Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, October 11, 1994 TAG: 9410110126
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
NASCAR on Monday fined Ricky Rudd $10,000 and put him probation for the rest of the year for ``actions detrimental to the sport'' during Sunday's Mello Yello 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Rudd immediately announced he would appeal.
``I'm not taking it,'' Rudd said Monday from his shop. ``I don't think the ruling was right. Why did NASCAR choose to fine us on the basis of an incident that was nowhere near as severe'' as others this year?
The incident was a crash involving Rudd and Jeff Gordon with 10 laps to go in the race, which was won by Dale Jarrett.
It started when Gordon took Rudd up to the wall in turn three as he passed him for seventh position in the race.
Gordon said Rudd then purposely took him out in the trioval. Rudd said he did not purposely wreck Gordon. He said he was trying to get Gordon loose and he only tapped Gordon's car after it bobbled.
Gordon lost control, hit the outside wall at the end of the trioval, came back across the track, collected Rudd's car and both crashed hard into the first turn wall.
Neither driver was hurt, but both went to the infield care center for the mandatory checkup. There, Gordon unleashed a tirade at Rudd.
``We screamed and yelled plenty,'' Gordon said. ``But we'll get through this. We're not going to go out and start a crash fest or anything.''
Gordon ``had his little mouth a yappin`,'' Rudd said after the race. ``I don't know what he was saying.''
About 20 minutes after the race, Rudd was called to the lounge in the NASCAR hauler for a chat with President Bill France.
``I went up in the truck and it didn't look like any big situation,'' Rudd said Monday. ``Then they called today and told me they had fined me.''
``NASCAR has issued a $10,000 fine and probation for the rest of the year,'' spokesman Andy Hall said. ``In our opinion, he conducted himself on the race track in a way that was detrimental to the sport.''
Hall would not elaborate much beyond that statement. He would not say NASCAR had determined Rudd deliberately wrecked Gordon. ``The fact that we're issuing a penalty on him should pretty much speak for itself,'' he said.
But Rudd said he cannot understand why he is getting fined when no fines were issued for other incidents of apparent rough driving this season that he said were more blatant than anything he did Sunday.
He cited three:
Brett Bodine running into Morgan Shepherd and causing Shepherd to crash at Dover in June in apparent retaliation for another incident earlier in the race.
Brett Bodine hitting his brother, Geoff, in the rear bumper, causing Geoff to crash out of the Brickyard 400, moments after Geoff tapped Brett, made him loose and then passed him for the lead.
Terry Labonte taking his wrecked car back out on the track at Bristol in August to wreck Lake Speed.
In each of those incidents, the drivers did little to dispel the notion that it was payback time.
``If we don't issue a fine or a penalty or something, it means we view it as a racing incident,'' Hall said. ``In all of those cases that you're mentioning, the drivers were talked to but no fines were issued.''
``I guess they're saying all of those were accidents,'' Rudd said. ``I'm just trying to understand how they justify that.''
Hall said Rudd can appeal the fine to the National Stock Car Racing Commission, and beyond that to Semon E. ``Bunky'' Knudsen, the National Stock Car Racing Commissioner.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB