NASCAR qualifying rule sparks controversy

Joe Mink

Sunday, Aug. 13, 2000 | 3:21 a.m.

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. - Rain tires. Controversial rulings. Bad breaks and good luck.

Winston Cup's Saturday at Watkins Glen International featured just about everything but cars racing around the track.

Qualifying for Sunday's Global Crossing at the Glen was rained out, just as it was Friday. Only 11 drivers made qualifying runs, and one of them, Mark Martin, fired off a lap in a track-record 1 minute, 12.441 seconds over the 2.45-mile course. It surpassed Rusty Wallace's track qualifying record of 1:12.752 set last year.

But Martin's time, and the rest of qualifying, was wiped out by rain. That caused NASCAR to use car owners' points standings to fill the first 35 spots in the field. The other eight were assigned based on a new rule that considered past performances such as season points championships and races won this season. That got Darrell Waltrip, the 1981 and 82 series champion, into the field.

Coming up with the other seven drivers created hard feelings. Before Friday's scheduled qualifying, a random drawing took place to set up the order of getting onto the track for qualifying runs. For the 12 remaining men seeking those precious spots, where they would have started in qualifying determined their fate.

Ron Fellows would have started 25th. He got in. Brett Bodine would have started 44th. He didn't.

"That doesn't make sense," said Scott Pruett, a Winston Cup rookie who with Bodine were the two series regulars who didn't make the field for Sunday's race, which starts at 12:30 p.m. It will be televised live by ESPN.

Pruett said provisionals for the Cup regulars should have been allowed, which would have put him and Bodine in the race.

Fellows and Todd Bodine, Brett's younger brother, were the non-Cup regulars who made it into the race. Bodine would have gone out 35th in qualifying; Pruett, 41st.

And while Fellows got one good break, he suffered a bad one. Considered by Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon to be the favorite and a likely starter near the head of the field, Fellows will have to open up in the 40th spot.

"I still think our chances are good, but we'll have to work the car hard," he said. "If you run up front you can pace yourself. I hope to get lucky with the (caution flags)."

Fellows said he was happy the way the rule worked for him, though he did express his feelings for fellow road course specialist Boris Said, who didn't make the field.

"I can't complain, but I feel bad for Boris," Fellows said. "He did a great job in practice."

In fact, Said had the best practice times on Friday and Saturday in the No. 23 Federated Auto Parts Ford owned by Jimmy and Pat Spencer.

Also missing the cut: Dave Marcis' car, which was to have been driven by R.K. Smith, a veteran road racer; and Brian Simo, who had taken over the No. 90 Hills Brothers Coffee Ford from rookie Ed Berrier.

Said took his setback in stride.

"NASCAR is the best racing organization in the world. They had to get the (Busch North) race in. They made the right decision," he said. "I'll just come back next year even stronger and meaner."

Said said he wished he could have gotten a shot at Fellows.

"Ron Fellows is a good friend of mine, but I'm getting pretty sick of hearing how Ron Fellows is a road-racing god. I think I was gonna kick his butt this weekend," Said said. "He got in by the luck of the draw and I hope he does good, but it's gonna be hard for me sitting on the sidelines."

Marcis wasn't as forgiving as Said when it came to the NASCAR ruling.

"How can two cars that never race with us come to one race and be in the race?" Marcis said. "Look at me. I've been here 33 years and I'm out of here. Cal Wells (owner of Pruett's car), what's he got on the line? He's out of here. Brett Bodine is out of here. Junie Donlavey (owner of the No. 90). How can that be right? Has the sport no merit? This is bull."

Besides bad feelings, the precipitation also brought out rain tires for Happy Hour, the final practice session. Martin, Todd Bodine and Robby Gordon tried them out, with Bodine and Gordon giving them high marks.

"They were good, and fun to drive on," Gordon said. "I was happy with how they performed, and they were balanced very well."

"It had more grip than I thought it would," Bodine said. "I never had the chance to use them before."

Three-time defending race winner Jeff Gordon will start Sunday from the eighth spot. He started third in 1999, on the pole in '98, and 11th in '97.

Winston Cup points leader Bobby Labonte, a winner last weekend in the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, gets to sit on the pole despite relatively average practice runs. Defending points champ Dale Jarrett will start next to him on the front row.