ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, August 1, 1996 TAG: 9608010065
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
IT TOOK only a few seconds, but Dale Earnhardt remembers them vividly.
Dale Earnhardt remembers every harrowing second of his violent crash Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway.
He never was knocked out, and the only reason he didn't respond to car owner Richard Childress' repeated calls on the radio was because his transmitter had been disconnected. He could hear everything Childress said, and could hear the concern rising in Childress' voice.
Earnhardt described the crash in detail Wednesday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway during his first news conference since the wreck.
He was hiding his pain well - not limping or hobbling - but he clearly was in pain. He was walking somewhat stiffly, and as he got up to leave after the news conference, he groaned from the pain.
``It's been so long ago, you sort of forget how [a serious injury] is,'' Earnhardt said. ``It's painful. I've had some tough days since Sunday. I was sorer last night and this morning than I was the day before.''
Earnhardt described the crash in chilling detail.
``When I came through the trioval, I knew the [No.]4 car [driven by Sterling Marlin] was on my right rear,'' he said. ``I knew the [No.]28 [driven by Ernie Irvan] was right behind me. The last glance I saw of the 28, he was on the inside of my left rear. Then the car turned abruptly to the right.
``When the car turned abruptly sideways, I knew I was going to hit the wall,'' Earnhardt said. ``When it hit the wall is when I broke my sternum. When the car got on the side and got up in the air a little bit, it was spinning around.
``I seen a flash and another car hit me at the same time. It was probably Derrike [Cope]. There was a big crash and the car went airborne again. That's when I broke my collarbone and bruised my pelvis.
``It stayed on the left side of the car for a long time. A lot of fire and sparks were coming in the car at that point. I could see the asphalt. The [No.]33 [driven by Robert Pressley] hit, and that's when it pushed the top and dash down in the car. It also pushed the carburetor and air cleaner and everything down into the engine.
``The car sat back down on the ground and on its wheels spinning around. The [No.]29 car [of Greg Sacks] went by to my left and then a red car hit the front end. I assumed at that point - from the replay I couldn't tell much - it was, either [Ken] Schrader or the [No.]94 [of Bill Elliott]. Come to find out, it was Schrader. He said, `I seen you and I aimed for you.'
``I held onto the steering wheel practically the whole time,'' he said. ``I was bouncing around in the car, but I was still braced in there pretty good.
``The car stopped and the smoke was running out from under the dash because the wires were burning because the dash was knocked down in the car. I switched the battery switch off, and I started trying to unbuckle my helmet. I knew my collarbone was hurt.''
Earnhardt said NASCAR officials helped him out of the car.
``I wanted to lay down,'' he said. ``I didn't want to stand up, but I couldn't because it hurt too bad to lay down. My chest hurt too bad, so I said, `Just walk me to the ambulance.'''
Earnhardt said that when he was still in the car, he could hear Childress calling to him.
``I kept asking him to talk to us,'' Childress said. ``He didn't come back. He could hear us at that point. I started talking to Teresa'' Earnhardt.
``He was excited,'' Earnhardt said. ``Teresa was calming him down.''
Earnhardt said he was not sure whether he would try to qualify his car in today's first round of time trials for Saturday's Brickyard 400.
``Dr. [Terry] Trammell is going to work with me this afternoon,'' he said. ``He has some little tricks he can use on the skin and on the areas that are hurt and maybe relieve the pain while I'm driving and help with the seat belts and shoulder harness.
``If I can go out and practice in the morning and can run a decent speed where it would get in the race, I may qualify.''
Earnhardt said ``no comment'' when asked if he had spoken to Irvan since the accident. But feelings are still running strong about the incident. At one point Wednesday, Marlin waved his glasses at Irvan and suggested he get a pair. When Marlin did it a second time, the two reportedly almost came to blows.
MARTIN FASTEST: After four hours of practice Wednesday, Mark Martin was on top of the speed chart with a lap of 174.965 mph in his Ford Thunderbird.
Martin's speed was more than two miles per hour faster than the track record of 172.536 mph. It was set by Jeff Gordon last year.
``When we ran it today, it wasn't that important to us to have the fastest time in practice,'' Martin said. ``But I guess it's a big deal because we're having a press conference on it.''
Lake Speed was second fastest at 174.737 mph, followed by Bill Elliott at 174.672 mph. Both are driving Fords. Rick Mast was fourth fastest in a Pontiac Grand Prix at 174.622 mph, followed by Rusty Wallace in a Ford at 174.537 mph. Terry Labonte was sixth fastest in the quickest Chevrolet Monte Carlo at 174.517 mph.
Qualifying starts at 2 p.m. today.
LENGTH: Medium: 97 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Dale Earnhardt (left) talks to his relief driver,by CNBMike Skinner, before Brickyard 400 practice Wednesday. Earnhardt
will try to qualify his car and start the race, with Skinner taking
over to finish. KEYWORDS: AUTO RACING..