THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 10, 1996 TAG: 9603100252
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C12 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: HAMPTON, GA. LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines
Just as they were tasting real success, two young drivers saw their fortunes turn sour Saturday at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Jeff Burton, second in Winston Cup points, failed to qualify for today's Purolator 500.
And Johnny Benson, who won the pole Friday, demolished his pole-winning car in the final Winston Cup practice Saturday. He will start today's race from the back of the field in a backup car he didn't get to practice in.
Benson was unhurt, but he gave the outside wall between turns 3 and 4 a terrific head-on wallop, flattening the front of his Pontiac Grand Prix.
Benson's team quickly unloaded the backup car, but the final practice ended before the car was ready to go on the track.
Burton, meanwhile, was not fast enough to qualify for one of the 38 starting spots. And because his team is new, he was not eligible for a provisional.
Burton, who drives Jack Roush-owned Ford Thunderbird, was 42nd-fastest in Friday's first round of time trials. He was more than 1 mph quicker in Saturday's second round but was still only 40th-fastest.
``Obviously, it's devastating,'' he said. ``We unloaded with the wrong package. We struggled trying to fix the car and never got good enough. Then, to have to do it on the second day, when you dig yourself in a hole on the first day, it's really difficult to get out.''
Forty-one cars will start today's race, leaving one provisional starting spot unfilled. But Burton was not eligible for it because for the first four races of a new season, provisionals are doled out on the basis of car-owner points from the previous year. His team did not exist in 1995.
Beginning with the next race, at Darlington in two weeks, provisionals will be allocated by 1996 car-owner points.
Roush, Burton and crew chief Buddy Parrott all separately spoke to NASCAR officials, appealing for a chance to race. And they spoke to several other car owners in hopes of renting someone else's car. Neither effort succeeded.
``We weren't fast enough to make the race, and I can't argue that point,'' Burton said. ``But it seems to me if there are spots available, the rule should be written to take care of the people who are running all of the races.''
Daytona 500 winner Dale Jarrett, who is also with a new team, faced the same predicament. Jarrett made the field, but just barely. He qualified 35th, just ahead of teammate Ernie Irvan.
Joe Nemechek also crashed in practice and also will start at the back of the field today.
$1 MILLION SPIN: Rod Roderick, a 42-year-old race fan from Pembroke, Maine, lost his shot at a $1 million prize when he hit two cones, then spun out during a speed contest with 1988 Winston Cup champion Bill Elliott.
Roderick's name was drawn at random from more than 250,000 entries in the Reese's-Bill Elliott $1 Million Driving Challenge. The one-lap timed event was run Saturday on a special course set up on Atlanta Motor Speedway's front straightaway.
Driving special mini-Winston Cup cars, the two drivers made separate one-lap runs on the course, laid out with orange cones.
Elliott went first, and was clocked in 53:01 seconds. Roderick, who said he never has driven a race car of any kind, got a good start. But he but clipped two cones before the spin that ended his hopes of winning the big prize. by CNB