Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, May 18, 1995 TAG: 9505180051
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
``The surgeon looked at him yesterday and said it looked great,'' said Teresa Underdown, who handles public relations for Schrader's NASCAR truck team.
Schrader lost the top of his thumb and the first joint while he was working on the engine of his truck before last Saturday night's truck race at Evergreen Speedway in Monroe, Wash.
``It was about noon on Saturday and he was getting ready to go out and practice,'' Underdown said. ``He reached down to test the alternator belt and at the same moment, a crewman cranked the engine. The crew chief [Tim Kohuth] told the guy to crank it. He didn't know Schrader was under the hood.''
Schrader's thumb was mangled in the alternator belt assembly. Doctors at a local hospital told Schrader they could try to sew the thumb back on, but ``there wasn't really enough left to do any good,'' she said.
Schrader was treated and released and was back at the track by 5:30 p.m. to watch the race. And he displayed his usual self-deprecating sense of humor about the accident.
``That's one less nail I'll be biting,'' he told team members. ``Maybe I'll take the thumb home and put it under my pillow and see if I get a quarter.''
Schrader still plans to compete at Charlotte Motor Speedway in this Saturday's Winston Select Open and, if he qualifies, The Winston Select.
``I was lucky,'' he told Underdown. ``It was just my thumb. It could have been all my fingers.''
RUDD FINE UPHELD: A three-member panel of the NASCAR-controlled National Stock Car Racing Commission has upheld the $50,000 fine levied against Ricky Rudd and his team by NASCAR officials after inspectors found a hydraulic lowering device in his car that is prohibited by the rules.
The device, designed to lower the rear end to reduce drag and increase speed, was found in pre-practice inspection at Talladega, Ala., on April 28.
The three-member panel that heard Rudd's appeal in Charlotte - NASCAR Vice President of Administration Dennis Huth, Dale Pinilis of Bowman-Gray Stadium race track and former USAC official Bill Taylor - had the option to decrease, increase or uphold the penalty, NASCAR spokesman Kevin Triplett said.
Rudd was fined $25,000 as a driver and $20,000 as a car owner. Crew chief Bill Ingle was fined $5,000 and placed on probation the rest of the year.
SILVER MONEY: You can't accuse Dale Earnhardt of failing to milk a cash cow when he sees one.
Earnhardt and car owner Richard Childress announced in Charlotte on Wednesday that the familiar black No.3 Chevrolet will be silver and orange for this Saturday's Winston Select.
This one-time-only switch will be to commemorate the 25th anniversary of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company's involvement in NASCAR stock car racing.
Moments after the announcement, Earnhardt's marketing company unveiled ``limited edition'' souvenirs for sale: silver No.3 baseball caps, die-cast cars, T-shirts, car banks, etc., etc.
DOVER TEST: A three-day open test on the new concrete track at Dover Downs International Speedway ended Wednesday with drivers generally praising the racing surface.
``The comment that every single driver made was that this was not like Bristol, [Tenn]. The paving job was smooth,'' said National Speed Sport News correspondent Stan Creekmore, who visited Tuesday.
Among the drivers who participated were Jeff Gordon, Steve Grissom, Ward Burton, Randy LaJoie and Michael Waltrip. Grand National driver Tim Fedewa crashed on Monday two laps into his session and departed.
Gordon told Creekmore he thought the pole qualifying speed for the June 4 Winston Cup race would be just shy of the track record of 152.840 mph set by Geoff Bodine last fall.
by CNB