THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, March 30, 1996 TAG: 9603300438
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BRISTOL, TENN. LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines
Mark Martin crushed the competition Friday in qualifying for the Food City 500 at Bristol International Raceway, but he says he'll be lucky to be in the ballgame come Sunday.
Even though Bristol is a short track, the problem is aerodynamics, Martin said after winning the top starting spot with a lap of 123.578 mph in his Ford Thunderbird.
``We are dealing with a situation of a pretty huge downforce difference between the Chevrolet Monte Carlo and the Ford,'' he said. ``Especially here, because of the spoiler sizes.'' (They're the same for all cars at the short tracks.)
``So we're at a greater disadvantage here than we were in the last couple of weeks, as far as aerodynamics goes. When you have less downforce, that means tires wear faster and it's harder and harder and harder to keep up.
``We did have some 120-lap green sessions late in the race last year and, basically, it cost us a shot at the win'' because of tire wear, he said.
But, as Martin showed, there was no disadvantage during qualifying, when all the cars had new tires. Martin's qualifying time of 15.527 seconds around this 0.533-mile, high-banked oval was almost a full 10th of a second faster than that of Terry Labonte, who reached 122.921 mph (15.610 seconds) in his Chevy. By contrast, the next 11 cars were within a 10th of a second of Labonte's time.
Veteran Darrell Waltrip was third-fastest at 122.787 mph in a Chevy, followed by Sterling Marlin (122.709) and Bobby Labonte (122.584), also in Monte Carlos.
Mike Skinner in a Richard Childress-owned Chevy was sixth, also at 122.584 mph, followed by Dale Jarrett in a Ford at 122.552, Jeff Gordon in a Chevy at 122.396, Ricky Rudd in a Ford at 122.388 and Kenny Wallace in a Ford at 122.294.
Martin, who claimed his 29th career pole and fifth at Bristol, said there was nothing special about his qualifying lap.
``We pretty much stuck with what we had (in the past here) and it stuck to the track right out of the box today,'' he said.
Jarrett was the session's biggest casualty, crashing hard in his Ford on his second lap after capturing the seventh starting spot on his first lap. He lost control at the finish line and plowed head-on into the inside wall. His car then slid up the first turn.
``The driver got stupid and lost it coming out of (turn) 4,'' Jarrett said. ``I thought I could drive it past the line and be OK. But it came around and I was just trying to miss the end of pit wall, but I didn't do that, either. I really didn't accomplish anything that I went out there to do.''
Jarrett will have to start Sunday's race in a backup car, which means he'll start in the back of the field.
Joe Nemechek, who qualified 20th at 121.883 mph, crashed on the backstretch during his second qualifying lap but will repair the car and drive it in Sunday's race.
The top 25 qualifiers Friday locked in starting spots for 32 regular starting positions and as many as five provisionals for Sunday's race, with the top 19 earning pit stalls on the frontstretch.
Those not among Friday's fastest 32 drivers were, in order of speed, Dave Marcis, Chuck Bown, Jeremy Mayfield, Steve Grissom, Mike Wallace, Bobby Hillin, Johnny Benson Jr., Jeff Burton, Kyle Petty, Bill Elliott and Dick Trickle. A second round of qualifying is scheduled for today.
As the lineup stands now, Burton, Grissom, Mayfield and Petty would get the four regular provisional starting spots, and Elliott would get a champion's provisional. ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kenny Smith blows debris from one of the high-banked turns of
Bristol International Raceway.
Graphic
Bristol Pole Run
For complete text, see microfilm
by CNB