ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, July 31, 1996 TAG: 9607310030
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: INDIANAPOLIS
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
THE WINSTON CUP RACER is planning a visit to an Indianapolis doctor and wants to be in the driver's seat Saturday.
Dale Earnhardt, nursing a sore body two days after his huge crash at Talladega Superspeedway, rejected potential surgery for his upper-body injuries, but made plans to visit a prominent Indianapolis race doctor.
Earnhardt said in a statement released by his team Tuesday that he decided against minor surgery to have a metal mesh device inserted in his shoulder to prevent further injury. He suffered a broken sternum and broken collarbone in a crash during the DieHard 500.
``We are doing everything the doctors recommend and putting a metal insert in my shoulder is not necessary, so we aren't going to do it,'' Earnhardt said. ``We plan to be at the Brickyard [today] to help [relief driver] Mike [Skinner] and the team get the car ready. Then we'll qualify on Thursday and get ready for Saturday's race.''
Richard Childress, Earnhardt's car owner, said Earnhardt was planning to visit Dr. Terry Trammell in Indianapolis, who has treated dozens of injured race car drivers through the years.
``He's flying up tomorrow morning, or maybe tonight, to meet with him,'' Childress said Tuesday during a teleconference at the speedway's Brickyard Crossing golf course. ``They're going to fit him up with whatever they think is best.''
Childress said Earnhardt was even sorer Tuesday than he was Monday, but his spirits were better. And he said no one should underestimate Earnhardt's desire to race as much as he can Saturday.
``We put him in the car here [at the shop in Welcome, N.C.] yesterday and he kind of got down in it and squeezed in it,'' Childress said. ``And I [saw] something in his eyes that tells me if his body will let him, you'll have to pry him out of the car'' on race day.
Childress said Earnhardt told him to put the remains of the car on display in Childress' museum next to his shop.
``The car held up extremely well for conditions it went through,'' Childress said. ``But when Dale went on his side, the 33 car hit him in the roof. And it pushed those bars down and bent the dash and floorboard. It's just a miracle that it didn't break his legs or injure his legs.
``But his seat is different. It goes back to a real old style. It's like a seat out of an old Econo Van, except we've modified it. I've always thought this seat was a little safer.''
Childress said he plans to add another angle bar in the roll cage of Earnhardt's cars that will be welded to the bar that was crushed, making it stronger.
Childress said Earnhardt will wear an extra belt so crewmen can ``get underneath him and pull him up,'' when he needs to get out of the car.
Childress also said he tried to get Al Unser Jr. as a relief driver before making arrangements with Skinner ``because of the amount of time he has at the speedway.'' But Unser had other commitments, including a test session at Sebring, Fla.
As far as how long Earnhardt will drive Saturday, ``we're going to leave it up to him,'' Childress said. ``We just don't want to take a chance of him getting hurt again or hurt worse.''
Childress said NASCAR President Bill France called him Monday.
``He was asking me for suggestions'' about how to make racing at Talladega safer. ``I couldn't give him any suggestions on how to do it any different,'' he said.
LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: headshot of Earnhardt color KEYWORDS: AUTO RACINGby CNB