THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, October 28, 1995 TAG: 9510280475
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PHOENIX LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines
Bill Elliott summoned the concentration Friday to win the pole for Sunday's Dura Lube 500 at Phoenix International Raceway, but his thoughts were with a nephew who has taken a turn for the worse in an 18-month battle with cancer.
``It seems like we've been riding a roller coaster this year and today my thoughts are on my nephew Casey, who's back in Houston going through a real tough time again,'' Elliott said after winning his second pole of 1995 with a track-record speed of 130.020 mph in his Ford Thunderbird.
``Sometimes you think it's the end of the world when you don't qualify on the pole or in the top 20,'' he said. ``This kinda puts it in perspective. The boy is 21 and he had a good racing career started, and he hasn't been able to pursue that. It's been tough on all of us.''
Dale Earnhardt won the outside pole in a Chevy Monte Carlo with a speed of 129.964 mph. Jeff Gordon was third-fastest in a Chevy at 129.786, followed by Rick Mast in a Ford at 129.772 and Mark Martin in another Ford at 129.594.
The rest of the top 10 consisted of Rusty Wallace at 129.520 mph, Brett Bodine (129.468), Bobby Hamilton (129.190), Morgan Shepherd (129.083) and Kyle Petty (129.074).
Ernie Irvan, who failed to qualify last weekend at Rockingham after a crash in practice, had no trouble making Sunday's race, qualifying 14th-fastest at 128.650 mph.
``That's a little faster than we ran in practice, but when you qualify, you're supposed to step up,'' he said.
Elliott also found some extra speed in his pole-winning run.
``It surprised me that I ran that well,'' he said. ``We'd been running anywhere from 27.95 to 28.10 (seconds a lap in practice), and we went out and did a simulated qualifying run and ran 27.95 (128.7 mph),'' he said. The time of his pole-winning lap was 27.688 seconds.
``Of all the things that could have happened in qualifying, this wasn't what I expected,'' Elliott said.
Just as unexpected were the new problems confronting Casey Elliott, son of Ernie Elliott, Bill's brother and engine builder.
Earlier this month, Casey had gotten a ``pretty good bill of health'' from his doctors,'' Bill Elliott said. But eight days ago, ``Casey had problems at home and they had to carry him to the doctors that Friday night. And this past Monday, they flew him back to Houston.
``They found another tumor in his head,'' Elliott said. ``Now they're trying to figure out what to do in that situation. They don't know how they're going to treat it yet. You get a little bit of good news and you think things are going to be OK, and then you get totally knocked down in this other situation.''
Elliott said his brother had flown to Houston to be with his son and won't be at the track this weekend.
``One thing about Casey - he's got a good, positive attitude,'' Elliott said. ``I wish I had a tenth of what he's got. The situation he's going through is just not fair. But life's not fair anyway.''
Fifty drivers made qualifying runs Friday. Winston Cup regulars who struggled included Todd Bodine (40th-fastest), Geoff Bodine (42nd) and Mike Wallace (44th).
The second round of time trials will begin at 3 p.m. today.
SAWYER UPDATE: For driver Elton Sawyer and crew chief Mike Hill, everything is in place for the 1996 Winston Cup season - except a sponsor. Sawyer said an Arkansas attorney, David Blair, has purchased the team from Hooters owner Robert Brooks.
``So we've crossed one hurdle there, and we just need to cross another and get sponsorship,'' Sawyer said. ``We're in negotiations with people now and there is some interest, but nothing is definite.''
Meanwhile, Sawyer and his wife, Patty Moise, have formed Moise-Sawyer Motorsports, and Moise will drive the full Grand National season next year with sponsorship from Dial/Purex.
``That's a done deal,'' Sawyer said. ``We'll be housed in Bill Davis' old shop in Thomasville (N.C.), and we're looking for a crew chief.''
WHAT GORDON NEEDS: If Jeff Gordon finishes 19th in each of the last two races of the season and he will win the series championship no matter what Dale Earnhardt does.
Earnhardt, on the other hand, must gain more than 11 points on Gordon on Sunday or Gordon will clinch the title simply by starting the Nov. 12 season finale in Atlanta. by CNB