Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, June 14, 1993 TAG: 9306140297
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LONG POND, PA. LENGTH: Long
\ Kyle Petty has seen all manner of wildlife on the tri-oval at Pocono International Raceway, so he wasn't too surprised when a spectator sprinted across the track in front of his Pontiac Grand Prix on Sunday in the midst of his surprisingly easy victory in the Champion 500.
"We've seen dogs on the race track and deer and chickens, so I wasn't too surprised," Petty said after winning the 200-lap race by 4.9 seconds over pole-winner Ken Schrader. "Have you ever seen a deer in your headlights? That pretty much describes what it looked like."
Except for a close shave during a restart near the end of the race, Petty's encounter with the spectator was the only near-miss of the afternoon as he led 142 laps to win his first race of 1993.
Harry Gant was third - his best finish of the year - Jimmy Spencer finished fourth and Ted Musgrave was fifth, also posting his best finish of 1993. Davey Allison was sixth, followed by Morgan Shepherd, Sterling Marlin, Ricky Rudd, Bill Elliott and Dale Earnhardt - all on the lead lap.
"We had a great day," Petty said. "Everything went good for us. We tried a lot of stuff [with the chassis and engine] this weekend and we finally hit on something yesterday morning that really worked good."
It was the seventh victory of Petty's career, but his first on a 2.5-mile NASCAR track. It was the first victory on a big track for the No. 42 car since Petty's grandfather, Lee, won the inaugural Daytona 500 in 1959.
"If I had known the last time the [No.] 42 car won was in '59, I would have changed numbers a long time ago," Petty said.
While Petty led the way - most of the time by a big margin - engine problems stopped a dozen drivers, including top contenders Rusty Wallace, Dale Jarrett and Ernie Irvan. Earnhardt, the Winston Cup points leader, struggled with an oil leak during the second half of the race.
But the enduring image of this race - one that will never cease to amaze most racing fans - is the videotape of the less-than-savvy spectator sprinting across the track in front of Petty and Allison and diving over the wall as they zoomed past.
It happened on or around lap 108.
"I saw him and he was about in the middle of the race track," Petty said. "I let off as I came off the [first] corner, checked up a little bit and threw a hand up to Davey and he checked up. I turned left and motioned in my rear-view mirror to [Davey] to go left to give the guy room to go on across the wall.
"When we got there his feet were sticking up there. Half of him was on the race track and half of him was off. Davey just shook his head. I don't think he could believe it, either.
"I wouldn't want to be that close to a road car running 55 mph, much less a race car running 150. We were a whole lot faster than just crossing the street in New York City, believe me."
Allison got on the radio to his crew and said: "There's some screwball out here running across the race track in front of Kyle."
After the race, Allison said: "I've never seen anything like that before. He ran right across in front of Kyle. He's lucky he's not dead. Is he in jail? I never dreamed anybody could be that dumb."
The "stupid nut," as Allison called him, did not get beyond the swampy area that borders the track outside turn 1.
Track spokesman Bob Pleban said he was arrested and was being held by the Pennsylvania State Police.
Police say the motive of the spectator, Chad Blaine Kohl, 25, of Ephrata, was not immediately clear. The Associated Press reported Kohl was charged with seven offenses - two felonies, four misdemeanors and a summary offense, public drunkenness - and placed in the Monroe County Jail pending a court hearing today.
Kohl was charged with arson endangering a person and risking a catastrophe, both felonies. In Pennsylvania, such an arson charge can be brought even if no fire occurs; the mere threat of a fire can warrant charges. The cars could have caught fire in an accident.
Misdemeanor charges were criminal mischief, defiant trespass, persistent disorderly conduct and recklessly endangering another person.
Public drunkenness is a summary offense, much like a traffic ticket. Felonies are punishable by prison terms of up to 20 years. Misdemeanors and summary offenses carry shorter terms. Fines also can be imposed.
The other close moment for Petty came in turn 1 after the final restart on lap 180.
In front of Petty, who was running fourth, Earnhardt tapped Rick Mast as Mast slowed to avoid ramming Rick Wilson. Mast nearly spun as the cars behind him scrambled to avoid a collision.
"The only thing I was worried about . . . was exactly what happened on that restart - we go down in the first corner and everybody crashes," Petty said. "Somebody ran into the back of me, so you're worried about that."
Petty was in fourth at that time because three other drivers - Marlin, Shepherd and Rudd - had not pitted during the final caution.
"As far as passing the guys in front of me, I wasn't really worried about that because they weren't on new tires," Petty said. "If you noticed, I got around them pretty quick."
For Petty, the 500 miles of racing Sunday was the culmination of a 1,700-mile road trip that began before the race at Dover on June 6.
Petty, crew chief Robin Pemberton and two others left Charlotte, N.C., on June 3 on their Harley-Davidson motorcycles and rode to Dover, where Petty crashed his Pontiac in the Budweiser 500.
After the Dover race, the four riders spent the night at the Plaza Hotel in New York City and rode through Harlem on their way to New England. They came to Pocono on Thursday after riding a total of about 1,700 miles.
"We beat across Vermont and upstate New York," Pemberton said. "The motorcycle trip helped me quite a bit. We haven't had a good few weeks and we needed a break."
Although Petty had a string of six top-10 finishes this season, he has struggled since the Winston 500 at Talladega, Ala., on May 2.
"We have not been as good as we thought we were going to be this year by any stretch," Petty said, "but I think this will help a lot."
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB