Full fields of NASCAR Winston Cup and Busch Series, Grand National Division race cars are set to open practice Friday morning in preparation for Busch Pole Award Qualifying at 2 p.m. Friday.
Fifty-seven NASCAR Busch Series cars are entered for Saturday's DURA-LUBE 200 Presented by Pep Boys. They will practice from 9-11 a.m. and 12:30-1 p.m. in preparation for their 2 p.m. Busch Pole session that will set positions 1-38 in the starting field of up to 43 cars for Saturday's 1 p.m. start of the 17th DURA-LUBE 200.
Forty-four NASCAR Winston Cup Series cars are entered for Sunday's 40th TranSouth Financial 400. They will practice from 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. and 1-2 p.m. in preparation for their Busch Pole session that will start immediately following NASCAR Busch Series Qualifying and lock-in positions 1-25 for Sunday's race.
Tim Fedewa is the NASCAR Busch Series qualifying record holder at Darlington with a lap of the 3.66-mile oval at an average speed of 162.904 mph set last year in a Ford Thunderbird.
Jeff Gordon is the NASCAR Winston Cup Series qualifying record holder at Darlington with a lap at 170.833 mph, which was set last year in a Chevrolet Monte Carlo.
No less than 10 NASCAR Winston Cup haulers participated in a "Big Rig Show" that was held as a fund-raiser at the Florence Civic Center on Thursday evening. NASCAR Winston Cup drivers Ricky Rudd and Derrike Cope also participated in the event.
RICKY RUDD -10- Tide Ford
"So far it's been a good, consistent season. We sat back in the winter and had a regrouping with our new crew chief (Richard Broome). Our goals were to not kill ourselves in the points while we're learning to work with each other. We've been fortunate to have four top 10s and one top five. We know we're going to get better as a team. We very well could win this weekend (Rudd won 1991 TranSouth event). We didn't come here and test so I don't know what kind of shape we'll be in but we've traditionally run well at Darlington. Right now we've been a sixth or seventh place car everywhere we've been, but that's not to say this couldn't be a winning weekend." SPEEDS ARE LOOKING TO BE UP THIS SPRING -- IS IT A NATURAL PROGRESSION?
"I think the race track surface is the best by far that it's ever been since I've been at Darlington (since 1977). Goodyear's tire development has continued and they're working pretty good. Everyone's tested near the track record so Goodyear's done their homework. It's gonna be an interesting, fast field. HOW HAS RICHARD BROOME FIT IN AS CREW CHIEF?
"Broome is a real good, solid crew chief. He really hasn't seen much glory since the last races Kenny Schrader was able to win (in 1991). It's a pleasure to work with Richard -- he's still really hungry and wants to win really badly. He's got the credentials. He's got to catch up as far as working with me on what I want a race car to do and we're working through that pretty quickly. He's a real good people person and knowledgeable way back in the sport. He knows where it's been and where it's headed. He's open-minded on the new technology which is really a good asset. What I like about Richard is he's not happy at all (to have run as well as they have) to be third in the points and about 50 out of first (actually 72). This is something to be proud of, with basically a new team, but we haven't dominated any races. He wants to win and be up front in every race and I like the fact that he's not content to run up front and finish second." HOW MUCH EMPHASIS IS HE PUTTING ON THE BUSCH POLE?
"You really don't know if you're going to be a factor for the pole or to just make the race until you run the first couple practice sessions. It's THAT competitive. Sometimes three tenths (of a second) will separate a field. We sat on the outside of the front row in the last race here but until we got here we didn't know how good we were going to be.
DERRIKE COPE -12- Mane 'N Tail Ford
"The car's been better than the results show! That's part of the sport. If we can get the monkey off our back -- the car's capable of winning races. We can turn it around here. Darlington's always been a good race track for us -- our finishes show it. If we can qualify up front I think we can finish up there and carry it on. ON QUICK TEST SPEEDS?
"It's a natural progression of things. Goodyear has got a good, solid tire. They keep stimulating the minds of these teams and they keep finding more avenues to find speed. It's a progressive sport and that's why you keep seeing the speeds escalating.
HERMIE SADLER -1- DeWalt Industrial Tools Chevrolet
"It's been a rough year but last year wasn't too good for me either! It seems like we were snake-bitten and couldn't get things to go right. When we had good race cars with chances to win something would break or I'd have an accident or something... It's been the same way this year. We've made improvements and we've run better this year than we have in the past. You can't control everything. All we can do is keep digging and hopefully when our luck does change we'll be in a position to take advantage of it. WHAT KIND OF IMPACT HAS CREW CHIEF JOHN MONSAM HAD ON THE TEAM?
"He's made more of an improvement than people are seeing because of our finishes. I judge more by how we're running on the race track. We went to Daytona and we were in the top 10 when we crashed. We went to Rockingham and lost two laps early but made one of those up and had a top five or six car. At Richmond we blew up right at the beginning of the race and at Atlanta we broke a shock. Last weekend at Nashville we were looking at a top 10 until we were involved in a crash. We haven't had a chance to show how much improvement we've made but I know how well I feel in the cars and how much more comfortable I've been than I have been in the past. We're communicating together real good. We are both after the same things and have the same feelings about some things. It's been a good combination for us and I hope it eventually shows up on the race track so people can realize what a good job both he and the rest of the team have been doing. We had a chance to win right out of the box in our first race together at Homestead (last season). He's a good organizer and he's tried to do a good job of getting everybody at the shop involved. It's frustrating but like I said after Homestead, when we crashed we were running up front. That means as much to me as anything else. CAN HE TURN SEASON AROUND AT DARLINGTON?
"I've sat on the outside of the front row here and run good here before. They tell me sometimes your luck turns around when you least expect it. I've only finished in the top 10 here one time. Maybe this is the time. I'd love to win five races in a row, being greedy, but what we need right now is to get some consistency going, finish some races and get some top fives and top 10s and get our season turned around. If we run up front long enough we'll win some races. The key to winning races in this series is to run in the top five and top 10 consistently. If you don't lead a lap until there's 50 laps to go you can still win the race. We've got to give ourselves more chances to win. The car we'll race here is a brand new car we ran at Rockingham (GM Goodwrench Service 200). We qualified well with it and it ran consistently all day. In the past we've seen that our cars that worked well there worked well here so we're looking for good things from it.
DAVID PEARSON "Team consultant" -00- Aquafresh Ford
"It has been a tough year. Of course I really don't have much to do with that race team. I'm just renting my shop and equipment to Buckshot Jones. My sons Ricky and Eddie work in there with them. He's (Jones) doing great but it just takes experience (Jones has missed three of five races so far). When he's running he's running strong! I hope Darlington's a good place to turn the corner. A place like Darlington you've got to keep your mind on what you're doing at all times. He is so hyped-up with wanting to win and run up front so bad that I think that that's his problem. If we can just keep talking to him and keep him calmed down I think he'll be better in the long run. It's a fine line to walk, as tough as it is to make these races. In practice he's always strong enough to make the field, no problem. When it comes down to qualifying I think he tries too hard and gets the car out of shape and you lose a lot of time. That's just experience. WILL RICKY PEARSON CALL ON HIM FOR BENEFIT OF DARLINGTON EXPERIENCE?
"I think they've heard me holler so much about 'do this and do that' that they're probably getting a little tired of it!
