THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 21, 1996 TAG: 9607210195
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LONG POND, PA. LENGTH: 61 lines
It was a cold track on a chilly day, but Mark Martin had one hot lap around Pocono Raceway on Saturday morning to win the pole for today's Miller 500.
Martin's lap of 168.410 mph in his Ford Thunderbird was almost three-tenths of a second quicker than that of Morgan Shepherd, who won the outside pole with a speed of 167.482 mph in another Ford.
``I guess it was a lucky lap,'' Martin said after clinching his second pole of the season. ``I felt like I left a little bit on the table in the corners. A lot of times I try to kill myself going through there.
``But I had real good rpms in this cold weather. We were running pretty fast and I knew if I didn't choke in the corners, we would have a good starting spot.''
Martin's lap broke the event record of 163.869, set by Geoff Bodine in July 1994.
Shepherd, who continues on the upswing with new crew chief Gere Kennon, secured his best starting spot of the year.
``Hey, everything seems to be going along in the right direction,'' Kennon said. ``Actually, there's not anything big you can put a finger on since we came together. We've changed a lot of little things, but all the ingredients were here.''
Bobby Labonte was third-fastest at 167.479 mph in the quickest Chevrolet Monte Carlo, followed by Geoff Bodine at 166.957 in a Ford and Ward Burton at 166.945 in the fastest Pontiac Grand Prix.
Johnny Benson, who qualified Friday afternoon at 166.741 mph before rain postponed the first round of time trials, was sixth-fastest, followed by Ricky Rudd (166.688), Dale Earnhardt (166.676), Jeff Burton (166.673) and Derrike Cope (166.645).
With the postponement of the first round of qualifying, NASCAR canceled Saturday's scheduled second round. With the completion of the first round, provisional starting spots went to Robert Pressley, Hut Stricklin and Darrell Waltrip.
Stricklin was forced to take a provisional after crashing hard in turn 3 during his qualifying run.
``I think the wall moved on me over there in turn 3,'' Stricklin said. ``I'm not really sure what happened. I got through turn 2 good and I was trying to make up for what I lost in turn 1 over in (turn) 3 and it just got away from me.
``I'm fine, just disappointed pretty bad.''
In the practice that immediately followed qualifying, Dick Trickle crashed in the same turn. He was OK, but the team had to go to a backup car.
Martin, after winning the pole, was as upbeat as he has been all season.
``We had more competitive cars in the first half last year than we have had this year,'' he said. ``But the race team has managed to turn the corner on that, and the results are starting to show.
``We have had a really strong showing the last five or six races and we're gaining momentum with every race. I believe we are due for some good luck and good fortune. Our equipment is reaching that level that it needs to be to be able to capitalize on some good fortune.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Mark Martin, left, chats with a crewman after his pole run Saturday.
His 168.410 mph lap on a cool day broke the race qualifying record. by CNB