ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, October 19, 1996 TAG: 9610210116
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: ROCKINGHAM, N.C.
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
If anyone forgot that it's still a three-way race for the 1996 NASCAR Winston Cup championship, Dale Jarrett reminded them Friday at North Carolina Motor Speedway.
Jarrett won the pole for Sunday's AC-Delco 400 with a lap of 157.194 mph in his Robert Yates Ford Thunderbird.
``I think it certainly shows them that we mean business,'' Jarrett said, referring to Jeff Gordon and Terry Labonte, the other two competitors for the national title.
``We're not going to be happy just finishing third. We just want them to know that we're here to race and we're going to to try to make this a three-way battle for the championship when time comes for [the final race of the year at] Atlanta.''
Jarrett had the benefit of a recent test here, which frequently gives a good driver enough of an edge to win the top starting spot. This was Jarrett's second pole this year, but only the third of his career.
``We came down here really prepared for qualifying because of the test last week,'' he said. ``That allowed us to come here ready. I ran two laps of practice this morning. We found out that what we came with was really the best setup. I got in as close to a perfect lap as I could get. Everything was pretty close to just what we wanted.''
Ricky Rudd was second fastest in another Ford at 156.683 mph. Gordon was third at 156.468 in the fastest Chevy. Mark Martin was fourth at 156.388 in a Ford, while Bobby Labonte was fifth at 155.982 in a Chevy.
John Andretti was sixth fastest in a Ford at 155.928 mph, followed by Robby Gordon at 155.849, Kenny Wallace in a Ford at 155.557, Ted Musgrave in a Ford at 155.544 and Todd Bodine in a Chevy at 155.458.
Among other qualifiers, Dale Earnhardt was 15th, Terry Labonte was 19th and Rusty Wallace was 25th.
At the other end of the lineup, at least seven drivers have a big battle on their hands to get into the race.
Ed Berrier was 38th fastest and currently holds the final qualifying spot. He was followed by Billy Standridge, Michael Waltrip, Ward Burton, Robert Pressley, Norm Benning, Johnny Benson and Terry Byers.
Benson crashed his Pontiac during his run. He was unhurt, but will have to try again today in a backup car.
The second round of time trials is at 9:30 a.m. today to determine starting positions 26-38 and the provisional starting spots.
Jarrett is currently 92 points behind Gordon, who leads Labonte by a single point.
``Obviously, we'd like to be in the lead by 92, but we're in a good position. We know what we have to do. We have to go try to win the race and finish as far in the front as we can, and hopefully that will gain some points. ''
Jarrett said he knows he can't win ``without something happening to them. And you probably couldn't have any tougher guys in front of you. I don't seem them failing because of any type of pressure. They may have their problems, but it will come from just racing hard.''
Tires will be the key to Sunday's race, he said.
``This race track is back to like it was before it was repaved,'' he said. ``The tires are going to go away in a hurry, and the key Sunday is going to be the guy who keeps his tires on the car the longest and whoever is fastest with those older tires, because they can become old after about 20 laps.''
LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshot) Jarrett KEYWORDS: AUTO RACINGby CNB