THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 26, 1995 TAG: 9503260397
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: DARLINGTON, S.C. LENGTH: Medium: 58 lines
Brett Bodine led a busy second round of time trials for today's TranSouth 400 at Darlington Raceway as drivers battled for the three remaining pit stalls on the frontstretch.
Bodine's speed of 168.486 mph was more than a mile per hour faster than his Friday speed and would have given him the sixth starting spot had he done it Friday. As it was, he moved from 29th to 21st.
``We duplicated the speed we ran in this morning's practice session, and that was important to us,'' Bodine said. ``The biggest accomplishment was getting a pit box on the front straight.''
Lake Speed and Dale Earnhardt took the 22nd and 23rd starting spots and won the other frontstretch pit stalls, although Earnhardt's champion status guaranteed him any pit stall he wanted no matter how he did in qualifying.
``No matter how good a car you've got, if you are pitting on the back, you're half a lap behind after a pit stop,'' Speed said. ``I've been there with a good car and it's a frustrating day when you run up front, then pit, and come back out 24th or something and have to work your way back to the front again and again.''
Dale Jarrett and Geoff Bodine, who qualified 26th- and 27th-fastest, were the most prominent drivers who failed to secure pits on the front straight.
Although 17 drivers took part in the second round of qualifying, only two - Kenny Wallace and Brad Teague - went home early.
Teague wasn't fast enough to make the 42-car field Saturday, and Wallace was burned when he decided to stand on his Friday speed. Wallace was 34th-fastest Friday, but he dropped to 40th when nearly everyone who requalified went faster.
Provisional starting spots went to Rick Mast and Mike Wallace, who also stood on their Friday speeds, as well as to Dave Marcis and Loy Allen.
GIBBS' HEALTH: Former Washington Redskins coach Joe Gibbs is happy to assure everyone that he's in good health and feels better than he has for years.
Gibbs, owner of the No. 18 Interstate Batteries team, has lost 45 pounds since leaving the NFL in 1992.
That has prompted people to ask about his health. And the current issue of Speedway Scene suggests that Gibbs is ``a shadow of his former self'' and may have ``encountered some serious health issues of late.''
``I've never been healthier,'' Gibbs said. ``I lost 45 pounds for a reason. I got my weight back down and I feel great.''
CHILDRESS' SAFARI: Richard Childress, Dale Earnhardt's car owner, will miss the Sears Point race in May to take a safari in Africa.
``I want to see Africa in a different season,'' Childress said. ``I've only missed one race since 1973, and that was Rockingham in 1985, when I got hung up by the snow on a hunting trip in the Yukon. But I've got the company now where I feel if I can miss a race, it won't skip a beat.''
Childress said Earnhardt fully approves.
``He was the one who suggested it,'' Childress said. by CNB