Interstate 500 Pre-Race Report
Texas Motor Speedway
April 5, 1997
ROANOKE, TX- NASCAR Winston Cup Series Sunday Notebook April 5, 1997 Texas Motor Speedway DALE JARRETT ON THE POLE - Two days of inclement weather at TMS forced NASCAR to cancel Winston Cup qualifying for tomorrow's Interstate Batteries 500. "Hopefully everyone knows we tried to make every effort to get qualifying in," said Kevin Triplett, NASCAR Manager of Communications. "Today is raceday for the NASCAR Busch Series and that is our priority. There wasn't enough time to practice and qualify the NASCAR Winston Cup cars and still start the Coca-Cola 300 on time. Since this is a new track, track time is at a premium and we want to give the teams as much practice time as possible." The first 35 positions were based on car owner points putting current Winston Cup Series leader Dale Jarrett on the pole. The reamaining eight positions were based on the postmarks on the entry blanks for the race. Jarrett, the driver of the #88 Quality Care/Ford Credit Thunderbird, was awarded the Coors Light Silver Bullet Qualifying trophy and a check for $14,000. Jarrett donated his half of the winnings to the Speedway's Children Charities. "We have, in a way, earned this because of our performance this season has put us in that position," Jarrett stated. "In defense of the drivers and NASCAR, we realize that this was a tough decision on everybody's part, but in order for there to be a good race, this is the right decision that had to be made." THE WAR OF WORDS CONTINUES....THIS TIME IT'S FORD VS PONTIAC (!) When asked about the loss of a quarter-inch on the rear spoiler of the Ford Thunderbirds, Jack Roush had this to say: "Something is not right. The Pontiac has got the green light to go. If one of these top 10 drivers was in a Pontiac, he would go to the front and be gone. Then the Pontiac wouldn't be what it is today. They are holding that situation for the Pontiac until it embarrasses them too bad, then they will do something about it." Pontiac drivers took exception to the car owner's comments and slung a few arrows back in the direction of the Roush Racing camp. "My only comment is I hope the Pontiacs embarrass him as much as the Ford has," said Kyle Petty, driver of the #44 Hot Wheels Pontiac. Jimmy Makar, crew chief of the #18 Interstate Batteries Grand Prix with driver Bobby Labonte, added, "Has he looked at the point standings? We're fourth in the point standings. We're running in a Pontiac." "He had the green light all last season in a Ford, and he wasn't even able to win one race," remarked Bobby Hamilton, who pilots the #43 STP Grand Prix. "At least we won one." Roush's three-car operation is winless over the last 39 races with Mark Martin's last victory coming in the UAW-GM 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on October 8, 1995.
