ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, August 17, 1996 TAG: 9608190045
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: BROOKLYN, MICH.
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
SOUTH BOSTON DRIVER Jeff Burton erases a bad memory by taking the top position for Sunday's GM Goodwrench 400.
Tears glistened in Jeff Burton's eyes last March in frigid Atlanta as he tried to explain to his new team how much it hurt to fail to qualify for the spring race there.
``I told everyone we were going to sit on a pole this year at someplace like Atlanta, and that Atlanta was a fluke,'' Burton said.
He made good on his promise Friday at Michigan International Speedway, winning the pole for Sunday's GM Goodwrench 400 with a speed of 185.395 mph in his Jack Roush-owned Ford Thunderbird.
``This is the same car that didn't make the race that day in Atlanta,'' Burton said. It was the first Winston Cup pole for the 29-year-old, third-year driver from South Boston.
Bobby Labonte, who won both races here last year, was second fastest in a Chevrolet Monte Carlo at 185.228 mph, followed by Mark Martin (185.219) in a Ford, Dick Trickle (185.138) in a Ford with his best effort this year and Bobby Hamilton (184.407) in a Pontiac Grand Prix.
Sterling Marlin (184.393) was sixth fastest in a Chevy, followed by Jeff Gordon (184.157) in a Chevy, Darrell Waltrip (183.852) in a Chevy, Lake Speed (183.833) in a Ford and Michael Waltrip (183.730) in a Ford .
Burton, the 1994 Winston Cup rookie of the year, still has no clue why he wasn't fast enough to make the field at Atlanta five months ago. He was second in points at the time, and the missed start dropped him to 14th. He's now 12th.
``We just didn't run fast enough,'' Burton said. ``To this day, I don't know why. But when you miss a race and you put your whole life into it, it's pretty disappointing. I had tears in my eyes. I pulled my team aside and said we were going to prove to ourselves and everybody else that we knew what we were doing and that Atlanta was a fluke.''
Burton knew why he went fast enough to win the pole here, but he wasn't telling.
``Today we did something a little bit different than we did the last time,'' he said. ``It's all about the chassis and how the car drives. Today, we were able to make the car drive like it did in practice. We normally lose a couple of tenths [of a second in qualifying]. Today, we gained a couple of tenths.''
But when asked what he and his team did to the car, Burton said, ``We're going to try to hold that to ourselves.''
Burton, because of past struggles, is not a big fan of qualifying.
``If you look at our whole year and say, `Where are they the weakest?' it's been qualifying,'' Burton said. His best effort before Friday was seventh at Talladega in July. ``I don't like qualifying. I qualify because they make us qualify.
``Qualifying is a very subtle thing,'' he said, noting only about half of a tenth of a second separated him from Trickle, who qualified fourth.
``I couldn't tell you if we ran a half of a tenth better or slower than he did,'' Burton said.
The drivers at the bottom end of the lineup were a full second slower than Burton, and they no doubt knew it.
Among other notables in qualifying, Dale Earnhardt was 16th, points leader Terry Labonte was 22nd, Ricky Rudd was 23rd, Burton's brother, Ward, was 24th, and Jim Sauter, driving for Kyle Petty, was 27th.
Jeremy Mayfield is on the bubble in the 38th starting spot for this morning's second round of time trials, starting at 10:30. Behind him are Greg Sacks, Jimmy Spencer, Ron Hornaday (in Dale Earnhardt's No.14 Chevy), Mike Wallace and Derrike Cope, who burned a piston on the track and failed to complete his run.
LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: South Boston's Jeff Burton climbs out of his car afterby CNBwinning the pole Friday for the GM Goodwrench 400 in Brooklyn,
Mich. KEYWORDS: AUTO RACING