ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, June 23, 1996 TAG: 9606240148
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-7 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: BROOKLYN, MICH.
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER
Who could have guessed that it would have come to this for Ernie Irvan?
It has been 22 months since he blew a tire on a lazy Saturday morning at Michigan International Speedway and hit the turn 2 wall so hard that his head broke from the inside, not because it hit anything, but simply because of the sudden stop.
He was expected to die because a lot of people that badly hurt do die.
When it became apparent he would survive, you had to figure his racing career was over, because no one really ever fully recovers from a head injury like that.
But there he was, back in the car at North Wilkesboro last Oct.1, driving the wheels off of his No.28 Ford Thunderbird, finishing sixth, defying the stiffest odds.
And then he went to Phoenix and led more than 100 laps before his engine blew, and went to Atlanta and finished seventh. Ernie Irvan was back.
But with the new season, we found out that Ernie Irvan was not back. Not where he wants to be. The success he used to enjoy before the accident, even the success he enjoyed at the end of 1995, has eluded him.
And on his first race weekend back at Michigan since the accident, Irvan faced the press and admitted that he really doesn't know what's going on, or why he can't find his old form.
On Friday, he wheeled his car on the track to qualify for today's Miller 400, ran a half-second faster than he had all day, and still qualified only 32nd in a 40-car field. Less than two hours before making his qualifying lap, Irvan was asked if he is as good a driver now as he was before the accident.
``Today is not a good day to ask me that, because we aren't running good,'' he said. ``At Dover, if you had asked me that, I would have said, `Hey, I think I'm just as good as I was before.'
``The most-asked question is, `Why did you run good last year and why aren't you running as good this year?' If we had that answer, we would fix it. But we don't have that answer.''
Is it Irvan? Is is the car? Is it just that he's been gone a year and has fallen behind? Is it that he can't read his car as well as he used to? Is he spooked by the accident?
He wishes he knew. He's learned how to handle the frustration for the most part, but sometimes he still lashes out, and snaps at unsuspecting reporters who ask one too many questions, or the same question one too many times.
So he handled all the questions at once here, and his answers allow you to understand why he gets frustrated. He simply can't give good answers.
The best Irvan can figure, he's just having to reacclimate himself to the cars, to the tracks, and to the racing.
``I think it is like that at almost every track,'' he said. ``Dr. [Errol] Erlandson [who treated Irvan after the accident] has told me, and he told me again last night, `You have to be patient. All everybody realizes is that you have had an accident and you are coming back. They don't realize how much trauma your mind and your brain and your whole body went through.'''
But that still doesn't explain the burst of success at the end of 1995. And it doesn't explain why Irvan and teammate Dale Jarrett ran poorly in practice and qualifying even though Irvan tested here. Testing at a track usually gives a team an advantage, especially a team as strong as the Robert Yates teams.
On the other hand, we must put things in perspective. Irvan has three top fives and five top-10s this year. Ricky Craven, who is considered one of the hottest young drivers in the series this year, has two top fives and four top 10s.
``I think I drive the exact same,'' Irvan said. ``I think I am just as aggressive. Hopefully, I'm smarter.
LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. NASCAR driver Ernie Irvan (left) talks with engineby CNBtuner Jeff Clark at Michigan International Speedway, the track where
Irvan almost lost his life two years ago. KEYWORDS: AUTO RACING