NASCAR Winston Cup Series Dura-Lube 500: Bobby Hamilton on Pole

1 November 1997

PHOENIX, AZ - NASCAR's version of Mr. October has got to be Bobby Hamilton.
It was late October in '96 that Hamilton got his first Winston Cup victory
here at Phoenix International Raceway. He then backed the win up - to the
date - one year later. Now, one week after his win at Rockingham, Bobby
Hamilton has won the pole for Sunday's Dura-Lube 500.

Hamilton, who has only two races left in the STP Pontiac before he moves on
to the Morgan-McLure Kodak Chevrolet, toured the flat 1.00 mile track with
a record setting 27.360 second lap at a 131.579 mile per hour clip. After
he learned that the pole was his Hamilton said, "We never made a change on
the car. We changed stuff on it but we put it back to the way it was when
it left the shop."

Sitting on the outside pole is Mr. Excitement - Jimmy Spencer. Spencer made
the run in his Camel Ford with a 27.495 second (130.933 mph) lap. Spencer
said after his run, "We've come a long way on the flat tracks. Donnie
(Wingo - crew chief) and that whole bunch of guys worked really really hard
this year. We've had a terrible year so far. It'll be great to start up
front. Maybe we'll get this Camel Ford to victory lane come Sunday."

The drivers that round out the top-five are Rusty Wallace, last years pole
winner - Bobby Labonte and Rick Mast.

The starting spots for the top-three drivers in the championship run show
Jeff Gordon rolling off 12th, Mark Martin in 14th and Dale Jarrett in the
9th starting spot.

Second round qualifying, for positions 26 to 38, for Sunday's Dura-Lube 500
is set for 11:00 AM Saturday November, 1st. Positions 39 to 42 are reserved
for provisional starters.

The Winston Cup event is scheduled to start Sunday at 2:00 PM eastern and
will be carried live by TNN and MRN Radio.

Mike Snow -- The Auto Channel