THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 21, 1994 TAG: 9408210185
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BROOKLYN, MICH. LENGTH: Long : 124 lines
Ernie Irvan, one of the top drivers on NASCAR's elite Winston Cup circuit, was fighting for life in a Michigan hospital Saturday after his Ford Thunderbird went out of control and straight into the wall at Michigan International Speedway during practice for today's Goodwrench 400.
Irvan, 35, who was a close second to Dale Earnhardt for the 1994 series championship, was in critical condition in the intensive-care unit of St. Joseph's Mercy Hospital in Ypsilanti with multiple injuries, including a skull fracture, swelling of the brain and severe bruising of the lungs.
The single-car accident occurred around 8:40 a.m. The right front of Irvan's Ford suddenly dropped slightly and the car went straight into the wall in turn two, hitting first at the right front corner.
Irvan's lungs collapsed, and he was given an emergency tracheostomy at the scene to allow him to breathe. He was flown by helicopter directly from the crash site to the hospital.
Doctors said they were most concerned about his lung injuries and his skull fracture, which led to swelling of his entire brain, including the brain stem.
``He is not alert at this time,'' trauma surgeon Errol Erlandson said in a 4 p.m. press conference at the hospital. ``He has received some severe injuries to two major organ systems, either one of which in their severity as assessed at this time could be fatal.''
The doctor said Irvan also suffered ``severe injuries of the soft tissues of the face and head and neck.''
``We believe that the prognosis cannot be stated,'' Erlandson said.
NASCAR officials were not immediately able to determine the cause of the crash.
``They've been looking at the car, and they've still got more to look at,'' NASCAR spokesman Andy Hall said. ``It's probably going to be very difficult to isolate the cause of the crash because of the damage on the car.''
But most of the speculation focused on a failure of Irvan's right front tire.
``We've talked to people who said that to us, but it may be difficult to determine if that happened or, if it did, why it happened,'' Hall said.
Ted Musgrave had just left the pits and was bringing his Ford up to speed when the crash occurred in front of him.
``I was about 10 car lengths back as Ernie was exiting turn two,'' Musgrave said. ``You head kind of straight for the wall a little bit there and then make your bend. And as he was heading for the wall, I saw the right front of his car dip down like he might have cut a tire down.
``He locked up the brakes and the car turned a little bit to the left, but with the right front being flat at that time, it just went straight,'' Musgrave said. ``It didn't turn left or right and hit hard on the right front corner. His car impacted the wall and stayed against the wall. It was just a hard hit, straight on, and the car slid down the wall.''
Bill Ingle, Ricky Rudd's crew chief, was on top of his team's race hauler watching Irvan drive through the turn. Ingle said Irvan trailed Rudd by five or 10 car lengths.
``As Ricky was exiting the corner, I was still looking back at the corner, and I saw the 28 car (Irvan) exiting the corner. And it just went straight into the wall,'' Ingle said. ``The right front hit first and the car rolled up on its side. And when it hit, you could see the hood buckle. You could see the Texaco star on its hood. You could tell it was a pretty violent hit. And then it just traveled up the wall.
``I wouldn't want to speculate and say it was the tire, but something definitely had to happen to the right front. It could have been a tire or it could have been something that broke on the car.
``It was like he meant to drive right into the wall,'' Ingle said. ``You know he didn't, but . . .''
``We really haven't carefully examined the tire yet, so we really can't say what happened,'' said Leo Mehl, Goodyear's director of racing. ``We'll just have to wait to see whether we can figure this thing out. Obviously, the right front of the car went down. There are gouge marks on the track and black streaks. But the tire was really flat after hit the wall.''
Whether the tire was flat before the car hit the wall is a key question.
``That's the biggest problem - to determine when it happened,'' Mehl said.
While speculation focused on tire failure, this type of crash can also be caused by a broken suspension, among other things.
Rudd, who had a similar crash at this track several years ago, said he finally determined that his crash was caused by a broken part in the left front suspension.
Irvan's crash occurred about 40 minutes into the first Winston Cup practice session of the morning. It was a perfect morning for racing. The sky was a bit hazy and the temperature was in the low 70s.
Irvan was in the 11th lap of a 20-lap practice run, crew member Joey Knuckles told ESPN's John Kernan. Irvan had radioed his team that his car was tight, which means the front of the car was tending to push toward the wall in the turns.
During the first part of his practice run, Irvan had been close to Rick Mast and Geoff Bodine, but they pulled away from him. A couple laps before the accident, he briefly raced with Rudd, but Rudd also pulled away.
``We were racing with each other a couple of laps before he wrecked, but he had faded well back,'' Rudd said. ``When I came back around, the car was parked in the wall like it had hit and just scraped along the wall. There were already people all over the car when I got there.''
Irvan apparently bled profusely, and with both of his lungs collapsed, he reportedly was unable to breathe, so rescue workers performed the emergency tracheostomy on the spot.
They worked many minutes before placing Irvan on a stretcher, wheeling him across the track, through the grassy apron and into the helicopter. At least nine emergency workers surrounded the stretcher, including one who held what appeared to be a breathing device with a tube stretching to Irvan.
After the helicopter left, Irvan's car, shrouded by a car cover, was placed on a flatbed tow truck and taken off the track through an exit on the backstretch. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
ASSOCIATED PRESS
After an emergency tracheostomy at the track - he was unable to
breathe because of collapsed lungs - Ernie Irvan was taken by
helicopter to St. Joseph's Mercy Hospital in Ypsilanti, Mich. Irvan
was on life support and listed in critical condition Saturday
night.
Graphic
THE ERNIE IRVAN FILE
[For complete graphic, please see microfilm]
KEYWORDS: ACCIDENT GENERAL RACE CAR DRIVING
INJURIES by CNB