Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 26, 1995 TAG: 9503280021
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: D-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: DARLINGTON, S.C. LENGTH: Medium
Bodine's speed of 168.486 mph was more than a mile per hour faster than his Friday speed and would have given him the sixth starting spot if he had done it Friday. As it was, he moved from 29th to 21st.
``We duplicated the speed we ran in this morning's practice session and that was important to us,'' Bodine said. ``The biggest accomplishment was getting a pit box on the front straight.''
Lake Speed and Dale Earnhardt took the 22nd and 23rd starting spots and won the other frontstretch pit stalls, although Earnhardt's champion status guaranteed him any pit stall he wanted no matter how he did in qualifying.
``No matter how good a car you've got, if you are pitting on the back you're half a lap behind after a pit stop,'' Speed
said. ``I've been there with a good car and it's a frustrating day when you run up front, then pit, and come back out 24th or something and have to work your way back to the front again and again.''
Dale Jarrett and Geoff Bodine, who qualified 26th and 27th, were the most prominent drivers who failed to secure pits on the front straight.
Although 17 drivers took part in the second round, only two drivers - Kenny Wallace and Brad Teague - went home early.
Teague wasn't fast enough to make the 42-car field Saturday and Wallace was burned when he decided to stand on his Friday speed. Wallace was 34th fastest Friday, but he dropped to 40th when nearly everyone who requalified went faster.
Provisional starting spots went to Rick Mast and Mike Wallace, who also stood on their Friday speeds, as well as Dave Marcis and Loy Allen.
GIBBS HEALTHY: Joe Gibbs is happy to assure everyone that he's in good health and feels better than he has for years.
Gibbs has lost 45 pounds since leaving the NFL in 1992, and looks much thinner, particularly in his face.
That has prompted people to ask about his health. And the current issue of Speedway Scene suggests Gibbs is ``a shadow of his former self'' and may have ``encountered some serious health issues of late ...''
``I've never been healthier,'' Gibbs said here. ``I lost 45 pounds for a reason. I got my weight back down and I feel great.''
CHILDRESS' SAFARI: Richard Childress, Dale Earnhardt's car owner, will miss only his second Winston Cup race in more than 20 years at Sears Point in May to take an early winter safari in Africa.
``I want to see Africa in a different season,'' Childress said. ``I've only missed one race since 1973, and that was Rockingham in 1985 when I got hung up by the snow on a hunting trip in the Yukon. But I've got the company now where I feel if I can miss a race, it won't skip a beat.''
Childress said Earnhardt fully approves.
``He was the one who suggested it,'' Childress said.
by CNB