Bristol: Tom Martino Friday qualifying

As one of twelve cars battling to fill the six open qualifying positions for the Winston Showdown, Tom Martino and the CENTURY 21 Firebird Racing team knew they would need a strong effort just to qualify. After struggling to get down a tricky right lane in their earlier run, Martino entered Friday's crucial evening session knowing conditions would probably be the best of the Pro Stocker's four attempts. Taking full advantage, Martino recorded an elapsed time of 7.067 seconds with a top speed of 194.55 mph, fifth quickest overall and, more importantly, second among the cars without a guaranteed spot in Sunday's field. "Our problems during the first session were completely related to the lane. If we had been in the left lane, we probably would have run a 7.11 or 12. That made us a little shy about getting after it, and as a result we were a little light on the run tonight. Our motor isn't running quite as well as we'd like. It's not too happy in the altitude. We'll make a few changes to it for tomorrow, see if we can find out what it wants, and get this Century 21 Firebird to run even better."