THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 2, 1994 TAG: 9410020187
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines
Even though Dale Jarrett was only 33rd fastest in pole qualifying Friday for today's Holly Farms 400 at North Wilkesboro Speedway, he and his team wasted little time making their decision to skip Saturday's second round of time trials.
``We won't go again,'' he told Chevy's Ray Cooper on Friday. ``We don't have any tires left, and the second day (of qualifying) is a little slower here.
``We'll just have to wait and see what happens.''
What happened was that Jarrett failed to make today's race. The track, in fact, was faster Saturday. It was Jarrett's first DNQ (did not qualify) of 1994.
Jarrett's failure to qualify was the biggest shock in an unexpectedly dramatic second round of time trials Saturday at this 5/8-mile short track.
If there was a saving grace for Jarrett, it was that Todd Bodine, one spot behind at 19th in the championship standings and only 48 points behind, also didn't make the field. Like Jarrett, Bodine had qualified for every 1994 race until this one.
Assuming that the track would be slower Saturday, everyone who was 34th or faster stood on their Friday times, expecting to make the 34-car field. The only drivers who requalified were those who were destined to go home if they didn't try again.
Ward Burton, 39th fastest after Friday's session, jumped to 21st with a lap of 118.321 mph, which would have put him in fourth had he made the same lap Friday.
``The best word for it is relief,'' he said.
Harry Gant, who went from 37th to 23rd, had the same feeling.
``Man, you don't know how much of a relief that was,'' he told a track reporter. ``That would have made it awful tough on things Monday if I hadn't been in the field.'' Monday is Harry Gant Day in his hometown of Taylorsville, N.C.
Gant had a backup plan if he didn't make it. He was going to try to buy Kyle Petty's ride from relief driver Jimmy Hensley.
Besides Jarrett and Wallace, the others who didn't make it were Mike Wallace, Loy Allen and Tim Fedewa. The provisional starting spots went to Lake Speed, who dropped from 32nd to 35th, and Morgan Shepherd, who went from 34th to 39th.
DILLON'S LATE MODEL WIN: Mike Dillon, son-in-law of Winston Cup car owner Richard Childress, led the final 116 laps to win the Lowe's 150 late model stock car race Saturday.
Scott Kilby was second, followed by Dennis Setzer, Barry Beggarly and Max Prestwood, Jr.
Dillon, 29, of Clemmons, N.C., won the pole, but outside pole winner Beggarly passed him on the first lap and led until lap 36.
All three Earnhardts who tried - Dale Jr., Kerry and Kelley - failed to make the race.
THE PERFECT RACE: Two years ago, Geoff Bodine drove a race here that was the NASCAR equivalent of baseball's perfect game.
The 1992 Holly Farms 400 ran from green flag to checkered without a caution period. It was two hours, 19 minutes and 43 seconds of non-stop racing, with Bodine in front most of the way.
``That was an interesting race,'' Bodine said Friday while preparing for today's 400. ``The car was so good and there were no cautions. It wasn't until five laps to go I said anything in the radio. I asked where Mark (Martin) was. I just drove, never talked. That's the only race I've ever done that in.
``You're thinking as you're going, `Boy, the race fans are going to be bored with this.' But the way the car went and the way I drove, I was thinking during the race, `I hope race fans are watching. Because this is like ballet.' ''
A caution-free race is a rarity in modern NASCAR racing.
Records are incomplete from the old days, and sometimes a non-stop race shouldn't have been, such as the 1963 Southern 500. That race was run without a yellow, even though Billy Wade suffered facial cuts in a three-car crash on the backstretch on lap 59. Seems there was lack of communication between NASCAR spotters and the flagman.
But since 1972, there have been only six flag-to-flag races - two at Riverside, two at Michigan, one at Texas World Speedway and the one here. Before Bodine's non-stop victory, the most recent caution-free race was Darrell Waltrip's victory at Michigan in August 1984. by CNB