Daytona 500 Qualifying : Elliott’s Bid for a Sweep Is Off to Record Start--205.114 m.p.h.

Bill Elliott has won only four races in his NASCAR career, but the young redhead from Dawsonville, Ga., has set lofty goals for himself and his family Ford.

“No one’s done it, but we want to win the pole for the Daytona 500, the Busch Clash, one of the twin 125-milers and the 500 all in the same year,” Elliott said earlier this week. “We came to Daytona with a clean sweep in mind.”

Elliott made a bold move in that direction Saturday when he shattered all stock car racing speed records with a lap at 205.114 m.p.h. around the 2.5-mile high-banked tri-oval to win the pole for next Sunday’s $1.27-million 500.

“I didn’t know if I could hold my breath for 45 seconds, but I do now,” Elliott said. Actually, he didn’t need the full 45. His lap only took 43.878 seconds.

It will be an all-Ford Thunderbird front row as Cale Yarborough, the former record-holder and defending 500 champion, also bettered his own best-ever speed with a 203.814-m.p.h. lap.

Yarborough’s old qualifying records were 202.692 m.p.h. for all stock car races--set last May in the Winston 500 at Talladega--and 201.848 m.p.h. for the Daytona 500.

“Second is nothing to be ashamed of,” Yarborough said aftercrawling out of a Ford for the first time in 10 years. The Rainier team switched from Chevrolet to Ford over the winter.

“I said all winter that the Elliotts are really hard-working people and they would be tough,” Yarborough added. “But a Ford front row isn’t bad, now is it?”

Seven drivers bettered 200--a once-magical figure that seemed unattainable at Daytona until Yarborough reached it in 1983, only to have his 3,800-pound car take off like a Frisbee a lap later. Daytona’s first official 200 did not come until last year, when Yarborough posted his 201.848.

A. J. Foyt and David Pearson, a pair of 50-year-olds who won here in an earlier era, were among the seven over 200. Foyt, in an Oldsmobile, did 201.275, while Pearson hit 200.370 in a Chevrolet. The others were Neil Bonnett, in one of Junior Johnson’s Chevrolets, 202.584; surprising Dick Brooks, in a Petty Enterprises Ford, 201.149, and defending Winston Cup champion Terry Labonte, 200.240, in the Piedmont Airlines Chevrolet.

Foyt, who won the Daytona 500 back in 1972 and who was part of the winning team in last week’s Daytona 24 Hour race, was elated over his performance.

“It was a great run for an old man, wasn’t it?” Super Tex enthused. “I love it down here running against these NASCAR guys,they’re the greatest. We weren’t going that well all week, but Waddell Wilson (Yarborough’s crew chief) came over right before qualifying and changed a couple of things, and they really helped out.”

There were several other surprises during the ideal qualifying day--cool and little wind.

Darrell Waltrip, driving what is supposedly a car identical to Bonnett’s, could manage only 197.754, which was 21st in the field of 47 qualifiers for the twins 125s. Waltrip, who has been critical of the two-car team forced on him last year when Warner Hodgdon bought half the Junior Johnson team, said crisply, “Obviously, it’s not too good, but what can you expect when you change engines twice the day before qualifying?”

Brooks, who got the ride in the Petty Enterprises car after Richard and Kyle Petty took their rich sponsorships elsewhere, wound up soundly outrunning both Petty father and son. Richard, running for Mike Curb and STP, posted a 198.763, while son Kyle, driving for the Wood Brothers and 7-Eleven, was a tick slower at 198.255.

“They needed a driver, and I needed a ride, so here we are,” Brooks said. “That was all there was to it, but the car ran great. Now, all we need is a sponsor.”

Although Richard Petty was only 12th Saturday, it was the fastest he has ever driven here. And he is a seven-time winner of the 500.

Only Elliott and Yarborough are assured of starting the 27th annual 500, and they’ll be in the 1-2 positions. The remainder of the 40-car field will be determined by placings in the twin 125-mile qualifying races Thursday.

Elliott’s next goal is today’s Busch Clash, a 50-mile dash for cash among 12 drivers. Eleven of them qualified by winning poles last year, while Rusty Wallace was added as a “wild card” entry in a drawing.

“It will come down to the last lap, just like it always does,” Elliott said of today’s 20-lap sprint.

It was less than two years ago that Elliott, 29, won his first race, the Winston Western 500 at Riverside in November of 1983, but since last October he has been on a roll. He won consecutive 500s at Charlotte, N.C., and Rockingham, N.C.,and finished second at Atlanta. This fast finish enabled him to wind up third in the Winston Cup standings and gain a $20,000 bonus for being named NASCAR’s most popular driver.

Elliott, whose crew chief is his brother Ernie, also earned a $25,000 bonus for winning the most poles last year. He tied with Ricky Rudd, Waltrip and Yarborough with four each, but the tiebreaker was the high finisher in season points.

“We ended last year running pretty strong, and winning the pole today will give us momentum to go into the early part of the season the same way,” he said. “We worked harder over the winter than any since we started running NASCAR. We even worked on Christmas and New Year’s to get ourselves in a position to win some of the big money at stake this year.”

Precedent is against him in the races this week. Only Yarborough, in 1977 and 1984, and Fireball Roberts, in 1962, have won a qualifying race and the 500 in the same year. And only Bobby Allison, in 1982, has ever parlayed the Busch Clash and the 500 the same year.

“If someone guaranteed me a win in the 500 if I didn’t win anything else down here, I’d take it,” Elliott said grinning, “but there are no guarantees in racing, so I’m going after a clean sweep.”