THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, May 20, 1995 TAG: 9505200514
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CONCORD, N.C. LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines
Bobby Labonte had to win the pole position for tonight's Winston Select on the track at Charlotte Motor Speedway, because his team sure didn't win it in the pits.
Labonte had a pole-winning average of 139.817 mph - the speed for three laps plus a two-tire pit stop. The speed was all the more impressive because Labonte's pit stop was 10th-fastest of the 15 drivers to qualify.
``He did it all himself on the race track,'' crew chief Jimmy Makar said. ``We had a lug nut hang up on the right rear (tire) and it took a little extra time - a second or so - to get it on. That's a big give up.''
For Labonte, a certain amount of ignorance was bliss in this qualifying session. He had never been in this type of a qualifying session. He joined the Winston Cup series after the advent of pit road speed limits, so he had never been down pit road at full speed.
So all Labonte did was go out and pull off the fastest lap, as well as the fastest pit road entry, of anyone in the session.
``I knew I was kinda behind the eight ball,'' Labonte said. ``But I thought this might play into my hands because I didn't know what to expect.
``I think I'm pretty lucky. I've never been down pit road that hard in my life. But it got stopped in time and I didn't hit anybody or anything. It really wasn't that bad of a lap on the track, either.''
Rusty Wallace, whose team had the fastest pit stop at 9.78 seconds, won the outside pole in his Ford with an average speed of 139.299 mph. Dale Jarrett will start third in another Ford after posting an average speed of 138.862 mph. Dale Earnhardt starts fourth in a Chevy at 138.841 mph, while Sterling Marlin is fifth, also in a Chevy, at 137.520 mph.
Also in the top 10 are Ricky Rudd in a Ford (137.434 mph), Jeff Gordon in a Chevy (137.337 mph), Mark Martin in a Ford (137.211 mph), Geoff Bodine in a Ford (136.701 mph) and Darrell Waltrip in a Chevy at 136.102 mph.
Labonte's pit stop was 11.88 seconds, but his first lap around this 1.5-mile speedway was 180.276 mph - the fastest of the night.
Actually, he's in this all-star race more or less by default, since he didn't win a race last year, which is the primary way to get in. But Dale Jarrett, who drove Labonte's Joe Gibbs-owned car last year, won the fall race here, so that's how Labonte qualified.
``I'm kinda here, but I'm kinda not supposed to be here,'' he said. ``They're really going to be mad at me now. I didn't win a race to get in, but that's what the rules say.''
Meanwhile, Michael Waltrip won the pole for the Winston Select Open with a speed of 180.108 mph in his Pontiac Grand Prix. Lake Speed took the outside pole in a Ford at 179.754 mph.
Thirty-six cars will start this preliminary event to The Winston Select. The top five finishers will qualify for the final five positions in the 20-car Winston Select field.
As in past years, the Winston Select will feature two 30-lap segments followed by a final 10-lap sprint. The field will be inverted after the first segment. by CNB