Scene Is Familiar: Johnson on Row 1 : Daytona 500: This time it’s as the owner of cars driven by pole-winner Sterling Marlin and Bill Elliott.

Junior Johnson, who won the second Daytona 500 as a driver in 1960, will have the front row all to himself as a car owner in next Sunday’s 34th annual 500.

Sterling Marlin and Bill Elliott, in Johnson’s Ford Thunderbirds, took the first two qualifying positions during time trials Sunday that proved somewhat of a disappointment to speed freaks because of a strong wind that reduced anticipated speeds.

Marlin, a second-generation driver from Columbia, Tenn., ran a lap around Daytona International Speedway’s 2.5-mile tri-oval at 192.213 m.p.h., 0.123 quicker than Elliott’s 192.090. Both had run in the 194s during morning practice before a 12-knot wind began blowing off the Atlantic Ocean and up the back straightaway.

“I’d say we lost about 150 horsepower in the wind,” Marlin said.

It is the slowest pole speed since 1978 when Cale Yarborough qualified at 187.536 m.p.h.--also in a Junior Johnson-owned car. The record is 210.664, by Elliott in 1987, but NASCAR officials, concerned about escalating speeds, introduced carburetor restrictor plates that reduced horsepower.

Restrictor plates are used only at the high-banked tracks at Daytona and Talladega. Curiously, Marlin has been fastest at the last three restrictor plate races.

“We’ve used the same motor at each one,” Marlin said. “We’re not going to run it Thursday (in the 125-mile qualifying races). We’re going to take it back to Junior’s shop (in Ingle Hollow, N.C.) and bring it back for Sunday’s race. There’s something special about it. I don’t know what it is, but we have several others that test the same on the dyno(mometer) but don’t seem to work as well on the race track.”

Marlin finished second behind Ernie Ervan in last year’s Daytona 500 in his first race for Johnson. He has yet to win a Winston Cup race in 219 starts.

“I’ve been coming to Daytona since I was 9, watching my daddy (Coo Coo Marlin) race, so driving one of Junior Johnson’s cars and sitting on the pole for the Super Bowl of our sport is a great thrill for me,” Marlin said. “Our next objective is winning the 500. We came down here to sit on the pole and win the race. We’re halfway there.”

Elliott joined Johnson’s team last month after leaving Harry Melling and the family-run Elliott team from Dawsonville, Ga. Thursday’s 125-mile race will be Elliott’s first without his brother, Ernie, as his crew chief since he drove a race for Roger Hamby in 1979.

Fords also filled the second row, with Mark Martin (191.750) and rookie Dorsey Schroeder, a former Trans-Am champion (191.404). The fastest General Motors qualifier was 52-year-old Harry Gant, who coaxed 190.702 from his Oldsmobile, but he was disqualified hours later when a technical inspection found the car to be a quarter-inch too low.

Dale Earnhardt, still looking for his first Daytona 500 victory, despite having won five Winston Cup championships, is seventh at 190.082 in a Chevrolet. Richard Petty, who has won seven Daytona 500s to go with his seven championships, is a surprising ninth fastest at 189.909.

“We came off the trailer down here and ran pretty good,” an obviously pleased Petty said. “It always makes you feel better going into a race when you haven’t had any problems and everything is going like it’s supposed to. If you come down here and the car isn’t handling and you blow up some motors, you’re behind and you’re not feeling so good.”

The only other time an owner had both front-row starters was 1989, when Ken Schrader and Darrell Waltrip qualified two of Rick Hendrick’s Chevys. They switched positions in the race, Waltrip winning, with Schrader second.

Although 49 drivers took the green flag for qualifying runs, only the first two are guaranteed positions. The remainder of the 40-car field for the 500 will be determined in the Gatorade Twin 125s Thursday. Among the nine entries who did not make an attempt was that of A.J. Foyt.

“We just didn’t feel like we were ready,” Foyt said. “We’re not here to just make the race, we’re here to try to race with the guys, and until we get the car fixed properly we’re not going to qualify it.”