THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, June 20, 1994 TAG: 9406200154
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: 940620 LENGTH: BROOKLYN, MICH.
He spun and hit the wall backwards on lap 132 after blowing a tire while running through the crumbling asphalt.
{REST} ``It's us,'' he told his crew as the yellow came out.
He also told them his ankle was hurt, and avoided putting any weight on his left foot as he was helped to an ambulance.
A short time later, he was released from the infield care center to seek treatment from his own physician.
``It's probably chipped right at the ankle bone,'' he told reporters while sitting on a cart outside the center. ``It didn't break it totally or anything. It's got a bad bruise on it.
``When I hit the wall, I had my foot on the brake pedal and it went off the brake sideways and hit the clutch pedal at about 100 mph. And that hurts a little bit.''
PARROTT TAKES A TUMBLE: It looked for a moment as if Buddy Parrott, the 54-year-old crew chief for race winner Rusty Wallace, might leave the race on a stretcher after Wallace's frantic final pit stop on lap 176.
Wallace's Ford Thunderbird had run out of gas and the engine had stopped. Parrott helped him restart the engine by spraying ether into the carburetor.
That in itself was a ticklish task.
``I was giving it a little shot at a time,'' he said, ``because (if you give it too much) you can lift the carburetor right off the manifold.''
But as the crew pushed the car and Parrott sprayed the ether, the engine still wouldn't start.
Suddenly, it fired.
``When he took off, he launched,'' Parrott said. ``He spun me off the car. And when I spun off the car, I landed on my hip. I couldn't get up. I thought I had broken my hip. But I just hit my funny bone.''
A few moments later, he was up and hobbling back toward his pit.
``But it was a good day and nobody got hurt and I'll have to face the music when I get home, because (wife) Judy is going to pitch a fit,'' he said.
MARTIN'S FEISTY FINISH: Aside from Wallace, the driver doing the most racing in the final laps was Mark Martin, who finished third.
While Wallace was coming back to the front after running out of gas, Martin passed Dale Earnhardt coming out of turn two on lap 182 to take the lead. But on the next lap, he nearly lost control in turn three, slid into the marbles and briefly dropped to sixth.
``I tried to hold the lead and about killed myself,'' he said.
After Wallace got past him, Martin didn't let up. He tapped the wall in turn four on lap 190 and still tried to repass Wallace. He made another attempt on lap 195.
And when Wallace passed Earnhardt on lap 197 to take the lead, Martin began battling side-by-side with Earnhardt.
``We had enough race car there, but we just couldn't win with it,'' he said. ``It was weak in some places and better in others, and I tried to time it where it would work. It was just a good, close race.''
HEY BOSS, FIX THE TRACK: When Rusty Wallace wanted to complain about the deteriorating track conditions in turn three, all he had to do was cue his radio and talk to track owner Roger Penske, who is also an owner of Wallace's team and was his spotter Sunday.
During a caution period on lap 54, he told Penske: ``There's a lot of little pebbles all over the corner.''
``Ten-four,'' Penske replied. ``(Track president) Walt (Czarnecki) is listening. We'll see what we can do.''
``There's big-time marbles on the race track,'' Wallace told Penske. ``Put your team hat on and think about it.''
During the next yellow flag a few laps later, a sweeper-equipped truck began sweeping the track in the third turn. And that was repeated in subsequent caution periods.
``I do have to give them credit for blowing the debris off the track,'' Wallace said after the race. ``It sure helped.''
MICROPHONE PROBLEMS: Shortly after the halfway point, Jeff Burton reported an unusual radio problem to his crew.
``The microphone gets away from my mouth,'' the South Boston, Va., driver said. ``And I've got to pull it up with my tongue before I can talk into it.''
Crew members offered a number of ribald responses to that statement, which lightened up a rather long afternoon for Burton, who finished 21st, three laps down.
Jeff's brother Ward, meanwhile, had engine problems ``from the get-go'' and dropped out of the race after 135 laps, finishing 29th.
OUT EARLY: Jimmy Hensley hardly had time to break a sweat, crashing between turns three and four on the first lap after contact with Jimmy Spencer's car. A tire blew during the incident and tore an oil line, which damaged the engine and forced Hensley, of Ridgeway, Va., out of the race.
``I got Spencerized,'' an angry Hensley said. ``I was on the inside right beside the 41 car and (Spencer) came down and made it three deep. You don't do that on the first lap. But he does. Gets by with it, too. That's the sad part.''
Hensley finished last. by CNB