THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 28, 1996 TAG: 9609280553
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SCOTT MICHAUX, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. LENGTH: 61 lines
With 13 drivers still waiting to qualify after a rain delay of more than two hours Friday, nobody knew what to expect from a green racetrack.
Then Jeff Gordon went out and posted the fastest time to that point, letting Ted Musgrave know that the track was fast and that he had a chance to grab his second straight pole for the Tyson Holly Farms 400 at North Wilkesboro Speedway.
Musgrave did just that, turning a fast lap of 19.059 seconds (118.054 mph) in his Ford Thunderbird, bumping Gordon's Chevrolet Monte Carlo (117.937 mph) to the outside of the front row for Sunday's race.
``That wasn't really rain on my forehead; that was sweat,'' Musgrave said after becoming what he called ``the answer to a trivia question'' - the last Winston Cup pole qualifier at the legendary 0.625-mile oval.
``I really wasn't thinking pole, then I saw Jeff Gordon go out and he turned in a pretty good time. I knew the racetrack was in good shape.''
Gordon, the Winston Cup points leader and winner of nine races this season, was surprised himself after his qualifying run.
``I never dreamed that I'd run that lap,'' he said. ``This is crazy. . . .
``We weren't fast enough to do that before it rained. . . . Sometimes the luck of the draw can work against you and sometimes it can work for you. I really thought we were going to go a lot slower.''
Earlier, it looked as if the luck of the draw would be all Bobby Hamilton's.
Eager to keep his recent success going, Hamilton slipped onto the track as the rain began to fall and beat the rain and the 26 drivers who went out in front of him with a lap of 19.085 seconds, or 117.894 mph, in the Richard Petty-owned Pontiac Grand Prix.
By knocking last year's race winner, Mark Martin, off the top position, it looked as if Hamilton was going to win the pole for the second straight week.
``I saw it sprinkling when Bill (Elliott) went out in front of me,'' Hamilton said. ``I passed him be fore he was barely able to get off the track. I thought we could run about what we did, and I actually thought we could be a little quicker.''
Hamilton is still chasing the first victory for Petty Enterprises since 1984, when Richard Petty won at Daytona for the last of his 200 career victories. Hamilton has posted three straight top-10 finishes, including a third last week after starting on the pole at Martinsville.
``We'll knock the door down one of these days,'' Hamilton said. ``Maybe we can slam it shut here for the last time.''
It would be fitting if Petty Enterprises could win the final chapter in North Wilkesboro's long history of Winston Cup racing. Petty, after all, posted 15 wins at North Wilkesboro, more than any other driver.
Martin will start his Ford fourth. He and Ernie Irvan, another post-delay qualifier, both ran laps at 117.721 mph. Johnny Benson Jr. qualified his Pontiac sixth-fastest at 117.500.
Rounding out the top 10 were Derrike Cope (117.414 mph), Bobby Hillin Jr. (117.377), Rusty Wallace (117.310) and Michael Waltrip (117.310).
Second-round qualifying is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. today, weather permitting. If they have to stand on Friday's times, Ward Burton has the 32nd spot and the provisionals would go to Dale Jarrett, Lake Speed, Hut Stricklin and Robert Pressley, and a champion's provisional to Darrell Waltrip. by CNB