ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, April 20, 1996 TAG: 9604220099
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: MARTINSVILLE
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
Ricky Craven, who won the pole for Sunday's Goody's 500 at Martinsville Speedway, has a theory about golf and stock car drivers.
``My theory on that is that if you do a lot of golfing, your racing is not going real good,'' he said.
Craven is currently fourth in Winston Cup points after four top-10 finishes in seven races. His speed of 93.079 mph in the first round of qualifying Friday was fast enough to give him his first Winston Cup pole. And he has barely hit a golf ball this year.
``The most enjoyable place for me to be now is at the Winston Cup shop or around the guys,'' said the driver of the No.41 Larry Hedrick Chevrolet.
The winner of the ninth starting spot was local short-track driver Stacy Compton, making his first attempt in a Winston Cup race. Compton reached 92.833 mph in a Chevrolet purchased from A.G. Dillard, who was Ward Burton's car owner last year.
``It feels like we've won the Daytona 500,'' Compton said. ``I just wanted to get into the event. I kept telling the guys I didn't feel any pressure, but when I got on the grid to qualify and Derrike Cope was in front of me and Joe Nemechek was beside me, I thought my heart was going to jump out.''
Compton, who tested extensively here, plans to try to run about five Winston Cup races this year.
Kyle Petty was second fastest in a Pontiac Grand Prix at 93.010 mph, followed by Ford drivers Bill Elliott at 92.997, Mark Martin at 92.937 and Rusty Wallace at 92.901.
Craven's first pole was not entirely unexpected, given his performance so far this season. Nonetheless, it was a nerve-racking experience.
Craven was the fifth of 43 drivers to qualify. So he had to wait for nearly everyone else to make their runs before celebrating. And two of the last three drivers were Terry Labonte and Martin, both experienced at the art of winning poles.
``I'd rather make 500 laps here than have to go through that again,'' he said. ``That was torture. That was killing me.
``We got past Kyle. I knew Kyle was good. And I said, `Man, this is for real.' But two of the last three cars were Terry Labonte and Mark Martin. Man, that was killing me.''
As for the run itself, Craven said he applied the Martinsville tactic of less is more.
``I gave up a little on the first lap trying too hard,'' he said, ``and I just disciplined myself to be easier on the second lap. But we just barely beat them.''
There were a couple of notable performances in the bottom half of the top 10.
Ken Schrader qualified sixth at 92.883 mph in his backup car after crunching his primary car against the first turn wall early in the morning practice session.
``A part fell off the car and we ran over it,'' he said. ``I'm not hurt, but I know I've made a sudden stop recently.''
Labonte qualified seventh at 92.874 mph, followed by Dale Earnhardt at 92.846 mph. Bobby Labonte was 10th at 92.774.
At the other end of the lineup, a large group of drivers will have to make the tough decision of whether to requalify in the second round of time trials at 1 p.m. today.
Those who are outside the top 32, in order, are: Kenny Wallace, Ted Musgrave, Ernie Irvan, Elton Sawyer, Wally Dallenbach, Bobby Hillin, Dick Trickle, Robert Pressley, Steve Grissom, Randy MacDonald and Hut Stricklin.
Of those drivers, Musgrave, Irvan, Pressley and Wallace are at the head of the line for the four provisional starting spots.
But Craven has been having such a great year thus far, he hasn't had to worry about qualifying.
``If somebody asked me to write a book about the life of a race car driver, it would be 1996 for me,'' Craven said. ``I've got to admit, I underestimated our potential a little bit. But we've still got a long way to go.''
LENGTH: Medium: 80 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: DON PETERSEN/Staff. Ricky Craven is all smiles afterby CNBwinning his first Winston Cup pole position Friday at Martinsville.
color. KEYWORDS: AUTO RACING