DATE: Saturday, August 30, 1997             TAG: 9708300590

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: DARLINGTON, S.C.                  LENGTH:   58 lines

BOBBY LABONTE CRUISES TO POLE FOR THE SOUTHERN 500 HEAT AND HIGH HUMIDITY KEEP SPEEDS WELL BELOW THE TRACK RECORD

Bobby Labonte, who has had a productive but unspectacular year behind the wheel of the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Pontiac Grand Prix, made some noise at Darlington Raceway Friday by winning the pole for Sunday's Southern 500.

Labonte, who also won the pole at Dover in June, sped around this 1.366-mile speedway at 170.661 miles per hour.

It was the first pole qualifying session on the flip-flopped oval, which features no changes except that the start-finish line has been moved from the old frontstretch to the old backstretch.

But it was the hot and humid weather - and not the reconfigured track - that kept Labonte and the rest of the competitors well below Ward Burton's track record of almost 174 mph.

Labonte was the second driver to make his run and he figured one of the 44 drivers to follow him would beat him for the top starting spot.

``I thought that the cloud cover would come and the clouds would roll in and the guys would pick up speed,'' he said.

``I thought my speed would hold up for a little bit, but fortunately it held up all the way.''

Bill Elliott won the outside pole at 170.513 miles per hour in a Ford and did a darn sight better than most of the other Winston Cup champions trying to make this field.

Three of them were 35th fastest or slower: Rusty Wallace in 35th, Dale Earnhardt in 37th and Darrell Waltrip in 39th.

Dale Jarrett was third fastest at 170.071 mph in a Ford, followed by Mark Martin at 169.871 mph in a Ford, Ken Schrader in a Chevy at 169.801 mph, and Hut Stricklin in a Ford at 169.795 mph.

Jeff Gordon, another ex-champ, will make his run for the Winston Million from the seventh starting spot.

Gordon was fastest in practice, but dropped back during qualifications with a lap of 169.766 mph in his Chevy.

Also in the top 10 are Dick Trickle in a Ford at 169.666 mph, Sterling Marlin in a Chevy at 169.339 mph and Ernie Irvan in a Ford at 169.182 mph.

From the driver's seat seconds after the run, Labonte thought his lap wasn't that good.

It didn't even feel as quick as his qualifying run at Bristol last weekend, which gave him the 38th starting spot.

``I really didn't think it would be that fast, but when (crew chief) Jimmy Makar told me on the radio, I thought, well. ... That was huge for our race team. Last week, we qualified 38th. That just goes to show you how difficult qualifying is.''

Labonte has four career victories, but none this year.

``There's a lot of guys who haven't won this year,'' he said.

``I think everybody is wanting to win. We're out there doing the best we can, but we gotta be there to capitalize on it.''

At the other end of the lineup, at least three drivers will be going home after the second round of time trials scheduled for 11:30 a.m. today.

Chad Little is on the bubble in 38th, followed by Waltrip, Dave Marcis, Kyle Petty, Bobby Hamilton, Morgan Shepherd, Jeff Green, Greg Sacks and Lance Hooper.

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