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Rich Bickle on Pole for NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Hanes 250

27 September 1997

MARTINSVILLE, VA - Rich Bickle has captured the pole for tomorrow's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Hanes 250 at Martinsville Speedway.

His speed of 92.796 (20.406 seconds around the 0.526-mile track) set a new series track record beating the existing mark of 92.101 mph set last year by Bobby Hamilton.

This is the fourth time in 1997 that the driver of the #17 Sears DieHard Chevrolet has recorded the fastest time and he is now tied with series point leader Jack Sprague for the most pole positions earned this season.

Starting alongside Bickle will be NASCAR Winston Cup regular Ernie Irvan in the #28 Federated Auto Part Ford. Rounding out the top five are Mike Bliss, defending series champion Ron Hornaday and Joe Ruttman.

Bickle, in the #17 Sears DieHard Chevrolet, was the 17th of 51 drivers to make a qualifying attempt under overcast skies. With the starting field limited to 36 trucks, 15 hopefuls were sent home early. They are: Bill Sedgwick, Randy Renfrow, Blaise Alexander, Lance Norick, Tom Baldwin, Joe Gaita, Andy Genzman, Terry Cook, Jerry Robertson, Tammy Jo Kirk, Mike Ewanitsko, Ronnie Newman, Jeff Spraker, Kevin Grubb, Rick Markle.

The Hanes 250 is scheduled to get the green flag at 1:00 pm EDT tomorrow afternoon.

Lori Vizza -- The Auto Channel