THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 2, 1996 TAG: 9608020631
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SPEEDWAY, IND. LENGTH: 91 lines
Jeff Gordon came out of nowhere to win the pole position for Saturday's Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and it was the driver he beat, Mark Martin, who did the best job of explaining why.
``NASCAR rules have these cars so close, this deal is more about who gets a great lap rather than who has a fast car,'' Martin said.
Gordon held his breath a few times on his lap, but it was close to flawless. And when he crossed the finish line, the scoreboard registered a speed of 176.419 mph.
It was a track record for a NASCAR Winston Cup car. It was also Gordon's second consecutive Brickyard 400 pole, and his fifth pole position of 1995.
``I keep saying magical things happen to me here,'' Gordon said. ``To me, qualifying today is one of those magical things. I don't know where it came from.
``When I went out there to qualify today, I was going out to qualify in the top 10, and I thought that was going to be hard to do. I didn't even have the thought in my mind that we would be on the pole.''
It did not take much to beat Gordon's old record of 172.536 mph, set last year. A new asphalt surface and a new Goodyear tire compound allowed the fastest 36 drivers to break the record.
Martin's lap of 175.922 mph won the outside pole. Lake Speed was third-fastest at 175.840 in his Ford, followed by Ken Schrader in a Chevy at 175.445 and Bobby Hillin Jr. in a Ford at 175.343.
Also in the top 10 were Joe Nemechek in a Chevy at 175.333 mph, Bill Elliott in a Ford at 175.131, Rick Mast in the fastest Pontiac Grand Prix at 175.077, Terry Labonte in a Chevy at 175.053 and Greg Sacks in a Chevy at 174.965.
Dale Earnhardt, fighting off the pain and discomfort of chest and shoulder fractures, was 12th-fastest with a lap of 174.910 mph.
At the other end of the lineup, most of the 10 drivers who failed to make the top 38 were not regular competitors. The exceptions were Bobby Hamilton, who struggled to 39th-fastest, and Dave Marcis, who was 43rd-fastest.
A.J. Foyt, trying to make his second Brickyard 400, was 42nd-fastest. The second round of qualifying is at 2 p.m. (EDT) today.
From the top to the bottom of the lineup, there was no greater surprise than Gordon. After the morning practice session, Gordon's best lap of his 16 circuits around this 2.5-mile speedway was at 174.975 mph.
As Gordon wheeled onto the speedway for his one-lap qualifying run at 3:32 p.m. EDT, he needed a lap that was four-tenths of a second faster than what he had run until then.
On pit road, crew chief Ray Evernham looked at the sky. A small cloud had covered the sun, but it didn't appear that the cover would last long. It didn't. Even before Gordon took the green flag, the sun was back out.
``If I could, I'd steer that cloud on back under the sun,'' Evernham said.
When Gordon took the green flag, the roar of the 75,000 fans who came to watch pole day demonstrated that Gordon is still the most popular stock-car driver in Indiana, where he lived during his teens.
Gordon took his Chevy deeper into turn 1 than he normally does, and the car stuck. That was a good sign for him.
``It wiggled a little bit off of turn 2, but as I came off the corner, I saw a lot of RPM gain - a lot more than I'd seen from it yesterday or today,'' he said.
He went through turn 3 without any problems, but turn 4 is where he nearly lost it on 1995's pole winning run.
``I just really tried to take it through there straight,'' he said.
The instant Gordon crossed the yard of bricks at the finish line, he cut off his engine. It backfired once, which startled the frontstretch crowd into a cheer.
That cheer was still in the air when that distinctive, slow baritone voice of longtime track announcer Tom Carnegie came over the public address system: ``And it's a new track . . .'' The roar of the crowd, from both sides of the speedway, drowned out Carnegie's voice well before he said ``record.''
``Coming down pit lane and hearing those people is a great feeling,'' Gordon said. ``I tell you, I really believe all these fans cheering us on really helps me to go out and do a better job.''
But to go faster through the flat turns at Indy, one must have the guts to take a bigger risk.
``To bring a new driver in here with little experience, they'll tell you this place scares the heck out of you,'' Gordon said. ``To bring a guy in here who has a lot of experience, they'll tell you it's still hairy. You feel a little uncomfortable here about half the time you're out there. A lot of what you've got to do is feel what the car is doing.''
Getting the feel of a car is one of the things Gordon is so good at. As for the risk, he's still only 24 years old (he'll turn 25 on Sunday), and his young nerves can handle that. ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOS
Jeff Gordon, left, brought the Indy crowd to its feet by winning the
pole, but the spotlight was all but stolen by Dale Earnhardt, right,
who struggled into his car - and put it in the 12th starting spot
for Saturday's race. by CNB