
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, May 31, 1994                   TAG: 9405310015
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: C5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CONCORD, N.C.                                LENGTH: Medium

HECTIC DAY FINISHES TOO SOON FOR ANDRETTI

As the sun dropped over the grandstands Sunday at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the saga of John Andretti, the driver who sought to race 1,100 miles in two races, ended about 270 miles early.

After finishing 10th in the Indianapolis 500, Andretti rushed by van, helicopter and jet to the speedway here, arriving about 15 minutes before the green flag flew.

When he spun in turn 4 and lightly hit the wall on lap 90 of the Coca-Cola 600, it was the beginning of the end.

Over the course of the next 140 laps, Andretti made more than 15 pit stops to try to correct the problems caused by the crash.

Finally, about 240 laps into the 400-lap race, the crankshaft on Andretti's Chevrolet Lumina broke and his long day was over. He completed 220 laps.

"I'd like to do it again," he said after crawling out of his car. "It was great.

"I feel fine. We didn't run as good as I wanted to down here and we didn't run as good at Indy as I would have hoped, but it's not from a lack of effort from my guys. And I think I gave them 100 percent. I pushed the car as hard as I could there and I pushed it as hard as I could here.

"As a matter of fact, I pushed it a little bit too hard early here and was bitten. After that, we were just working as hard as we could to keep running."

Andretti's doubleheader started a few minutes before noon Sunday in Indianapolis. He ran well early, but his car was pushing and gave him trouble throughout the afternoon.

He was 12th in the 500 until late crashes by Emerson Fittipaldi and Stan Fox gave him a top-10 finish.

At 3:07 p.m., when the 500 ended, Andretti left the track in a van and headed for a helicopter parked nearby.

At 3:42 p.m., the helicopter landed at an airport in Mt. Comfort, Ind., where Andretti boarded a plane.

At 4:35 p.m., the jet touched down at an airport in Salisbury, N.C., and at 4:47 p.m., about 13 minutes before the green flag flew in the 600, Andretti's helicopter appeared in the sky above the track.

Afterward, Andretti appeared no worse for the wear.

"Sure, I'm glad I did it," he said. "It wasn't going to be any problem finishing the race. I felt good in the car. I feel good now."

Then he was off again on his way back to Indy for Monday's victory banquet.

Keywords:
AUTO RACING

by CNB