Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, February 17, 1995 TAG: 9502170050
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. LENGTH: Long
For the sixth straight year, Earnhardt won his Twin 125 qualifying race at the 2.5-mile superspeedway, cruising under the checkered flag in his Chevrolet Monte Carlo a couple of car lengths ahead of Jeff Gordon. The official margin of victory was .28 seconds.
Defending Daytona 500 champion Sterling Marlin won the other qualifying race, leading 44 of the 50 laps in his Monte Carlo before beating Darrell Waltrip by .41 seconds. It was Marlin's first victory in the Twin 125s.
Earnhardt has won eight of them. And he's won 25 different races at Daytona. But he has never won the 500. The way his car was handling Thursday, he's a favorite, once again, to win the race he covets most.
``I've just got to be there all day Sunday - 500 miles instead of 499,'' he said. ``We're looking forward to Sunday. Just laid back - and saving the luck.''
Earnhardt led 28 of the 50 laps in the second of the two qualifying races, including the final 15 circuits. On the final lap, nobody had anything for him.
In fact, even before Earnhardt crossed the finish line, Gordon conceded, telling his crew on the radio: ``Pushed off [turn] 4. Couldn't get him. Man, I tell you, I couldn't get him loose. I was all over him.''
Said Earnhardt, ``It wasn't that easy of a drive. It was a competitive race. We had to come back by several cars there. And then having Jeff behind you [and] not knowing when he was going to try to draft by you ...
But on the last lap, ``I felt like if I could keep him behind me through [turns] 1 and 2 and down the back straight, I felt confident I could beat him in 3 and 4.''
``Earnhardt is good,'' Gordon said, ``but the only reason he was good was because we couldn't get around him. I think that 4 car [driven by Marlin] is going to be the one beat. He's fast, but he's handling good, too.''
Mark Martin finished third behind Earnhardt and Gordon in the second race. Todd Bodine was fourth, followed by Bill Elliott.
Marlin was unchallenged on the last lap of his race, too, and was more dominant than Earnhardt.
``We've got one fast hot rod here,'' he said. ``The car runs great in the draft. It never bobbled.''
Daytona 500 pole winner Dale Jarrett was third behind Marlin and Waltrip in the first race, followed by Rusty Wallace and Ken Schrader.
For Marlin, the real test started on lap 39, when the race resumed after a caution for Bobby Hillin's spin in turn 2.
Marlin and most of the leaders had pitted, but seven cars stayed on the track, relegating Marlin to eighth.
In less than two laps, Marlin passed everyone and retook the lead.
``We didn't have any problem making it back up to the front,'' he said. ``The boys work hard on the car and in the motor shop, that's what makes it look easy out there.''
But crew chief Tony Glover said the team still has some work to do. ``Well, right now we're not 100 percent,'' he said. ``We've got some slight problems we're going to have to work on for the 500-mile race. We've still got a couple of days to adjust on it, and there's a few things on my mind that we want to do to it. I hope by Sunday it will be an even better race car than it was today.''
For the new Chevys, Thursday was a double twin victory. Chevys were first and second in both races.
And no one here this week has been more ecstatic about his new Monte Carlos than Waltrip, who was delighted with his finish.
``The Monte Carlo is good, and that's all we needed - something equal to those [Ford] Thunderbirds,'' he said.
As for Marlin, Waltrip said, ``I was better through the corners than he was, but I couldn't catch him. He was better down the straightaways.''
Jarrett was a bit of a disappointment in his race. He led the first lap, but that was the only lap he led. Jarrett faded back as far as 10th in the early laps.
``When they went by me the first of the race, it didn't look like anyone wanted to play with the 28 car,'' he said. ``I just wanted to settle in a spot and make sure I knew what the car was going to do and we were able to learn some things. We're going to have to figure out something here tomorrow and Saturday to deal with them.''
The biggest loser of the day was Jimmy Spencer. Only seven months ago, he went to Victory Lane here in the Pepsi 400. On Thursday, he went home, having failed to qualify for the biggest race of the year.
If you listen to Billy Standridge, it was Spencer's own fault.
Spencer, Standridge and Loy Allen tangled in the tri-oval on the 14th lap of the second race, knocking all of them out of the event.
Spencer ``probably lacked three or four feet from clearing me and pulled up hard and that stuck his front end right into the wall,'' Standridge said. ``I don't know what he was thinking about. His spotter didn't help him or something.''
Spencer stayed in the lounge of his hauler after returning to the garage and was not available for interviews. A team member hastily scribbled `Do Not Disturb'' on the door.
But he told team publicist Rob Goodman: ``Obviously we're extremely disappointed. Missing the field for the Daytona 500 was our worst nightmare. Unfortunately it came true. It's the biggest race of the year, but you know what? They award just as many points next week at Rockingham. We'll be ready to go when we get there.''
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB