Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, June 19, 1995 TAG: 9506190033
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BROOKLYN, MICH. LENGTH: Long
Angry about a late-race incident, Waltrip pinned Speed's car on pit road, hopped out, lowered Speed's window net, shouted at him and then threw two right hooks into Speed's helmeted head.
``Somebody is tapping on my helmet,'' Speed told his team on the radio, a team member said.
Afterwards, NASCAR officials hauled Waltrip into the NASCAR woodshed, otherwise known as the lounge on the NASCAR transporter. But they were not quick enough to catch Speed before he left the track. NASCAR spokeman Kevin Triplett said the sanctioning body will announce today what, if any, further action would be taken.
Speed admitted that he collided with Waltrip, sending them both to the brink of a crash while trying to pass him late in the race. He said it was just good racing.
On pit road, ``the next thing I knew, a traffic cop came over, parked me in the grass and visited me,'' he said.
Waltrip told Pontiac's Brian Hoaglandsaid: ``To me it was pretty obvious he didn't mean to give me any room. I've never been that mad before ... There wasn't any way I was going to hurt him. He had on his helmet. I just wanted to knock him around a little bit and tell him how mad I was. I want to apologize publicly for what I did. I just lost my cool.''
RUDD OK AFTER CRASH: In a couple of scary seconds Sunday, Ricky Rudd went from battling for a top-10 position to wondering where he was.
After leading 31 of the first 70 laps, Rudd had fallen to seventh on lap 70 and had passed Hut Stricklin for sixth as they entered the first turn on lap 71.
But as Rudd moved down the track, the left rear fender of his car struck Stricklin's right front. Rudd lost control, did a quick 360 and slammed hard into the outside wall, the driver's side of the car smashing flush against the concrete.
Nine other cars were caught up in the accident, including Stricklin, who told Ford's Wayne Estessaid: ``Two cars were vying for the same hole. It was really my fault as much as it was his. Everybody was racing hard and the race track is slick and it was really just a combination of things that [ended in] one of those bad deals.''
Even before the car stopped, spotter Dale Cagle was calling: ``Ricky, you OK?'' There was no answer. Cagle called again. Nothing.
There was a long pause, and then crew chief Bill Ingle got on the radio. ``How 'bout it, Ricky, talk to us.'' Still, nothing.
More than a minute after the accident, there still were no emergency workers at the crumpled, smoking car. Finally, driver Jeff Burton, who also was involved in the crash, went to Rudd's window and motioned for emergency workers.
Rudd was knocked out, but he woke up as rescue workers attended to him. They supported him as he hobbled to an ambulance. Rudd was taken to the infield care center, where he convinced Ingle he was OK.
``He's okay!'' Ingle said on his way from the care center to the garage. ``We'll be ready to go if the car's fixable.''
But Rudd wasn't that OK. And the car was dead. Both the front and rear chassis elements were badly bent.
``He seems to be OK,'' team publicist Kirby Boone said. ``He's really shook up. He has a little concussion and some amnesia. And his right foot hurts a lot.''
Linda Rudd said her husband also had a bruised rib cage, but Rudd recognized her and the Rev. Max Helton from Motor Racing Outreach. Rudd was airlifted by helicopter to W. A. Foote Memorial Hospital in Jackson, Mich., where he was released Sunday evening.
EARNHARDT CRASHES: The bustle of activity around the infield care center after Rudd's crash was followed by a similar scene involving Dale Earnhardt.
Earnhardt collided with Derrike Cope in turn 1 on lap 128, did a half-turn spin and slammed into the outside wall, pancaking the right side of the car.
``We were both on the throttle driving in the corner still, and he just chopped down,'' Cope said. ``I don't know what his deal was. He wrecked himself.''
Like Rudd's team before, Earnhardt's crew tried to reach him by radio. But there was no answer.
Earnhardt was removed from his car, and he hobbled to an ambulance with assistance.
When he emerged from the infield care center, Earnhardt said: ``I've got a bruised leg, and my neck's real sore. It knocked the breath out of me, and I couldn't talk on the radio. The guys thought I was hurt pretty bad, and I thought I was for a minute, too. My knee is sore. I hit the wall too fast.''
As for the cause of the accident, he said, ``Either [Cope] got into me or I got into him. We got together and it knocked me loose.''
MARLIN TAKES OVER POINTS LEAD: Earnhardt's crash let Sterling Marlin, who finished seventh, take over the lead by six points in the Winston Cup championship battle.
``I feel real good about going to Daytona with the points lead,'' said Marlin, who won the Daytona 500 in February.
$5,000 FINE FOR BODINE: NASCAR officials fined Geoff Bodine $5,000 and did not score his final three laps after he ignored a black flag at the end of the race.
NASCAR spokesman Triplett said Bodine scraped the wall with less than 10 laps to go and continued in the race but was deemed to be going too slow.
Triplett said Bodine was black-flagged with five laps to go but ignored the summons to the pits. His scorecard was pulled after 197 laps, and he was credited with a 21st-place finish.
By the time the fine was announced, Bodine had left the track and was unavailable for comment.
ANOTHER TOUGH DAY: It was a 200-lap race, but Rick Mast's day was over only 10 laps into the event.
A flywheel broke in the drive train of Mast's car, sending him to the garage for repairs that took more than 50 laps. Mast finished 34th after completing 133 laps.
``I don't know how we broke a flywheel,'' he said. ``You don't ever break flywheels.''
by CNB