ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, July 30, 1996 TAG: 9607300089
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: INDIANAPOLIS
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
Dale Earnhardt was moving slower than he usually does Monday in the wake of one of the worst crashes of his NASCAR Winston Cup career, but maintaining a full schedule - and giving thanks he wasn't hurt worse.
``All I can say is I was very lucky,'' Earnhardt said in a statement released by his team.
He was lucky. Anyone who saw the remains of his Chevrolet Monte Carlo and saw how badly the roof was caved in knows how lucky Earnhardt was to escape his crash Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway with nothing more than a fractured sternum and a fractured collarbone.
Earnhardt was released from Carraway Medical Center in Birmingham at 8:15 a.m. Monday after an overnight stay following his crash while leading the DieHard 500 on Sunday.
``He was ready to go - ready to get out of Birmingham,'' said Ty Norris, his assistant business manager.
``He's very sore, but he's walking around,'' said team publicist John Rhodes, who was with Earnhardt on Monday morning. ``He's the same Earnhardt. He just can't do things as fast as he wants.''
Earnhardt took a flight from Birmingham to Lexington, N.C., on Monday and promptly went to car owner Richard Childress' shop in Welcome, N.C., to see his team and to have a strategy session with Childress. There, they decided Mike Skinner would drive in relief of Earnhardt in Saturday's Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Earnhardt canceled a news conference today, but will arrive Wednesday or early Thursday, will practice at least a lap and will qualify, Rhodes said. Skinner, who is the driver of Childress' entry on NASCAR's Truck Series, will practice the car in Wednesday's four-hour session.
Earnhardt will start Saturday's race, and undoubtedly he'll go as far as he can go. He won't decide how far until the race.
Earnhardt said the fact he survived his crash without more serious injuries was a tribute ``to the high safety standards required by NASCAR, and it also shows what a great race car the guys at Richard Childress Racing build.''
The roll cage caved in after a direct hit from an oncoming car, which hit Earnhardt's car while it was on its side. The roof was caved in at least 2 feet at the front. Earnhardt was not crushed because he was to the left of the cave-in and he sits low in his seat.
The accident occurred on lap 117 while Earnhardt was leading the race, which was won by Jeff Gordon. It involved 11 cars and happened only 14 laps after a 15-car pileup on the backstretch.
Ernie Irvan was behind him and Sterling Marlin was to his right, half a car-length behind.
``The [No.]28 [car of Irvan] turned into me and the [No.]3 [car of Earnhardt] and wrecked a bunch of cars,'' Marlin said.
Irvan said it wasn't that simple.
``The [No.]4 car [of Marlin] wanted to go by Earnhardt, and I didn't go with him,'' Irvan said. ``So he was just juking - trying to get real close to Earnhardt and he ran into my right-front fender.
Marlin's car turned into Earnhardt's, sending it almost head-on into the outside wall in the trioval. The car flipped on its side and was pounded by several other cars.
``Earnhardt was probably one of the worst ones about taking and running up beside somebody and getting almost against them,'' he said. It is a side-by-side drafting technique, and Irvan said it was ``exactly what the 3 car did all day.
``Sterling just learned from that, so that was what Sterling was trying to do,'' Irvan said. ``Sterling was trying to pinch against the 3 car, so that way the 3 car wouldn't be able to get the draft.''
FANS STEAMED: CBS, in the process of expanding its NASCAR coverage, didn't make any friends among stock car fans by pulling the plug on the rain-delayed DieHard 500.
When CBS learned at about 3:30 p.m. Sunday that the Winston Cup race - already delayed two hours - would not start for at least another hour, the network abandoned its coverage plans.
``We always try to do whatever will make the most people happy,'' said Leslieanne Wade, a CBS spokeswoman. ``But there's no way to make everybody happy. That's not possible.''
CBS Sports had a five-hour window that began at 1 p.m. The race was scheduled for a three-hour run, to be followed by two hours of a Senior PGA tournament. At 6 p.m., the sports division hands off to the news division.
``We had Dan Rather broadcasting out of Atlanta and `60 Minutes,''' Wade said. ``We went to the golf early, but the race was so late, it ended at 8:20 p.m.''
NASCAR and some of CBS' Southern affiliates caught their share of flak.
``I lost count of the phone calls,'' said Kevin Triplett, a NASCAR spokesman. ``There had to be hundreds.''
There also was anger at Talladega Superspeedway because NASCAR was forced to reduce the race from 188 to 129 laps.
``They're mad at us for calling the race short,'' Triplett said. ``They can sit in the stands and say it's not too dark,'' Triplett said, ``but they're not trying to drive a car 197 mph with a windshield that began somewhat tinted and then was marked up during the race.''
The Associated Press contributed information to this story.
LENGTH: Medium: 96 lines KEYWORDS: AUTO RACINGby CNB