THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, May 4, 1996 TAG: 9605040516
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SONOMA, CALIF. LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines
Harry Gant will be behind the wheel of a Winston Cup car for the first time since his retirement in 1994 when he substitutes for Bill Elliott in The Winston Select all-star race on May 18.
``It's not like I'm making a comeback to Winston Cup racing,'' Gant said Friday at Sears Point International Raceway. ``This is just a favor I want to do for Bill and (team co-owner) Charles (Hardy).''
Elliott, meanwhile, is expected to be released next week from a Birmingham, Ala., hospital following surgery to repair his left thigh bone, which was shattered in a crash at Talladega last Sunday.
Team spokeswoman Danielle Humphrey said the bone was not broken in four places as first reported, but was broken in four pieces near the hip joint. But doctors had Elliott up and walking on Wednesday, two days after the surgery, she said.
``When I talked to him this morning he was sitting in a chair, so his rehab is going well,'' Humphrey said. It will take four to six weeks for the basic healing to occur, and three to four months for a full recovery to take place, she said.
``That's not saying he won't be in the car before then,'' she added.
Gant, who plans to compete in several SuperTruck races this year, said he hasn't really missed Winston Cup racing.
``I haven't been in one since I quit a year and a half ago,'' he said. ``I really hadn't thought a lot about it. When they first called me, that's when I first thought it really would be nice to get back down there and run.''
Hardy clearly would like Gant to continue to fill in for Elliott, but Gant was noncommittal.
``I'm not going to make any comment on that,'' he said. ``I'm just looking forward to see how it goes in The Winston Select.''
As for Elliott, Gant said, ``All drivers usually come back in about half the amount of time (the doctors) say it will take. I think we'll see him back a lot quicker (than three to four months).''
Gant is usually at home on Sundays these days, watching the races on television. He said he has been busy raising cattle and spending a couple of days a week making personal appearances.
``It's been really exciting just being able to be around the fans and talk,'' Gant said. ``I didn't think I would be this busy. It sort of keeps my mind off racing, but it's keeping me in contact with the sport.''
KENDALL'S CRASH: Sports car veteran Tommy Kendall, who is substituting for Elliott on the 11-turn Sears Point road course, crashed Elliott's primary car during practice Friday, and the team had to prepare the backup car.
``I dropped the right front tire off the track and just clipped the grass,'' he said. ``That just upset the car, I spun around and that was it.''
Kendall needed four stitches for a cut on his chin and also bruised his ribs.
``It bruised the same ribs I hurt last week in the IROC crash (at Talladega), so it's not going to be so hot tomorrow,'' he said.
CRAVEN HURTING: Ricky Craven will be taking it relatively easy this weekend, resting his cracked vertebra and bruised lungs, which he hurt in the big crash at Talladega last Sunday.
He had planned to try to run as much as he could, but he was still in considerable pain Friday. And he took a lesson from his friend Travis Roy, the paralyzed college hockey player.
``The type of injury I have hits home because a close friend is sitting in a wheelchair right now,'' he said.
Substitute driver Ron Hornaday Jr. practiced and qualified Craven's car Friday before jetting to Portland, Ore., for a SuperTruck race.
Craven said he'll probably only try to run one lap Sunday before turning the wheel over to Hornaday. by CNB