Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 5, 1995 TAG: 9503070077
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: D-9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: B0B ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
The weather at Richmond International Raceway this weekend not only has been cold and wet, it has been treacherous.
But as Winston Cup drivers slipped and slid around this three-quarter-mile track, sometimes pounding the wall, Jeff Gordon shrugged off the conditions and set a track record to win the pole for today's Pontiac Excitement 400.
Gordon, driving a new car with only a few practice laps under his belt, turned a lap of 124.757 mph to shatter Ted Musgrave's mark of 124.052 mph set in September. It was the second track record for Gordon in as many weeks.
``We had to step up to the plate,'' Gordon said. ``We didn't get very much practice. This is the first time we've ever been out on the track in the car. So far, it's got a pretty good track record.''
Bobby Hamilton also broke the track record with a lap of 124.252 mph to win the second starting spot, driving Richard Petty's Pontiac Grand Prix.
``We're really looking forward to the race because we really tested good on long runs,'' Hamilton told Pontiac's Brian Hoaglandsaid.
Rusty Wallace was third fastest, qualifying at 123.728 mph in a Ford, followed by Musgrave (123.706 mph) and Derrike Cope (123.547), also in Fords. The top 10 was completed by Ken Schrader (123.400) in a Chevy, Dick Trickle (123.395) in a Ford, Sterling Marlin (123.299) in a Chevy, Mark Martin (123.265) in a Ford and Lake Speed (123.260) in a Ford.
While Gordon and Hamilton were celebrating, Steve Grissom was packing his bags for an early trip home.
After starting the season with a seventh-place finish at Daytona and a sixth at Rockingham, which left him fifth in Winston Cup points, Grissom was 41st fastest in the single round of time trials Saturday and failed to make the 38-car field.
Grissom and Jimmy Hensley were the odd men out in qualifying as provisional starting positions went to Michael Waltrip, Steve Kinser, Randy LaJoie and Loy Allen Jr.
``Steve is down,'' said Buddy Parrott, his team manager Buddy Parrott told Chevy's Ray Cooper. ``That's part of it. Everybody on this team is down. You don't get too high with the highs, and you don't get too low with the lows. It's a long season.''
With temperatures in the 30s, drivers struggled to keep their cold tires stuck to the green track.
Rookie Davy Jones demolished his Ford in the first turn during his qualifying run and failed to make the race.
``I thought I could get a little heat in the tires on the first lap, but they were like concrete when I went into the corner,'' Jones saidtold Ford's Wayne Estes.
Todd Bodine and Dave Marcis spun on their warmup laps but still managed to qualify. Bobby Labonte hit the wall in turn 2 during practice, but his team repaired his car and he qualified 18th.
Some drivers were griping about the cold, but the conditions were the same for everybody.
``This is by no means any indication of who's good and who's not,'' Brett Bodine said. ``The weather played havoc on this deal today.''
Said Gordon, ``It was real easy to tear your car up out there because it's so cold. It was hard to get heat in your tires. The guy who could get as much heat in his tires as quick as he could was the guy who was going to have a quick lap.
``I didn't even think we were going to qualify today,'' he said. ``We just went out there and were running laps just trying to dry the track off. All of a sudden they said we were going to qualify in 45 minutes. So we just had to go out there and run one quick lap in practice.''
During qualifying, ``I just went out there and took it real easy on the first lap and went for it on the second lap,'' Gordon said. ``I drove it hard, but I drove it nice and smooth.''
The race, which starts at 1:15 p.m., will be shown live on TBS cable.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB