadler said. ``We were a little conservative on the setup today; we just wanted to get a good lap in. We probably could have gone even faster.
``We just changed the motor. We started losing power with the other motor and we just didn't have time to change it [Tuesday].''
Defending Grand National series champion David Green dropped from 33rd to 38th on the starting grid with a lap of 180.777.
``I believe the spoiler angle increase [from a 40 to 45 degree increase] is causing us the most trouble,'' Green said. ``But we've also got a new engine rule with the 9:1 compression V8 and 100 extra pounds. It's bound to slow you down.''
FINE UPDATE: Not to be left out, four Grand National series crew chiefs were issued fines Wednesday.
Jim Murray, crew chief for Kenny Wallace, and Dick Bown, crew chief for Jim Bown, were fined $500 apiece for not having a reverse gear in the transmissions.
Bob Labonte, crew chief for Terry Labonte, and Cliff Green, crew chief for Harris DeVane, were fined $100 apiece for using air filters that did not meet NASCAR specifications.
During the weekend, NASCAR fined four Winston Cup teams a total of $90,300.
KINSER SPIN: Steve Kinser lost control of his car during Winston Cup practice and hit the wall hard.
The front end of his Ford was damaged enough that Kinser, a rookie-of-the-year candidate, will be forced to pull out the backup car for today's Twin 125s.
by CNB