ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, May 4, 1996 TAG: 9605060127
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: SAVE MART 300 NOTES
DATELINE: SONOMA, CALIF.
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
Harry Gant will be back behind the wheel of a Winston Cup car for the first time since his retirement in 1994 when he substitutes for Bill Elliott in The Winston Select on May 18 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
``It's not like I'm making a comeback to Winston Cup racing,'' Gant said at Sears Point International Raceway on Friday. ``This is just a favor I want to do for Bill and [co-owner] Charles [Hardy].''
Elliott, meanwhile, is expected to be released sometime next week from Healthsouth Medical Center in Birmingham, Ala., after surgery to repair his broken left thigh bone, which was shattered in a crash at Talladega Superspeedway last Sunday.
Team spokeswoman Danielle Humphrey said the bone was not broken in four places, as first reported, but was broken in four pieces near the hip joint. But doctors had Elliott up and walking on Wednesday, two days after surgery, she said.
``When I talked to him this morning, he was sitting in a chair, so his rehab is going well,'' Humphrey said. It will take four to six weeks for the basic healing to occur, and three to four months for a full recovery to take place, she said.
``That's not saying he won't be in the car before then,'' she added.
Gant, who plans to compete in several Craftsman Truck races this year, said he really hadn't missed Winston Cup racing until Hardy called on Monday.
``I haven't been in one since I quit a year and a half ago,'' he said. ``I really hadn't thought a lot about it. When they first called me, that's when I first thought it really would be nice to get back down there and run.''
Hardy clearly would like Gant to continue to fill in for Elliott, but Gant was noncommittal.
``I'm not going to make any comment on that,'' he said. ``I'm just looking forward to see how it goes in The Winston Select.''
As for Elliott, Gant said, ``All drivers usually come back in about half the amount of time [the doctors] say it will take. I think we'll see him back a lot quicker'' than three to four months.
Gant usually is at home on Sundays, watching the races on television. He said he has been busy raising cattle and spending a couple of days a week making personal appearances.
``It's been really exciting just being able to be around the fans and talk,'' Gant said, sounding serious about it. ``I didn't think I would be this busy. It sort of keeps my mind off racing, but it's keeping me in contact with the sport.''
KENDALL'S CRASH: Sports car veteran Tommy Kendall, who's substituting for Elliott on this 12-turn road course, crashed Elliott's primary car in turn 1 during practice Friday, and the team had to prepare the backup car.
``I dropped the right front tire off the track and just clipped the grass,'' he said. ``That just upset the car, I spun around, and that was it.''
Kendall needed four stitches for a cut on his chin and also bruised his ribs.
``It bruised the same ribs I hurt last week in the IROC crash [at Talladega], so it's not going to be so hot tomorrow,'' he said.
CRAVEN STILL HURT: Ricky Craven will be taking it relatively easy this weekend, resting his cracked vertebra and bruised lungs, which he hurt in the big crash at Talladega last Sunday.
He had planned to try to run as much as he could, but he was still in considerable pain Friday. And he took a lesson from his friend Travis Roy, the paralyzed hockey player from Boston University.
``The type of injury I have hits home because a close friend is sitting in a wheelchair right now,'' Craven said.
Substitute driver Ron Hornaday practiced and qualified Craven's car Friday before jetting to Portland, Ore., for a Craftsman Truck race.
Craven said he'll take a lap of practice today and probably only try to run one lap in the race Sunday before turning the wheel over to Hornaday.
``I couldn't do a good job on Sunday if I wanted to,'' he said.
LENGTH: Medium: 78 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: headshot of Elliott KEYWORDS: AUTO RACINGby CNB