Daytona Qualifying : Elliott Leaves ‘Em Miles Behind as He, Yarborough Win 125-Milers

Many drivers have dominated a 125-mile qualifying race at Daytona International Speedway and faltered three days later in the Daytona 500. In fact, only twice in the last 10 years has a 125 winner gone on to win the 500.

But no one ever dominated a qualifier the way Bill Elliott did Thursday.

Elliott finished the 50 laps more than two miles ahead of Darrell Waltrip after clipping off laps of 200-plus m.p.h. in a Ford Thunderbird prepared by his brother, Ernie. His 37-second margin was the widest in the 27-year history of the twin 125s. He was so far in front that he might well have lapped Waltrip had the race gone a few more laps.

Two-time defending 500 champion Cale Yarborough won the other heat in a more conventional manner. He followed David Pearson for 24 laps before using Pearson’s draft to slingshot into the lead coming out of the second turn of the final lap.

Elliott will start on the pole in Sunday’s $1.28-million Daytona 500, the richest stock car race ever, with Yarborough, in another T-Bird, alongside him.

At times Thursday, Elliott was streaking down the backstretch on the 2.5-mile tri-oval so fast that he appeared to be outrunning small aircraft landing at the Daytona airport behind the race track. His lap times in mid-race were half a second faster than Yarborough or Pearson ran in the second heat.

It could be called an awesome performance.

“Bill Elliott awed everybody here but Cale Yarborough,” said the veteran Yarborough, who won his first Daytona 500 in 1968, when Elliott was 14 years old.

Others were, indeed, awed by the good ol’ boy from Dawsonville, Ga., who last Saturday during time trials set a stock-car speed record of 205.114 m.p.h.

Especially those who chased him for 125 miles.

Waltrip said: “I was hoping to be second, right behind Bill. I was second, all right, but I was right in front of him. I have never seen a car as strong as Elliott’s was today.”

Benny Parsons, who finished third, remarked: “I said the race would be a learning experience for us. One thing we learned is that Bill Elliott is as strong as green onions.”

Buddy Baker, the fourth place finisher: “Our car handled better than anything out there, except that rocket that was leading.”

Neil Bonnett, who was the fastest non-Ford qualifier last Saturday at 202.584 in a Chevy, said: “I can’t run my car like that for 500 miles. If Elliott’s got anything left, people might as well go home and watch on TV. He pulled away from me every lap as if there was no such thing as a draft.”

Two late pit stops dropped Bonnett to 10th place.

Elliott’s day was made easier when defending Winston Cup champion Terry Labonte dropped out with engine problems while leading on the eighth lap.

“We wanted to see what the car could do, so we ran it as hard as it would go,” Elliott said. “But we don’t expect anything like that on Sunday. If Terry hadn’t dropped out, he and Neil might have hooked up and made it harder on us. We looked at the race as a good education for Sunday.”

It also showed how far a team can progress in a few years. In 1977, the Elliott brothers hauled a Ford down from Georgia. It was the slowest car at Daytona. They didn’t even make the field.

Surrounded by reporters and TV cameramen after the race, Elliott was asked the difference between 1977 and 1985.

“No one wanted to talk to me then,” he said, smiling.

Elliott’s average speed of 179.784 m.p.h. was not a record because three laps were run under a caution flag after Bob Park had spun and stopped in the middle of the track.

A freak incident occurred on Lap 22 of the second race when only one car, a Chevy driven by Delma Cowart, was on the track. All the others were in the pits after a spin by Dick Skillen had brought out a caution flag.

A spectacular five-car accident on Turn 3 among Clark Dwyer, Ken Ragan, Randy LaJoie, Trevor Boys and Dean Roper crunched a lot of equipment but caused no injuries. It took six laps to clean up the mess caused by the spinning cars, which helped drop Yarborough’s winning speed to 155.387 m.p.h.

A. J. Foyt, who started next to Yarborough in the front row, jumped his Oldsmobile into the lead at the start, but Yarborough took command on the first lap. Except for one lap, when Phil Parsons led during a flurry of pit stops, Yarborough kept his new Ford in front.

At the halfway point, as they started Lap 26, the 50-year-old Pearson swept past Yarborough into the lead. Yarborough tucked in behind him and was content to run in that position, patiently waiting for his last-lap slingshot to victory.

“I thought about passing Pearson earlier.” he said. “I was tempted when he drove up high, but he was running so strong down the straightway that I decided to stay where I was. I may have surprised him when I made my move so early (on the last lap). I usually don’t make a move like that before the third turn, but I made it two turns earlier today.”

Pearson knew he was a sitting duck but was helpless to hold his lead.

“I knew he was coming,” said the winner of 105 Grand National races but only one Daytona 500. “There was nothing I could do about it. I was backing off the corners early, hoping Cale would make a mistake and go by me early, but he didn’t.”

On the final turn of the last lap, running six car lengths behind Yarborough and Pearson, Harry Gant and Phil Parsons bumped. In the time it took to get their cars back under control, the Pettys, son Kyle and father Richard, flashed past to finish third and fourth, respectively.

The twin 125s were watched by a crowd estimated at 60,000 in the grandstands and as many seagulls in the infield.

Today, the first race in the four-race International Race of Champions series will take over the speedway with 12 drivers scheduled to race 100 miles in identically prepared Camaros.

Former Long Beach Grand Prix winner John Watson of Northern Ireland drew the pole position, with CART Indy car champion Mario Andretti alongside. Lined up behind them will be Bobby Rahal, Derek Bell, Labonte, Tom Sneva, who failed to qualify for Sunday’s 500; Yarborough, Jochen Mass, Foyt, Tom Gloy, Waltrip and Gant.