Her Dream Breaks Down

What didn’t happen overshadowed what did during Friday’s Winston Cup qualifying at California Speedway.

Shawna Robinson’s much-publicized attempt to become the first woman driver in NASCAR’s premier series in nearly 12 years ended before it started. Her hopes were dashed when the rear end broke on owner Michael Kranefuss’ Ford Taurus as she came out of the second turn on her first warmup lap.

“Honestly, my dream is crushed,” said the 36-year-old mother of two who was hoping to make Sunday’s NAPA Auto Parts 500 the first of seven Winston Cup races this year. “I didn’t not make the race due to not going fast enough. I didn’t make it because I broke.”

Bobby Labonte, putting the lie to a Nashville radio station’s report that he had died in a car crash, won the pole for Sunday’s 500-mile race with a lap of 182.635 mph in one of Joe Gibbs’ Pontiacs.

“I hope this means we’re bounding back,” said the defending Winston Cup champion, who is mired in 14th place after nine races this year. It was his first pole in 18 races.

More significantly, it means that he’s alive.

“It’s been pretty rough for me and my family, since it was reported that I was killed earlier today,” Labonte said. “All my family back home heard it and all the people at [his children’s] school. So I got a phone call about it pretty early this morning before practice started.

“My wife was the maddest she has ever been, but she is also glad too. It was the worst and the best day. It makes you wonder how something like that gets started. I don’t believe that it was started by somebody that just wanted to start something, other than just bad information that somebody had--like maybe they got the wrong name or something.

“It bothers me more because I’m not there with them in a case like that. It was tough because of the time element. It was like 30 minutes before practice started. Once we got in the race car, I know where I’m at, my wife knows where I’m at, we all know that everything is OK.”

Todd Bodine, who also qualified for today’s Auto Club 300 Busch Grand National race, will start alongside Labonte after reaching 182.565 in his Kmart Ford Taurus.

Jeremy Mayfield, who has had little success since winning last year’s NAPA race from 24th position, was third fastest in a Ford at 181.910. Tony Stewart, Labonte’s Pontiac teammate, was fourth at 181.887.

Dale Jarrett, Winston Cup points leader, continued his consistency, qualifying fifth in a Ford, the sixth time he has been in the top 10.

“This car has been really good all year with one pole and two wins,” Jarrett said of the UPS Taurus. “Everywhere we’ve taken it, we’ve run well.”

Chevy driver Jeff Gordon, a two-time California Speedway winner and Jarrett’s nearest challenger in the standings, had a disappointing day, dropping to 17th on the grid.

“What’s real disappointing is that we were real good in practice,” said Gordon after his 180.741 lap. “As the sun kept making the track hotter, it just kept getting a little slicker. If you bobble just the tiniest bit here in qualifying, you’re going to struggle, and that’s what I did. We’ve got a great car and it was fast all day, so we’re looking forward to Sunday.”

Robinson wasn’t the only driver who had problems Friday, but the others--Stacy Compton and Dale Earnhardt Jr.--were luckier in that their car owners held provisional starting positions.

Compton, pole sitter in the Talladega 500 last Sunday, spun wildly down the front straightaway in his Dodge Intrepid during his second lap. Although he didn’t hit anything, the slide dropped his speed to second slowest of the 45 entries.

Earnhardt hit the wall in Turn 2 during a morning practice lap. He was not injured, but the car was. The crew had to hastily prepare a backup Chevy and Little E could coax only 176.492 from it.

Earnhardt will start 38th, Compton 43rd and last.

By 4 p.m., before qualifying was over, Kranefuss’ crew was loading Robinson’s No. 84 into the transporter and heading home to Mooresville, N.C.

“I want to do this more than anything in the world and now I’ve got to wait until Michigan and that’s hard,” said the disappointed woman who had hoped to be the first in a Winston Cup race since Patty Moise in July 1989. Her next attempt will be June 10 at Michigan.

“It was so frustrating,” she said. “I drove into [Turn] 1 just like I wanted to and got off into 2 and as soon as I got off of 2, if felt like it went into neutral, but it didn’t go into neutral--the rear end broke.

“It makes my heart break because I don’t get to go out there for the fans. I mean, the fans were pulling for me so bad. They’re still cheering and yelling and I’m sure if I walked out there they would still support me. It’s been absolutely amazing. There’s only a first time once. I just hope they know that I’ll be back.”

In Busch qualifying, Bobby Hamilton Jr. got the first pole of his Grand National career when he drove his Chevrolet at 179.198.

His father, Bobby, was not so fortunate in Winston Cup. He had to take a provisional to make Sunday’s race.

Tony Raines will start next to Hamilton Jr. when today’s 300-mile Busch race gets underway at 12:30 p.m. He qualified a Chevrolet at 178.935.

Rookie Greg Biffle, the surprise points leader, kept his momentum going with a third-fastest qualifying lap of 178.669 in the Grainger Ford.