ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, August 2, 1996 TAG: 9608020045
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B6 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: AUTO RACING NOTES
DATELINE: SPEEDWAY, IND.
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
The sorer Dale Earnhardt gets, the better he looks.
There was no better evidence of this than Thursday morning's practice session at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, when he climbed out of his car for the second time of the day.
The sparkle was back in his blue eyes. He had a big smile on his face. He wandered over to where Ned Jarrett was standing and chatted for as long as Jarrett wanted him. He did some side-to-side stretches.
Then he got an ice cream cone, walked over to a trash can to throw away the wrapping and told a reporter: ``I'm sorer than [expletive].''
On his fourth day after suffering a fractured left collarbone and a fractured sternum in a violent upside-down crash at Talladega, Earnhardt discovered he was sorer than ever. His shoulder hurt the most.
``This morning, when he got in the car and he made the first two [practice] laps on the race track, he said it hurt a lot more than he thought it would,'' said car owner Richard Childress. Earnhardt told Childress he doubted he could even make it to the first caution period in Saturday's race.
But the pain didn't stop him. Earnhardt went through a full day's activities with only the slightest winces and groans.
Earnhardt wasn't interested in experimenting with special padding or flak jackets or other devices to help him feel more comfortable in the car. ``Each time he gets out of the car, he throws a little more of it out,'' Childress said.
``We put in a couple of straps and pads, but they were more cumbersome than helpful,'' said crew chief David Smith.
Earnhardt has decided that the best healing medicine for him is to stick to his normal routine.
``He actually feels better out here in the garage with us than he does in his camper,'' Smith said. ``He has tremendous will power. Getting in and out of the car is really not as bad for him as the shoulder straps.''
Earnhardt managed to ignore whatever pain shot through his body while wheeling around the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He qualified 12th for Saturday's Brickyard 400.
``The car is a lot faster than I ran it,'' he said. ``I'm a little tender, and I'm still a little sore. We're just taking it easy. I'm just sorry I'm not going to get to race it hard. It's real emotional that you can't drive and go on and do what you need to do.''
Pole winner Jeff Gordon said: ``Dale Earnhardt is an amazing guy. Everybody keeps asking me what's going to happen when Dale gets out of the car Saturday. I'll believe it when I see it. Until then, I believe he's going all the way.''
``The reason Dale Earnhardt is in the race car is because he wants to be in the race car,'' said Mark Martin. ``Not because he needs to be, not because he has to be. He wants to be in the race car.''
ELLIOTT ROLLING AGAIN: After qualifying seventh, Bill Elliott said he finally feels physically capable of driving his best.
Elliott, who suffered a broken leg at Talladega in May, posted a speed of 175.131 mph in Thursday's pole qualifying session.
``Today I felt the best I have in a race car since my injury,'' he said.
``I feel like I'm 100 percent and the team is 100 percent.
``For the morale of the team, it takes a lot to keep these teams up. They're under so much pressure. When we went to Loudon (N.H.), I felt like I'd never been in a race car before. Now I'm confident. Now I can tell them what to do with the car.''
LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: headshot of Elliott KEYWORDS: AUTO RACINGby CNB