THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, June 4, 1994 TAG: 9406040373
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: 940604 LENGTH: DOVER, DEL.
Irvan's Ford Thunderbird, riding Goodyear tires, circled Dover Downs International Speedway at a record 151.956 mph to win the top starting spot for Sunday's Budweiser 500.
{REST} Geoff Bodine was second-fastest in a Hoosier-shod Ford at 151.745 mph, which also was quicker than the previous track record, 151.541, set by Irvan last year.
Joe Nemechek, also on Hoosier tires, was third-fastest at 151.426 mph in a Chevrolet Lumina, followed by Bobby Labonte in a Pontiac Grand Prix on Goodyears at 150.276 and Bill Elliott, in a Ford, also on Goodyears, at 149.881.
Also in the top 10, all on Goodyears, were Rusty Wallace in a Ford at 149.694 mph, Ted Musgrave in a Ford at 149.384, Bobby Hamilton in a Pontiac at 149.322, Morgan Shepherd in a Ford at 149.297 and Jimmy Hensley in a Ford at 149.229.
``I don't know if it felt good or it felt bad, but it was fast,'' Irvan said. ``When you go out and qualify at a place like this, which is so fast and edgy, when you drive into turn three before you get the green, that's when you know how good your lap is going to be. And that's when I knew what I could do with the car because it stuck real good.''
Irvan's quick lap was nothing unusual for him this year. He has started in the top 10 in all but two races in 1994; his worst starting position has been a 14th at Charlotte last weekend. Both he and defending series champion Dale Earnhardt have three victories apiece.
But Irvan downplayed the notion that he's the top dog.
``It's easy to write that stuff, but it's hard to do,'' he said. ``Dale's been having a good year and I'm having a good year. Beyond that, nobody is really having a good year.
``It would be hard to have any more confidence than I have with this race team right now. Every race track we go to we're confident we can go there and be competitive. Today when we unloaded off the truck we weren't one of the better cars. We had to work on it and get it dialed in.
``So this just gives me more confidence, being able to come here 15th- or 20th-fastest in practice and be able to come back and be the fastest in qualifying.''
Earnhardt, by the way, qualified 14th.
While Irvan was cruising through the afternoon, Mark Martin was having nothing but trouble.
Just before qualifying, he had a small oil fire in his Ford. After his crew cleaned up the mess, he took his lap and was only 26th-fastest.
All he had to say was: ``We just didn't qualify well.''
Friday, after all, was simply a continuation of Martin's bad luck. After crashing in both The Winston Select and the Coca-Cola 600, he took a car to Pocono on Thursday for a test and destroyed it against the third-turn wall after only 12 laps.
``He hit the curb, the car jumped sideways, hit the wall and knocked both ends off it,'' crew chief Steve Hmiel said. ``Killed it.''
So Martin and his team had to come to Dover without a backup car, although car owner Jack Roush can give him Ted Musgrave's backup if something bad happens today.
Coca-Cola 600 winner Jeff Gordon and Jimmy Spencer both lightly tapped the wall during their qualifying runs and ended up 41st- and 42nd-fastest in qualifying. And Michael Waltrip, after crashing in practice, did not attempt to qualify.
But there are only 43 drivers vying for the 40 starting spots and two provisionals for this race, so it appears nearly everyone will qualify for Sunday's 500-mile, 500-lap race.
The second round of time trials is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. today. by CNB