Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, September 20, 1995 TAG: 9509200053
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTE, N.C. LENGTH: Medium
Irvan's first race since his Aug.20, 1994, crash will be the Goody's 150 SuperTruck race Saturday at Martinsville Speedway. A week later, he plans to compete in the truck race at North Wilkesboro Speedway.
By that time, Irvan should know whether he has qualified the No. 88 Texaco Ford Thunderbird Winston Cup car for the Tyson Holly Farms 400 at North Wilkesboro on Oct.1.
``Man, I tell you, it's unbelievable,'' Irvan said Tuesday, opening a news conference that lasted more than two hours outside car owner Robert Yates' shop. ``We were talking earlier in the shop about how long a year actually feels. It seems like it's been about 10 years ... ''
Irvan said he has the blessings of his family, his doctors and NASCAR officials as he tries to revive a career that was interrupted by one of the worst head injuries a race car driver has ever survived. He'll be driving with a patch covering his damaged left eye, which sees double. That apparently is the only unhealed aspect of the injury. Irvan has been told the left eye eventually may heal, but that's immaterial to him at the moment.
``There are a couple of drivers who don't really see well out of one eye and they seem to be doing good,'' Irvan said.
As to what he hopes to accomplish in the next two weeks, ``I'm just setting a goal to be able to come back racing,'' he said. ``My main deal is to do the job I was doing before. That's what they deserve [at Robert Yates Racing] and I hope and pray every day I can get back and do that job.''
But can he really do it? Yates thinks so.
``I think his judgment and ability [to drive] is as awesome as ever,'' Yates said. ``His first lap at North Wilkesboro this past week [in a test] was the fastest anybody ran all day.''
Irvan returns to a sport that knows one of the last drivers to return to the Winston Cup series after a serious head injury - Neil Bonnett - lost his life from a subsequent head injury in a crash during practice at Daytona in February 1994.
But like most drivers, Irvan is determined to get what he wants, no matter what the consequences.
``I was pushing my luck at Michigan,'' he said. ``My whole life has been pushing my luck.''
He said his doctors have told him he is no more susceptible to a head injury now than he was on that Saturday morning at Michigan when a tire went down in the second turn and he slammed the outside wall so hard his skull was fractured from within by his brain.
His plans after North Wilkesboro are uncertain.
``We're going to play that by ear,'' he said. He isn't ruling out Charlotte on Oct.8, but he hasn't yet tested at a track that big. His overall goal for the rest of the year is to be prepared for a full 1996 season.
As it stands, Irvan will drive the No.88 Ford for the remainder of the year. Dale Jarrett, who took a one-year deal to fill in for Irvan, will complete the year in the No.28 Texaco Havoline Ford.
Irvan won't have any provisional starting spots, but NASCAR has told Yates he can park Irvan's rig next to Jarrett's hauler. It's for convenience, but it also saves Irvan from having to park among the bottom dwellers of the series.
Next year, Irvan plans to return to the No. 28 Ford and Jarrett will take over the No.88, giving Yates a two-car team. A sponsor has yet to be named for the No.88 car, but Ford Quality Care is said to be a leading candidate.
In the truck races, Irvan will be driving his own No.28 Ford truck, but he'll also be fielding a truck for Joe Ruttman, who is second in points and challenging for the season title. Irvan said he expects to have no problem qualifying for Saturday's race.
``We're going to go up there somewhat as a trial, but I want to win the race, too,'' he said. At North Wilkesboro in the Winston Cup series, ``my first goal is to make the race. Wilkesboro is a tough place.''
If he makes the race, ``I'm going to be real nervous. And I'll probably be even more nervous when they say, `Start your engines.' But once it starts, I won't be nervous.''
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB