ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, April 4, 1997 TAG: 9704040057
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: ROANOKE, TEXAS
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER THE ROANOKE TIMES
The narrow fourth turn at Texas Motor Speedway was too much for Ricky Craven to handle during a practice run for Sunday's Interstate Batteries 500.
It didn't take long for the first bad crash at tricky Texas Motor Speedway, which has generated considerable controversy among the drivers because of how tight it is.
Ricky Craven, a NASCAR Winston Cup driver, was seriously injured in practice Thursday morning for Sunday's Interstate Batteries 500 after he lost control of his Chevrolet Monte Carlo in the narrow fourth turn. The car slammed backward into the outside wall, flattening the right side.
After crashing, Craven knew instantly he was hurt, telling his team he had either broken his shoulder or collarbone. He was helped from his car, placed on a stretcher and airlifted to Parkland Hospital in Dallas.
In addition to suffering a fractured right shoulder blade, Craven received a concussion, which was described by some sources as a bruised brain. He was reported in serious but stable condition.
Craven was being kept in the intensive care unit of Parkland Hospital in Dallas Thursday and was expected to remain hospitalized for at least 72 hours.
He was reported to be awake and alert Thursday afternoon, and his vital signs were normal. Initial reports erroneously said Craven had a ruptured left ear drum.
Meanwhile, rain forced the postponement of Thursday's first round of Winston Cup qualifying to 11 a.m. today. A second round of qualifying was rescheduled for this afternoon.
The Busch Grand National cars did manage to get in their first round of time trials for Saturday's Coca-Cola 300 and teammates Jeff Green and Elliott Sadler tied for the pole with speeds of 180.054 mph.
The crash was another setback for Craven, who has had nothing but bad luck after an impressive debut with Hendrick Motorsports this year.
Craven finished third at Daytona and fifth at Rockingham, but crashed in stops at Atlanta and Darlington.
He also had bad crashes last year at Talladega and Charlotte. He was injured worse Thursday than in his spectacular Talladega crash, which left him with a slightly cracked upper vertebra, bruised lungs and other cuts and bruises, including a swollen eye.
Before his run of bad luck this year, Craven said he came back too early from his 1996 injuries.
``That's when we compounded the injuries and compounded the pain and lack of sleep,'' he said in an interview in late February. ``I had absolutely no concern about returning as a driver mentally. It's what I do for a living. It's the focus of my life. But physically, I've learned an awful lot about my limits and how health plays a part of success in any level.''
It was not known Thursday how long Craven will be out, but the team arranged to have Grand National driver Todd Bodine take over Craven's backup car for this weekend's events. Bodine was 30th fastest after the final afternoon practice.
Two other drivers, Mike Wallace and Randy LaJoie, also crashed their Winston Cup cars.
``I got down on the apron in turn three,'' Wallace said. ``There is just too much of a transition between the race track on the bottom and the banking.''
LaJoie crashed in the first turn. ``I just got in the corner too low,'' he said. ``We were trying a new steering box, it just got loose and hit the wall.''
There's no question this track is a handful for the drivers. Rick Mast said it is particularly difficult to drive coming off turns two and four.
``You've got to keep it right on the white line, and lower if you can,'' he said. ``And when you get off the turns, you are absolutely right against the wall and you're sitting there holding the wheel to the left as hard as you can hold it. It slings you right out against the wall and if you don't keep it down, you're going to hit it.''
Ford Thunderbird driver Ricky Rudd was the fastest in practice, lapping the track at 186.974 mph. He was followed by Chevy drivers Terry Labonte (186.884) and Jeff Gordon (186.793). Lake Speed was fourth fastest in a Ford (186.425 ), followed by Mark Martin (185.97).
The remarkable Busch qualifying session featured two Diamond Ridge Motorsports teams that were so fast and so equal, they took the top spot with identical times. Green will start on the pole because he has more championship points than Sadler. The teammates also took the top starting spots in the Busch race at Darlington two weeks ago.
``I don't think this is the last time you'll see it happen like this this year,'' Green said. ``It's pretty amazing we had identical times.''
Elliott Sadler's brother, Hermie, qualified third, followed by Buckshot Jones, Terry Labonte, Steve Park, Elton Sawyer, Phil Parsons, Bobby Labonte and Tim Fedewa. A second round of Grand National time trials is at 2 p.m. today.
LENGTH: Medium: 99 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. 1. (headshot) Craven. 2. Ricky Craven is pulled fromby CNBhis car after crashing in turn 4 at Texas Motor Speedway in Roanoke,
Texas. He is in serious but stable condition. color. 3. Square D
Ford crew member Tim Whelan takes cover under the car's tarp as rain
begins to fall Thursday at Texas Motor Speedway. Qualifying for
Sunday's Interstate Batteries 500 was postponed to today. KEYWORDS: AUTO RACING