prepared two identical hardtops for the upcoming Motorola Cup.
Sixty-three cars qualified for the Motorola Cup
and five Corvette hardtops made the cut. The fastest qualifier was the #11 Powell
Corvette driven by John’s son Devon Powell and Doug Goad. They captured
the pole position with a time of 2:02.587. Reese Cox and Marty Miller qualified
their #98 hardtop fifth fastest with a time of 2:06.000. Eighth fastest was
Joe Nonnamaker and Bill Pate’s Corvette hardtop at 2:08.144. Powell’s
second car #30 qualified fourteenth at 2:12.341. The #08 Corvette of Amos Johnson
and Randy Pobst lost an engine during qualifying and started last on the grid
in sixty-third position. The Corvette’s main competition came from two
well-prepared Dodge Vipers. They qualified second and third overall. The fastest
Viper sat of the grid with a time of 2:04.025.
After the Corvette pace car exited the course, it quickly
became a Corvette vs. Viper battle. Car #11 kept the lead with the #53 Viper
a close second. The Viper had the straight-line speed, but the Corvette’s
brakes were better and it came off the corners faster. Marty Miller
