THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 5, 1995 TAG: 9503050163
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines
The weather at Richmond International Raceway this weekend has not only been cold and wet, it's been treacherous.
But while other drivers slipped and slid around the 3/4-mile track, sometimes pounding the wall, Jeff Gordon set a track record to win the pole for today's Pontiac Excitement 400.
Gordon, driving a new Chevrolet Monte Carlo with only a few practice laps under his belt, turned a lap of 124.757 mph to shatter Ted Musgrave's mark of 124.052, set last September. It was the second track record for Gordon in as many weeks.
``We had to step up to the plate,'' Gordon said. ``We didn't get very much practice. This is the first time we've ever been out on the track in the car. So far, it's got a pretty good track record.''
Bobby Hamilton also broke the track record with a lap of 124.252 mph to win the second starting spot in Richard Petty's Pontiac Grand Prix.
``We're really looking forward to the race because we really tested good on long runs,'' Hamilton told Pontiac's Brian Hoagland.
Rusty Wallace was third-fastest at 123.728 mph in a Ford, followed by Ted Musgrave at 123.706 and Derrike Cope at 123.547, also in Fords. The top 10 also included Ken Schrader in a Chevy at 123.400, Dick Trickle in a Ford at 123.395, Sterling Marlin in a Chevy at 123.299, Mark Martin in a Ford at 123.265 and Lake Speed in a Ford at 123.260.
While Gordon and Hamilton were celebrating, Steve Grissom was dejectedly packing his bags.
After starting the season with a seventh-place finish at Daytona and a sixth at Rockingham, which put him fifth in Winston Cup points, Grissom was only 41st-fastest in the single round of time trials and failed to make the 38-car field. Grissom and Jimmy Hensley were the odd men out in qualifying as provisional starting positions went to Michael Waltrip, Steve Kinser, Randy LaJoie and Loy Allen.
``Steve is down,'' team manager Buddy Parrott told Chevy's Ray Cooper. ``That's part of it. Everybody on this team is down. You don't get too high with the highs and you don't get too low with the lows. It's a long season.''
With temperatures in the 30s, drivers struggled to keep their cold tires stuck to the green track.
Rookie Davy Jones demolished his Ford in the first turn during his qualifying run and failed to make the race.
``I thought I could get a little heat in the tires on the first lap, but they were like concrete when I went into the corner,'' Jones told Ford's Wayne Estes.
Todd Bodine and Dave Marcis spun on their warmup laps but managed to qualify. And Bobby Labonte hit the second-turn wall in practice, but his team repaired his car and he qualified a respectable 18th.
Some drivers were griping about the cold.
``This is by no means any indication of who's good and who's not,'' Brett Bodine told Estes. ``The weather played havoc on this deal today.''
Said Gordon, ``It was real easy to tear your car up out there because it's so cold. It was hard to get heat in your tires. The guy who could get as much heat in his tires as quick as he could was the guy who was going to have a quick lap.
``I didn't even think we were going to qualify today. We just went out there and were running laps just trying to dry to the track off. All of a sudden they said we were going to qualify in 45 minutes. So we just had to go out there and run one quick lap in practice.''
During qualifying, ``I just went out there and took it real easy on the first lap and went for it on the second lap,'' Gordon said. ``I drove it hard, but I drove it nice and smooth.'' by CNB