DATE: Saturday, August 16, 1997             TAG: 9708160598

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C4   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: BROOKLYN, MICH.                   LENGTH:   52 lines

HOME, SWEET HOME: BENSON WINS THE POLE AT MICHIGAN RUDD, EARNHARDT FAIL TO QUALIFY.

People are still talking about the tumble Johnny Benson Jr. took down the backstretch at Michigan Speedway in a Grand National car in 1993.

But after his pole-winning performance Friday, he'll probably be thinking more about a wreck he had last year at Atlanta.

The Atlanta accident, on March 9, 1996, came a day after he won his only previous Winston Cup pole. The Atlanta incident, during a Saturday practice, wiped out his pole-winning car.

``I'm going to talk to (crew chief) Doug Hewitt and see if we can just leave the car in the garage (today),'' Benson said.

Benson's crash at Michigan in 1993 was memorable in that ``I kinda spun and flipped 5 1/2 times down the backstretch,'' he said. ``But it got a lot of press. You're still bringing it up.''

The Grand Rapids native's performance at his home track Friday was considerably more proficient. Benson won the pole position for Sunday's Devilbiss 400 with a lap of 183.332 mph in his Pontiac.

Mark Martin was second-fastest at 182.945 mph in his Ford, followed by Ricky Craven at 182.927 in a Chevy, Dale Jarrett at 182.764 in a Ford and Jeff Burton at 182.648, also in a Ford.

Completing the top 10 were Bobby Labonte (182.551), Ted Musgrave (182.528), Ken Schrader (182.519), Dick Trickle (182.510) and Geoff Bodine (182.288).

Showers forced NASCAR to cancel the morning practice, but the cars did get on the track for more than an hour in the afternoon. Martin was quickest in the session; Benson was 10th-fastest and didn't expect to win the top starting spot.

``We felt like we'd qualify in the top 10,'' he said. ``We were 10th-fastest in practice, so I felt like we'd be anywhere from fifth to 10th in qualifying. Any time you're there, you have an outside chance to win the pole, and I guess that's what we did here today.''

Benson said that his car was fast from the start Friday and that his crew made no changes from practice to qualifying.

``We didn't touch the car,'' he said. ``We just left it alone. I knew (the lap) would be all right. Somebody came over the radio and kinda said the time, but they were pretty excited and they didn't give it to me.''

It was a windy afternoon at the 2-mile oval, but ``the speeds are so fast here in Michigan, the extra winds are not a huge factor,'' Benson said.

Notables outside the top 25 include Ricky Rudd (27th-fastest), Dale Earnhardt (28th), Joe Nemechek (30th), Kyle Petty (33rd) and Bobby Hamilton (35th).

Hut Stricklin is on the bubble at 38th-fastest, followed by Dave Marcis, Lake Speed, Jimmy Spencer, Rusty Wallace, Ward Burton and Kenny Wallace.

Drivers outside the top 25 will have another opportunity to improve their position in the second round of time trials at 10:45 a.m. today.

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