BURKART STREAKS TO 4.788, GOOD ENOUGH FOR 9th AFTER ONE DAY
When Phil Burkart drove his bright yellow "Madman Murray" Monte Carlo through the traps at 4.788 seconds, early in today's lone session, he immediately landed in the No. 2 spot on the provisional grid. He also knew his stout run would have a tough time staying in the top half by the time Friday's lone session was completed. Being somewhat psychic, Burkart correctly judged the strength of the competition and the conditions, as he ended Friday's qualifying in the No. 9 position.
"It was a very strong run, and on the way down the track I could feel the car getting edgy, but then the tune-up my guys put in it would save it each step of the way," Burkart said. "You get to where you can sense when the car is going to be in some trouble, and each time it felt like that I could also feel the timing or the clutch change and keep it from smoking the tires. So, I knew it was a good run, but I also knew there'd be some home runs behind us and that we'd probably be sliding down the grid a little as the session went on.
"As it turned out, Robert Hight was really the only one to demolish the clocks (with his 4.692, the only run below the 4.700 threshold) and we really weren't that far off what some other very good teams were running. With five qualifying runs here, if we get good weather and it stays cool, this is going to be one very stout field. There's a chance we'll see the first sub-4.80 bump spot here. That's quite an accomplishment, because that means 16 teams have to make almost perfect runs, but it could happen here. We aim to go quicker, I know that."
