ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, April 26, 1997 TAG: 9704280058
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: TALLADEGA, ALA.
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER THE ROANOKE TIMES
John Andrett could rest easy in the pole position, but not until after Bobby Hillin gave him a scare.
John Andretti was already celebrating his first pole position of the year when the last driver, Bobby Hillin, was on the track in Winston 500 pole qualifying Friday at Talladega Superspeedway.
But someone forgot to tell Hillin to lay low.
Hillin nearly unseated Andretti, but came up about three-tenths of a mile per hour short. Andretti reached 193.627 mph in his Ford Thunderbird, while Hillin was second at 193.271 mph in his Ford.
``It was a pretty anxious moment there at the end,'' Andretti said. ``I didn't want to lose the pole to the last guy. It was pretty tough because we already felt like at that point that we had it.''
Dale Earnhardt qualified third at 192.699 mph and said, ``We've got a good starting spot. If we can keep all four wheels on the track Sunday, we'll be in good shape.''
Rusty Wallace qualified fourth at 192.397 mph, followed by Mike Skinner at 192.343 mph.
Also in the top 10 were Ken Schrader (192.293 mph), Ernie Irvan (192.023), Bobby Labonte (191.704), Dale Jarrett in a Ford (191.574) and Bill Elliott (191.489). (Top 25 qualifiers. B4)
Elliott was the fastest in practice Friday and was the only driver to exceed 193 mph. But he went backward when it counted.
``We were hoping we would pick up a little more, that's kind of the way it is,'' he said. ``You throw everything you can at it. It depends on how the air is and everything else, but we gave it a good run.''
For Andretti, who was fifth fastest in practice, the Talladega pole was his second in the Winston Cup series. His first came in the 1995 Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.
``The lap wasn't as exciting as I thought it would be,'' Andretti said. ``I just didn't know it was going to be that quick. It was a much better lap than we anticipated.''
When Andretti ran, only six other drivers were left. So he didn't have to wait long. But the last two minutes of the wait
were excruciating.
The first lap of Hillin's two-lap qualifying run was less than three-tenths of a second slower than Andretti. Because most drivers tend to pick up several tenths on the second lap, it appeared Hillin might be the fastest. But he came up short by less than a 10th of a second.
``Last year, we missed the show, so it's a great testament to Jasper and our engine program and all the guys
back at the engine shop and to this race team,'' Hillin said .
The second round of time trials, scheduled for noon today, could be interesting. Several good drivers are outside the top 38.
Ted Musgrave is 38th fastest, followed by Chad Little, Gary Bradberry, Joe Nemechek, Darrell Waltrip, Phil Barkdoll, Jeff Burton, Billy Standridge, Jeremy Mayfield, Morgan Shepherd, Ed Berrier and Mike Wallace.
Burton, who won his first race at Texas earlier this month, was plagued not only by sickness, but by NASCAR inspectors.
Burton's team had to make major modifications to his car before it passed NASCAR pre-qualifying inspection, including adding a thick layer of a bonding compound all the way across the roof just ahead of the rear window so the car would fit the roof template.
LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshot) Andretti. color.by CNB