Labonte Cranks Out a Record Run : His 117.541-m.p.h. Lap Gives Him the Pole at Riverside

Terry Labonte, who won four poles and two races at Riverside International Raceway for car owner Billy Hagen, found the right combination Friday for Junior Johnson.

Labonte, who replaced three-time Winston Cup champion Darrell Waltrip as Johnson’s driver this year, set a Budweiser 400 qualifying record with a lap around the 2.62-mile course in his new Chevrolet at 117.541 m.p.h.

This bettered the year-old mark of 117.006 set by Waltrip in one of Johnson’s cars but fell short of the track record of 118.247 by Tim Richmond before last November’s Winston Western 500.

“Before qualifying, I felt Richmond would be the one to beat,” Labonte said. “He’s always a good qualifier, especially here.”

Richmond, who missed the first 11 races this season with double pneumonia before coming back to win last week’s Miller 500 at Pocono, qualified fifth with a 116.919 lap.

Geoff Bodine, in one of Rick Hendrick’s five Chevrolet entries, will start on the front row with Labonte after posting a speed of 117.397. Waltrip, in another Hendrick car, is next at 117.321, with Ricky Rudd, in the fastest Ford, also in the second row at 117.041.

“I’m a little disappointed,” Waltrip said. “I wanted to be first, or at least on the front row. It’s a new car, right out of the box, and I was a little scared of it at first, but I’m beginning to like it.”

Only four of Hendrick’s cars were among the 20 who qualified for Sunday’s 400-kilometer race. Jim Fitzgerald, a refugee from the Sports Car Club of America’s Trans Am series, survived a high-speed slide through the dirt in the morning and could muster only 111.764 in his official lap.

The remaining 20 starters will be determined in a second qualifying session today at 11:30 a.m.

This was Labonte’s fifth Riverside pole since he began coming here in 1979. Only Waltrip, with 9, and David Pearson, with 7, have won more stock car race poles.

“I might have been even quicker if I hadn’t messed up a little bit in turn nine,” the 30-year-old Texan said. “I felt like I’d run the first part of the course better than I ever had and going down the back straightaway I was going to try to go into nine a little harder than normal.

“It didn’t work. I lost some valuable time going into the corner a little too hard. I got off the brake and back into the gas too quick and the car pushed up a couple of car lengths. That cost us.”

Winning the pole can be important at Riverside, where the narrow, twisting course makes it difficult to pass. The pole-winner won both of last year’s races, Waltrip in the Budweiser and Richmond in the Winston Western.

One of Labonte’s wins, in 1984, also was from the pole.

Labonte has not won a race this year, but consistent finishes have him in fifth place in the Winston Cup standings. He had consecutive seconds at Talladega and Charlotte, and six finishes in the top five.

“I feel like the second half of the year will be much better for us,” Labonte said. “When a driver goes to a new team, at the same time the team is trying out some new things, it takes a little while to get going.

“Sunday would be a good time to start. We ran well the last couple of races until last week when we went out early with a busted oil pump belt.

“If we can run all day and not have any problems, we have a good chance to win. I like Riverside. It’s been good to me.

“And it’s been bad, too,” he added.

It was here in November 1982 that Labonte crashed so hard into the concrete wall entering turn nine that he almost gave up racing. He was hospitalized with a concussion, facial cuts and a broken leg.

“That was definitely the worst accident in my career,” he recalled.

Last year, in the Budweiser 400, only two laps remained when Labonte’s right front suspension failed and he hit the retaining wall in turn one.

Dazed, but not injured, Labonte later asked his crew about who had placed the box under his seat. When crew members looked puzzled, Labonte laughed and said:

“The box full of stars. When I hit that wall, they spilled out and were floating all around me.”

Only two West Coast drivers made it in the top 20--Roy Smith of Seattle and defending Winston West series champion Hershel McGriff, who now lives in Green Valley, Ariz. Both are in the ninth row.

Defending champion Ron Esau of Lakeside captured the pole for today’s Vons 200 Southwest Tour race.

Esau, who also won this same race in 1980 when it was called the Sharon Hodgdon 200, drove his ’87 IROC Camaro 114.174 m.p.h.

The 200-kilometer race, which is approximately 125 miles, will start at 2 p.m.