THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 31, 1996 TAG: 9603310192
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BRISTOL, TENN. LENGTH: Medium: 64 lines
The bitter pill of failure was dispensed liberally at Bristol International Raceway on Saturday in the second round of time trials for today's Food City 500.
Johnny Benson Jr., John Andretti, Mike Wallace, Bobby Hillin, Dave Marcis and Chuck Bown headed home early. All were too slow to make the race and did not have enough owner points to earn a provisional starting spot.
``It's one of those deals,'' Benson said. ``We all hate to see it happen. Everybody on the Bahari team did the best they could, I did the best I could, but we just wound up a little short.
``I'm not sure what it is. Maybe we can go test someplace and find out. The car was pushing and loose both, and we couldn't fix it.''
Benson, who won the pole at Atlanta, was 37th-fastest for a 32-car field.
Andretti had been 32nd-fastest, but he slipped to 33rd - and fell out of the show - when Dick Trickle managed to boost himself from 43rd to 29th. Ten other cars also participated in second-round qualifying, but all went slower than they did Friday.
Provisional starting spots went to Steve Grissom (34th-fastest), Kyle Petty (36th), Jeremy Mayfield (38th), Jeff Burton (41st) and Bill Elliott (43rd), who took the provisional starting spot available to former series champions.
INGLE TO RACE: Bill Ingle, crew chief for Steve Grissom, , will return to the track as a driver in the Grand National race at Hickory, N.C., next Saturday.
Ingle, 39, left as Ricky Rudd's crew chief at the end of the 1995 season to join car owner Gary Bechtel after Bechtel offered him the opportunity to drive in a few races.
``We've tested the car a couple of times and I still haven't gotten my timing all the way back,'' he said. ``We're not that far off (on lap speeds), so, hopefully, we'll get in the race.''
But that's one of NASCAR's biggest challenges these days, especially in the Grand National series. Eleven drivers failed to make Saturday's race.
Ingle last raced in 1988, when he crashed and was seriously injured at Daytona. He has competed in seven Grand National races in his career.
NEW FACES: When Jeff Hammond rejoined Darrell Waltrip's team last week as team manager, he was greeted with a sea of new faces at the shop in Concord, N.C.
``There's not one person on this team who was here when I was here before,'' he said. ``I've got to relearn the people, but I think the way we qualified (third) on Friday shows there's some good people working on this team.
``This is a long-term situation we've entered into, and it might take us three or four races to get everything sorted out.''
NEW SPONSOR: Cape Canaveral Cruise Line announced Saturday that it will sponsor Todd Bodine's Chevrolet Monte Carlo for a full-season campaign in the Grand National series. Veteran engine builder Ron Neal is the car owner. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Todd Bodine steers clear of a spinning Tim Fedewa during the Goody's
250 on Saturday at Bristol. Bodine, sporting the colors of his new
sponsor, finished 17th; Fedewa ended up 26th.
by CNB