THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, August 6, 1994 TAG: 9408060343
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: INDIANAPOLIS LENGTH: Long : 108 lines
In a year of tense second-round qualifying sessions for NASCAR Winston Cup races, Friday's final time trial for the Brickyard 400 was the most dramatic of all, with four-time Indianapolis 500 winner A.J. Foyt, Jr. stealing the show.
Foyt was on the bubble - and survived. The only man to compete in the 50th and 75th 500s will start the first NASCAR race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 40th position.
1985 Indy 500 champion Danny Sullivan, ignoring the knot in his stomach, drove one of the laps of his life to make it. He qualified 26th.
Wally Dallenbach, Jr., who spent the Mays of his boyhood watching his father compete here, cast aside this year's qualifying woes, recovered from a blown engine Thursday and captured the 22nd starting spot.
Terry Labonte was the quickest in the second round, reaching 170.046 mph - the only driver to top 170 mph - to qualify 21st.
Four drivers, including Loy Allen and Stan Fox, drove their cars over the limit and crashed.
And for 32 other drivers, including Dick Trickle, Steve Grissom, Mike Wallace, Robert Pressley, Tim Steele, Davy Jones, Joe Ruttman and Gary Bettenhausen, the day ended in crushing disappointment. All were too slow to make the race.
But no one provided more excitement than Foyt, that 59-year-old racing legend from Houston, Texas, who was 45th fastest after Thursday's first round.
Could a man who has won Indy and Daytona and LeMans in a career unmatched in American auto racing history actually have butterflies about a qualifying session?
``I was nervous as hell,'' Foyt said after a lap of 168.596 mph. ``I should have stood on it a little harder, I guess. I was just trying to get it close and not screw up. It's just a hell of an honor to be in this race.''
Foyt then capped it off with one of those quotes-of-the-day that have helped make him so popular here.
A track announcer mentioned: ``I know your wife isn't happy about this ... ''
``My girlfriend is, so who cares?'' Foyt said.
In the trackside press room, he gave one of the worst interviews of his life. ``They kept wanting to talk and I was trying to listen to qualifying.'' he said. ``I just didn't want to be bumped out of this thing.''
Sullivan, who was 39th-quickest Thursday, also felt the pressure that only Indy can dish out.
``I gotta say, this was as tense as it gets,'' Sullivan said after his lap of 169.214 mph. ``But Indy has that special feeling. There's a mystique here. Qualifying here is never easy. It's always a drama. It will take me awhile to get my heart settled down here.''
Dallenbach, however, said he was actually less nervous Friday than Thursday. But after his aborted first-round run, when he blew an engine, his face was a picture of dejection.
Dallenbach and his team knew they had squandered a terrific opportunity. They were 84th in the first-round qualifying draw and had an evening run. And since the order was reversed for the second round, they knew they would be among the first to go Friday when the time trials started at 3 p.m. in the heat of the day.
``Last night was a real long night,'' he said.
Friday dawned cloudy and cool here, but by 3 p.m., the clouds were breaking and it was heating up.
Dallenbach, however, got lucky. At 3:04 p.m., when he pulled onto the track, a cloud obscured the sun.
``We've had so much bad luck, we had to have some good luck eventually,'' he said.
Dallenbach wasn't as nervous Friday as he was Thursday because he had some of his best practice laps on Friday morning.
``I felt it was going to be a good lap,'' he said. ``I gave it pretty much all I had there.'' He ran 169.962 mph to qualify 22nd.
At 4 p.m., about an hour after Dallenbach's run, the tension started to show on the track.
Robert Sprague took the green flag and then lost it in turn one. He did a half-spin and pancaked the turn one wall on the driver's side. He was taken to Methodist Hospital with a concussion.
There Sprague joined Ben Hess, who had a similar accident in turn two during morning practice and also suffered a concussion. Hess was to be held in the intensive care unit of the hospital overnight.
About 15 minutes after Sprague's crash, Lance Wade lost it in turn three and did two complete spins without hitting anything. But his weekend was over.
Immediately after Wade's ruined run, Stan Fox pounded the turn four wall even before taking the green flag.
And at 4:43 p.m., Loy Allen lost it in turn two, spun down the backstretch and hit the inside wall, ending his attempt.
Harry Gant and Lake Speed failed to qualify, but they got the two regular provisional starting spots for the race. Mike Chase, the Winston West points leader, also got a provisional, completing the 43-car field that will start the race at 1:15 p.m. EDT today. ILLUSTRATION: Associated Press
A.J. Foyt, Jr., right, is congratulated by Carl Haas, owner of Geoff
Brabham's car, congratulates Foyt after the veteran driver qualified
for the Brickyard 400 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
A throng of fans looks on as Kyle Petty's car is waved onto the
track Friday during the final qualifying session for the Brickyard
400.
THE INAUGURAL BRICKYARD 400
[For a copy of the chart, see microfilm for this date.]
by CNB