ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, July 21, 1996 TAG: 9607220112
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-11 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: LONG POND, PA.
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
MARK MARTIN'S fast lap of 168.410 earns him the pole for today's Miller 500.
It was a cold track on a chilly day, but Mark Martin put together one hot lap around Pocono International Raceway on Saturday morning to win the pole for today's Miller 500.
Martin's lap of 168.410 mph in his Ford Thunderbird was almost three-tenths of a second quicker than the lap of Morgan Shepherd, who was at 167.482 mph in another Ford.
``I guess it was a lucky lap,'' Martin said after capturing his second pole of the season. ``I felt like I left a little bit on the table in the corners. A lot of times I try to kill myself going through there.
``But I had real good RPMs in this cold weather. We were running pretty fast and I knew if I didn't choke in the corners, we would have a good starting spot.''
Shepherd, whose upswing continues with new crew chief Gere Kennon, secured his best starting spot of the year.
``Hey, everything seems to be going along in the right direction,'' Kennon said. ``Actually, there's not anything big you can put a finger on since we came together. We've changed a lot of little things, but all the ingredients were here.''
Bobby Labonte was third fastest at 167.479 mph in the quickest Chevrolet Monte Carlo, followed by Geoff Bodine at 166.957 mph in a Ford and Ward Burton at 166.945 mph in the fastest Pontiac Grand Prix.
Johnny Benson, who qualified Friday afternoon at 166.741 mph before rain postponed the first round of time trials, was sixth fastest, followed by Ricky Rudd in a Ford at 166.688 mph, Dale Earnhardt in a Chevrolet at 166.676 mph, Jeff Burton in a Ford at 166.673 mph and Derrike Cope at 166.645 mph in a Ford.
After the postponement of the first round, NASCAR canceled Saturday's scheduled second round. Provisional starting spots went to Robert Pressley, Hut Stricklin and Darrell Waltrip.
Stricklin was forced to take a provisional after crashing hard in the third turn during his qualifying run.
``I think the wall moved on me over there in turn 3,'' Stricklin said. ``I'm not really sure what happened. I got through turn 2 good and I was trying to make up for what I lost in turn 1 over in turn 3 and it just got away from me.
``I'm fine, just disappointed pretty bad.''
In the practice session that immediately followed qualifying, Dick Trickle crashed in the same turn. He was okay, but the team had to go to a backup car.
Martin was as upbeat has he has been all season.
``We had more competitive cars in the first half last year than we have had this year,'' he said. ``But the race team has managed to turn the corner on that and the results are starting to show.
``We have had a really strong showing the last five or six races and we're gaining momentum with every race. I believe we are due for some good luck and good fortune. Our equipment is reaching that level that it needs to be to be able to capitalize on some good fortune.''
The race, which starts at 1 p.m., will be televised live on WTBS.
LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines KEYWORDS: AUTO RACINGby CNB