ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, May 23, 1996 TAG: 9605230085
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CONCORD, N.C.
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
Jeff Gordon went with a proven winner Wednesday evening in Coca-Cola 600 qualifying at Charlotte Motor Speedway, and the move paid off handsomely.
Gordon drove a car from his fleet of Chevrolet Monte Carlos that had performed well at Charlotte in the past and won his third straight Coca-Cola 600 pole with a speed of 183.773 mph.
``I didn't think we were good enough for the pole tonight,'' Gordon said. ``But this is just a proven car that's been really good to us. For whatever reason, we try to duplicate this car time and time again and we can't. It's just awesome.''
Ricky Craven, still feeling a bit sore from his crash at Talladega almost four weeks ago, took the second spot with a lap of 182.877 mph. John Andretti was third fastest in a Ford Thunderbird (182.871), followed by Terry Labonte in a Chevy (182.469) and brother Bobby Labonte in a Chevy (182.395). (Qualifying in Scoreboard. B4.)
Also in the top 10 were Chad Little, a surprising sixth fastest in a Pontiac Grand Prix, Mark Martin and Michael Waltrip in Fords, Dick Trickle in a Ford and Lake Speed in a Ford.
Qualifying started at 7 p.m., when the sun was still shining on parts of the track, and ended at dusk. Gordon qualified about halfway through the session.
``I wouldn't have wanted to be any earlier, but I know if I go into [turns] 3 and 4, and the sun is not blasting me in the eyes, we're in a pretty good position where the sun will not affect us too much,'' Gordon said. ``I thought with Terry going late, he was going to have a shot at us. I really thought with what he drew and the way he'd been running in practice, he was going to be the guy to beat.''
Labonte, who qualified fifth from last, went on the track almost precisely at 8 p.m., with the sun setting magnificently behind the main grandstands. But he didn't have the speed.
``It wasn't quite as good in the center of the corner as I think we were in practice,'' Labonte said. ``I bobbled a little bit in the fourth turn and didn't get back in the throttle quick enough. I'm happy with it, but I thought I would have been at least second.''
The car that Gordon qualified was the first car his team hung a Monte Carlo body on when Chevrolet replaced the Lumina before the 1995 season. Among other accomplishments, it carried him to victory at Darlington earlier this year.
The subpar performance by the car he used Saturday night in The Winston Select prompted the switch to this one.
``We knew that [other car] wasn't the car we wanted to bring back here,'' Gordon said. ``This is the first car we ever put a Monte Carlo body on and it has been great ever since.''
There were two crashes during the qualifying session. Elton Sawyer bottomed out into turn 3, his car bobbled and he lost control, smacking the wall in turn 4. Sawyer was taken to Cabarrus Memorial Hospital for X-rays of his right ankle and rib cage. And Brett Bodine blew an engine and smacked the wall hard backwards between turns 3 and 4, but was unhurt.
Second-round qualifying is at 6 p.m. today, and at the moment, Morgan Shepherd has the 38th and final qualifying spot, trailed by Rusty Wallace, Randy MacDonald, Dave Marcis, Ted Musgrave, Ed Berrier, Hermie Sadler, Sawyer and Brett Bodine.
LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP Jeff Gordon (left) is congratulated by fellowby CNBdriver Ricky Craven after winning the pole for Sunday's Coca-Cola
600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Gordon had a speed of 183.773 mph.
color.