Martin Wins Winston 500 Pole Position

Mark Martin won the pole position for the Winston 500 NASCAR stock car race today as the rain-interrupted first round of qualifying for Sunday’s race was completed.

Qualifying attempts on the 2.66-mile, high-banked Talladega Superspeedway oval resumed this morning under gloomy but dry skies.

Martin, driving a Ford Thunderbird, turned a fast lap of 193.061 m.p.h. to win his series-leading third pole position of the season.

The Batesville, Ark., native has qualified no worse than fifth in nine tries this season.

“We’ve run less than 40 races as a team and we’re still getting a lot better,” Martin said. “We’re still learning each other, learning the tracks and learning about the Ford.”

Davey Allison, who was on the pole here last season with a lap of 198.969, was second this time at 192.851.

The slowdown, which was expected, is the direct result of a new carburetor restricter plate mandated by NASCAR to slow the cars here and at Daytona International Speedway.

Neil Bonnett, whose 192.189 was the only lap over 190 among the 12 drivers who qualified before the rains came on Thursday, fell to third.

Bill Elliott, the track record-holder, gave Ford a sweep of the top four positions with a lap of 190.970, with first-day qualifier Darrell Waltrip next at 189.959 in a Chevrolet Lumina.

Rounding out the top 10 were Morgan Shepherd at 189.895, Harry Gant 189.900, Phil Parsons 189.504, Terry Labonte 189.185 and Rick Wilson 189.144.