ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, September 22, 1996 TAG: 9609240037
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-12 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: MARTINSVILLE NOTES
DATELINE: MARTINSVILLE
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
For several NASCAR Winston Cup drivers, there was no dodging the bullet in the brutal second round of time trials for today's Hanes 500 at Martinsville Speedway.
Derrike Cope, Brett Bodine and Ward Burton all failed to make today's event, as did lesser-known Billy Standridge and Gary Bradberry and Grand National regular Chad Little.
Bodine stormed off in a fury of disappointment after failing to make the race, and Cope was nowhere to be seen once the session ended.
But Burton, who will miss his third race of the year driving the Bill Davis-owned MBNA Pontiac Grand Prix, did a good job of expressing his dejection.
``It's just so darn tight here,'' he said. ``Yesterday, if I could have gotten a tenth of a second [faster], it would have put us in the top 25. And that tenth of a second feels like 10 seconds to me in the race car. You can feel a tenth of a second here.''
With a few exceptions, most notably his pole-winning run at Darlington in April, Burton has had trouble earning good starting positions this season.
``We just have not been able to do it on a consistent basis,'' he said.
``We've been having trouble qualifying even at places where we run good in the race. It takes us to happy hour [the final Winston Cup practice] to get a good setup under the car.''
Michael Waltrip and Joe Nemechek pulled themselves out of holes they dug in Friday's first round of qualifying. Waltrip, who was 39th fastest on Friday, advanced to the 26th starting spot after leading the second round with a lap of 93.111 mph. That would have been good for the 13th starting spot had he cut that lap Friday. Nemechek, 40th fastest Friday, qualified 27th with a lap of 93.006.
Dave Marcis earned the 32nd and last starting spot, while provisional starting positions went to Ricky Rudd (33rd fastest), Sterling Marlin (34th), Ricky Craven (35th), and Jimmy Spencer (37th).
Pontiac driver Bobby Hamilton won the pole Friday with a lap of 94.120 mph.
In other auto racing news:
WALTRIP CAUGHT: Although he qualified second for Saturday's Hanes 250 NASCAR truck race, Darrell Waltrip was bumped to the back of the field after NASCAR officials found problems with his setup.
Waltrip's truck was found to have fuel that did not meet NASCAR's specifications. NASCAR did not elaborate.
Waltrip's crew chief, Jeff Hammond, was fined $2,500 and Waltrip had to start last. But he moved through the field in Saturday's race and finished fifth.
A STATISTICAL ROUT: Jeff Gordon may have but a 76-point lead over Terry Labonte in the battle for the Winston Cup championship, but he's killing everyone in some of the sport's key statistical categories.
As of today's race, Gordon has led 1,900 laps. The next closest competitor, Rusty Wallace, has led 886 laps.
Gordon also has led more than twice as many miles as anyone else. He has been in front for 2,075 miles. Labonte is second in that category, having led 916 miles. Gordon has put his Chevrolet Monte Carlo in front in 20 of the season's 25 races.
LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines KEYWORDS: AUTO RACINGby CNB