THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, February 17, 1995 TAG: 9502170654
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. LENGTH: Long : 124 lines
If it's Thursday during NASCAR Speedweeks at Daytona International Speedway, look for Dale Earnhardt in Victory Lane.
For the sixth year in a row, Earnhardt won his Twin 125 qualifying race at the 2.5-mile superspeedway, cruising under the checkered flag in his Chevrolet Monte Carlo a couple car lengths ahead of Jeff Gordon.
Defending Daytona 500 champion Sterling Marlin won the other qualifying race, leading 44 of the 50 laps in his Monte Carlo before beating Darrell Waltrip by 0.41 seconds.
It was Marlin's first victory in the Twin 125s. But Earnhardt has won eight of them. In all, he's won 25 races at Daytona. Of course, he has never won the 500. But the way his car was handling Thursday, he's obviously a favorite, once again, to win the race he most wants to win.
``I've just got to be there all day Sunday - 500 miles instead of 499,'' he said. ``We're looking forward to Sunday. Just laid back - and saving the luck.''
Earnhardt led 28 of the 50 laps in the second of the two qualifying races, including the final 15 circuits. On the final lap, nobody was able to challenge him.
In fact, even before Earnhardt crossed the finish line, Gordon conceded, telling his crew on the radio: ``Couldn't get him. Man, I tell you, I couldn't get him loose. I was all over him.''
Said Earnhardt, ``It wasn't that easy of a drive. It was a competitive race. We had to come back by several cars there. And then having Jeff behind you (and) not knowing when he was going to try to draft by you. . . .''
But on the last lap, ``I felt like if I could keep him behind me through (turns) one and two and down the back straight, I felt confident I could beat him in three and four,'' Earnhardt said.
``Earnhardt is good,'' Gordon told reporters, ``but the only reason he was good was because we couldn't get around him. I think that 4 car (driven by Marlin) is going to be the one to beat. He's fast, but he's handling good, too.''
Mark Martin finished third behind Earnhardt and Gordon in the second race. Todd Bodine was fourth and Bill Elliott fifth.
Marlin was unchallenged on the last lap of his race, too, and was more dominant in his event than Earnhardt was in his.
``We've got one fast hot rod here,'' he said. ``The car runs great in the draft. It never bobbled.''
Daytona 500 pole winner Dale Jarrett was third behind Marlin and Waltrip in the first race, followed by Rusty Wallace and Ken Schrader.
For Marlin, the real test started on lap 39, when the race resumed after a caution for Bobby Hillin's spin in turn two. Marlin and most of the leaders had pitted, but seven cars had stayed on the track, relegating Marlin to eighth.
In less than two laps, Marlin retook the lead.
``We didn't have any problem making it back up to the front,'' he said. ``The boys work hard on the car and in the motor shop. That's what makes it look easy out there.''
But crew chief Tony Glover said the team still has some work to do.
``Well, right now we're not 100 percent,'' he told a track reporter. ``We've got some slight problems we're going to have to work on for the 500-mile race. We've still got a couple of days to adjust on it, and there's a few things on my mind that we want to do to it.
``I hope by Sunday it will be an even better race car than it was today.''
For the new Monte Carlos, Thursday was a twin victory. In fact, Chevys were first and second in both races.
And no one here this week has been more ecstatic about his new Monte Carlos than Waltrip, who was delighted with his finish.
``The Monte Carlo is good, and that's all we needed - something equal to those (Ford) Thunderbirds,'' he said.
As for Marlin, Waltrip said, ``I was better through the corners than he was, but I couldn't catch him. He was better down the straightaways.''
Jarrett, the pole winner for Sunday's race, was a bit of a disappointment. He led the first lap of the first 125, but that was the only lap he led. He faded back as far as 10th in the early laps.
``When they went by me the first of the race, it didn't look like anyone wanted to play with the 28 car,'' he said. ``I just wanted to settle in a spot and make sure I knew what the car was going to do and we were able to learn some things. We're going to have to figure out something here (today) and Saturday to deal with them.''
The biggest loser of the day was Jimmy Spencer. Only seven months ago, he went to Victory Lane here in the Pepsi 400. On Thursday, he went home, having failed to qualify for the biggest race of the year.
If you listen to Billy Standridge, it was Spencer's own fault.
Spencer, Standridge and Loy Allen tangled in the tri-oval on the 14th lap of the second race, knocking all of them out of the event.
Spencer ``probably lacked 3 or 4 feet from clearing me and pulled up hard, and that stuck his front end right into the wall,'' Standridge said. ``I don't know what he was thinking about. His spotter didn't help him or something.''
Spencer stayed in the lounge of his hauler after returning to the garage and was not available for interviews. A team member hastily scribbled `Do Not Disturb'' on the door.
But Spencer told team publicist Rob Goodman: ``Obviously we're extremely disappointed. Missing the field for the Daytona 500 was our worst nightmare. Unfortunately, it came true.''
Besides the three-car crash involving Spencer, four cars tangled on the backstretch on lap 42 of the second race when Chad Little hit the wall in the tri-oval. No one was hurt in any of the incidents.
Spencer was the biggest name to miss the 500. Others drivers who failed to make Sunday's race included Little, Greg Sacks, James Hylton, Mike Chase, Bobby Hillin, Kenny Wallace, Shawna Robinson, Kerry Teague, Delma Cowart, Ken Bouchard and Ritchie Petty. MEMO: Staff writer Denise Michaux contributed to this report.
ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Dale Earnhardt's Twin 125 victory was his sixth in a row and eighth
overall. He has won 25 races at Daytona but never the big one, the
500.
Photos
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Chad Little rubs the wall in the tri-oval during the second Twin 125
qualifying race as Ricky Rudd drives by unscathed.
``We've got one fast hot rod here,'' Sterling Marlin said after
winning his race.
by CNB