ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, June 16, 1996 TAG: 9606170023
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: AUTO RACING NOTES
DATELINE: LONG POND, PA.
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
He's got a combination of injuries that makes it comfortable only to sit. So Dale Jarrett spent a good part of Saturday sitting in the driver's seat of his backup car at Pocono International Raceway.
Despite a broken rib and a slight fracture of his right leg, Jarrett practiced almost as usual Saturday and plans to race in pain in today's UAW-GM 500 to help preserve the finest season he's had in NASCAR's Winston Cup series.
The whole team seemed to be flying on determination Saturday.
``Certainly, where we are in the points [fourth place] and the year we've had [two major victories] are big factors in it,'' Jarrett said. ``This is no different than what you see guys in other sports doing - playing hurt. And sometimes you have to do it.''
Jarrett was in good enough spirits after the injuries he suffered in a crash here Friday during his warmup qualifying lap. But he was on crutches to avoid putting any weight on his leg, where there is a slight fracture on the upper part of the tibia just below the knee.
The crutches, in turn, put pressure on his sixth left rib, which was broken in the crash. But he's planning to go all the way in today's race.
``Hopefully, I can stay good throughout the 500 miles,'' he said. If he can't, Mike Wallace will be standing by as a relief driver.
``In the race car, I'm not that bad,'' Jarrett said. ``The hardest part is getting in and out of the car, particularly getting out of the car.
``Really, the only time the rib gives me any problem is when I get really low in [turns] 1 and 2. It's still a little bumpy down there and that can jar me.
``The knee is what concerns me more. It's not that it really hurts me while I'm driving. I just don't know how much strength I'm going to have with it and when it's going to start to give out.''
He's particularly concerned about that for pit stops. ``I'm not sure what's gonna happen when I come in to pit,'' he said.
Jarrett was in the car at least five times Saturday and ran more than a dozen laps. He made three practice runs Saturday morning, qualified 28th in the second round of time trials and practiced in the final afternoon session.
Jarrett blamed himself for the accident.
``I made a mistake and [the car] got down on the ripple strips and it just got away from me,'' he said. ``I was pretty sure that I had a fractured rib because of the pain. This was a real piercing pain. It was like a burning ... like someone was sticking needles or even a lighter up to me.''
Jarrett said he thought his leg was just bruised, but by the time he got to the hospital, he couldn't put any weight on it. He said he's been told he'll be on crutches for about four weeks.
SOOTHING VICTORY: Mike Wallace, who lost his Winston Cup ride six days ago, won Saturday's ARCA 400K event.
Wallace took the lead from a faltering Tim Steele with 12 laps to go and pulled away to win by 5.16 seconds.
There were three caution periods, but no serious wrecks.
SECOND-ROUND QUALIFYING: Geoff Bodine led the second round of Winston Cup time trials, taking the 26th starting spot with a lap of 168.407 mph. Everyone who attempted to qualify made the race except Dave Marcis.
LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP Dale Earnhardt (left) and Jeff Gordon take time toby CNBtalk in the garage at Pocono International Raceway. Gordon won the
pole for the UAW-GM 500, while Earnhardt will start 11th. |