ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, May 4, 1996 TAG: 9605060126
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: SONOMA, CALIF.
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
There's a new Sears Point star emerging from among the oval track stars in the NASCAR Winston Cup series.
Terry Labonte beat Ricky Rudd and the other traditional fast runners at Sears Point International Raceway on Friday to win the pole for Sunday's Save Mart 300. (Qualifying in Scoreboard. B5)
Labonte reached 92.524 miles per hour in his Chevrolet Monte Carlo on his lap around this tight, twisting, 12-turn road course in northern California's wine country.
Rudd was second quick at 92.189 mph in a Ford Thunderbird, followed by Ron Hornaday, Jr., at 92.161 mph in Ricky Craven's Chevy. Mark Martin was fourth fastest at 92.138 in a Ford, followed by defending champion Dale Earnhardt at 92.075 in a Chevy.
``It was faster than I expected,'' Labonte said. ``That's a lot faster than we practiced. And to tell you the truth, it kind of surprised me.''
Labonte already is an accomplished road racer. He's won two poles at Watkins Glen and a couple of races at Riverside. But he hasn't won here. And Friday's run gave him his first pole on the 2.52-mile course.
``I've come close before, but I've never won one here before,'' he said.
``Ricky has knocked me off the pole here a few times, so it's nice to finally win one.''
Labonte said he wasn't sure what he could run because when he came into turn two during his full-out mock qualifying run during practice, another car was sideways and ``that messed up our lap.''
Labonte said he messed up turn two a bit, ``but the rest of the track I felt like I was pretty fair on. I guess if you mess up one corner on a long course, that's not too bad. There's so many places you can either make a mistake or make up a little time.
``But it's a course you can't make too many mistakes on because the runoff areas are not racer friendly.''
Also in the top 10 were Jeff Gordon, who qualified sixth in his Chevy at 91.942, followed by Rusty Wallace at 91.761 in a Ford, Kyle Petty at 91.750 in the fastest Pontiac Grand Prix, Joe Nemechek at 91.656 in a Chevy and Wally Dallenbach at 91.628 in a Ford.
Hornaday held the pole for much of the qualifying session. He's filling in for Craven, who is recovering from a cracked vertebra and bruised lungs suffered in his bad crash at Talladega.
Ernie Irvan, making his first return to Sears Point in two years, where he won his last Winston Cup points race, qualified 18th.
``We made it back,'' he said. ``That's the main thing. Sears Point is a tough place and I'm just getting acquainted with it again. There's a lot more there, but it's all about getting me more acquainted with the race track.''
Fifty cars will make qualifying runs today, vying for 38 regular starting spots.
LENGTH: Medium: 59 lines KEYWORDS: AUTO RACINGby CNB