Rookie contender Park tops second round qualifying

Tuesday, Feb. 10, 1998 | 9:55 a.m.

Park turned a lap of 189.498 mph, easily eclipsing the 188.988 he ran on Saturday in the opening round of qualifying at Daytona International Speedway. That first session locked up only the two front-row positions for Sunday's Daytona 500, with Bobby Labonte winning the pole and brother Terry taking the outside spot.

Park's quick lap on the 2 1/2 -mile oval was the 17th-best so far, virtually assuring the heralded first-year driver of making the lineup for Sunday's race.

The qualifying procedure for the season-opening race is a unique one.

Thursday's twin 125-mile qualifying races will determine positions 3-30. The next six spots will go to the fastest drivers remaining from the three rounds of time trials.

Positions 37-42 will be awarded as provisionals based on last season's top-40 car-owner points, with the 43rd spot reserved for any previous Winston Cup champion still not in the field.

Park, a former northeast modified star who was impressive with his performance last year in NASCAR's Busch Grand National Series, called it a great day.

"This is really pretty nerve wracking at times," he said. "We were 24th on Saturday, and there were a lot of people surprised that we would go again today. But our team wasn't happy with that. We're a team that is going to always strive to better ourselves."

He said crew chief Felipe Lopez found some things to change, and improved the car.

"This may not help us in the 125s, but we've got some breathing room for Sunday," Park said.

Hut Stricklin, at 189.044, was second among the 13 drivers who made qualifying attempts Monday.

After two rounds of time trials, 57 drivers had posted speeds.

---

LABONTE'S QUEST: After winning the season-ending NAPA 500 and finishing a career-best seventh in the Winston Cup standings last year, Bobby Labonte arrived at Daytona International Speedway as one of the hot commodities in NASCAR.

Then he won the pole for the Daytona 500, further solidifying his position as one of the up-and-coming stars in stock car racing. Now - in a division that includes Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt, Dale Jarrett, Mark Martin, Rusty Wallace and Labonte's older brother, Terry - Bobby is being asked about his title prospects.

"It's going to be hard to do, but we're going to give it a shot," the 33-year-old Texan said.

But Labonte realizes his Joe Gibbs-owned Pontiac team faces a tough battle because it fields only one car. All the other top drivers are part of multicar operations where information is shared.

That will be the case in 2000, when 1997 IRL champion Tony Stewart comes aboard as his Labonte's teammate. Stewart will move to NASCAR full time in 1999 in a Gibbs-owned Busch Series car, then step up to Winston Cup.

"I think it's going to be a good year," Labonte said. "It might be the best year for Pontiac in quite a while."

---

BODINE'S SPONSOR: Despite 18 career victories - including the 1986 Daytona 500 - Geoff Bodine has had sponsorship woes. He hopes they will end in the next few days.

"We're working out some fine little details right now," said Bodine, who nearly folded his team last season before some new partners bailed him out.

Bodine plans to reveal the identity of the sponsor to succeed QVC at a news conference Thursday.

"It's a three-year deal with a great company," he said. "It's not regional. It's not national. It's a global company, so we're real excited about it."

---

POTENT PONTIACS: With Bobby Labonte and Bobby Hamilton putting their cars in the winner's circle last year, Pontiac had more than one victory in a season for the first time since Rusty Wallace won 10 races in 1993.

That has led to speculation that Chevrolet and Ford might have a little competition in the Winston Cup manufacturer's race.

"The Pontiac has come a long way," said Ryan Pemberton, crew chief for Ernie Irvan. "Everybody says, 'If only I knew a year ago what I know now, I'd have been in good shape."'

Pontiacs came on strong at the end of last season, got better in winter testing and have been impressive in the first week at Daytona International Speedway. So much better, that Labonte has the pole for the season-opening Daytona 500.

"We've made changes and changes and changes, and we've come a long way," Pemberton said.