THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, August 5, 1995 TAG: 9508050453
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: INDIANAPOLIS LENGTH: Long : 110 lines
As dawn breaks this morning on race day for the second Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the question of who will win the race is overshadowed by another question: Will there be a race today?
The remnants of Hurricane Erin pushed rain northward through the Midwest all day Friday. And no break was expected today.
The National Weather Service forecast, as of Friday afternoon, called for showers and thundershowers here throughout the day, with heavy rain at times. The chance for precipitation was pegged at 100 percent, and some areas were expected to receive more than three inches of rain.
Sunday's forecast was somewhat better, with a 50 percent chance of thunderstorms and a high near 85. NASCAR rules call for postponed races to be run on ``the next raceable day.''
The rain fell intermittently Friday, but it was enough to wipe out almost the entire slate of the day's activities, including the second round of qualifying and the crucial final practice session.
NASCAR had the track dry at least twice Friday, only to see their efforts dashed by another passing shower.
The cars finally got on the track at 6:28 p.m. EDT to begin the final practice, otherwise known as ``happy hour,'' but another light shower ended the session at 6:41 p.m. It resumed again at 6:57 p.m. and lasted 20 minutes.
Outside pole sitter Bobby Hamilton was the fastest in the final session, reaching 169.584 miles per hour in his Pontiac Grand Prix. Pole winner Jeff Gordon was next at 168.913 mph, followed by Rusty Wallace (168.644 mph), Dick Trickle (168.631 mph) and Bill Elliott (168.432 mph).
It was a cat-and-mouse game with the weather during the final session. The yellow flag was out for the first few laps, but you wouldn't have known it by the way the drivers were flying around the track, intent on squeezing out every bit of practice they could.
``At best, it's a shot in the dark trying to hit a setup if we get no practice,'' car owner Jack Roush had said earlier in the day. Roush owns the Fords driven by Mark Martin and Ted Musgrave.
``We didn't learn anything,'' Roush said after the first segment of the final session. After the second, he said, ``We're not happy with what we've got, but it definitely helped to be out there.''
Neither Martin nor Musgrave was among the 10 fastest drivers in the final session.
It was much the same story with Bobby Labonte and his team. ``We learned the car is not like we want it to be,'' crew chief Jimmy Makar said after the first part of the session. ``It's too tight. We need to get out and see if the changes will help. One more run will be good.''
After the final 20 minutes, Makar said, ``We got better. But we're still not where we want to be. We need just a few little adjustments.''
If today's race has to be postponed, it will be the first since March 1993 when a blizzard forced the postponement of the Atlanta race for a week. The last NASCAR Winston Cup rainout was at North Wilkesboro in October 1992.
``The rain will change the track conditions,'' said Rusty Wallace. ``Probably the first 20 or 30 laps, the cars will do some evil and wicked things until we get some rubber down on the track. And then things will sort themselves out.
``But one of the things we did in testing here (is) we worked a full day and a half on our race setup. Man, am I glad we did that.''
Friday's rain forced the cancellation of second round qualifying for the first time since the June event at Pocono, where fog kept the cars off the track.
That was bad news for several drivers, including veterans Dave Marcis and A.J. Foyt.
Marcis would have received a provisional starting spot, but he's already used five this year and isn't eligible for another one until next week's event. He appealed to NASCAR for an early advance on the provisional, but was denied.
Rules are rules, NASCAR spokesman Kevin Triplett said, and ``we can't really change horses in the middle of the stream.''
Foyt wasn't eligible for a provisional and probably would have been too slow to make the field anyway.
``This was put together in two weeks,'' Foyt told a track reporter. ``It's not a fair shot at all. It was a spur-of-the-moment deal. I'm very embarrassed that we did not produce like we hoped to.''
The provisional starting spots went to Elton Sawyer, Steve Grissom and Mike Wallace.
The others who failed to make the race were Jeff Purvis (who missed by 2/1000ths of a second), Loy Allen, Billy Standridge, Pancho Carter and Steven Seligman. ILLUSTRATION: BRICKYARD 400
Jeff Gordon qualified at a record 172,536 mph.
TOP 10 STARTERS
1. Jeff Gordon
2. Bobby Hamilton
3. Sterling Marlin
4. Bill Elliott
5. Bobby Labonte
6. Joe Nemechek
7. Michael Waltrip
8. Jeremy Mayfield
9. Rick Mast
10. Ken Schrader
ON TV
WVEC, 1 P.M.
TODAY IN NASCAR
Graphic
[For a copy of the graphic, see microfilm for this date.]
by CNB