THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, May 9, 1995 TAG: 9505090375
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SONOMA, CALIF. LENGTH: Medium: 60 lines
A record crowd covered the grassy hillsides around Sears Point International Raceway on Sunday to watch Dale Earnhardt sneak under Mark Martin with less than two laps to go to win the Save Mart 300.
But among the estimated crowd of 97,000, the spectator perhaps the most delighted to be there was last year's race winner, Ernie Irvan, who was released from a San Francisco hospital Sunday morning and went straight to the track.
``I'm here and I feel good,'' Irvan said. ``The doctors want me to come back and get checked out in the morning (Monday), and then I can go home.''
Irvan had surgery Friday at the University of California-San Francisco Medical Center to repair a circulatory problem that remained after his recovery from near-fatal head injuries last August in a crash during a practice session at Michigan.
The surgery fixed a pseudo-aneurysm located below Irvan's brain and preserved his left carotid artery. Although it was unrelated to the vision problem in Irvan's left eye, there is hope it might help his vision by taking some pressure off nerves near the psuedo-aneurysm.
``They really feel like the stuff they fixed is going to make my eye heal,'' Irvan said.
Irvan said he still hopes to return to racing later this year.
``It probably set me back a little, because I was probably gearing up towards running next month,'' he said. ``But now they want me to sit and do another test in about three months. They just don't know what I can do, as far as racing, for a while.''
SHAKEUP: As the teams headed home from the West Coast on Monday, a shakeup reportedly was occurring on the Junior Johnson-owned No. 11 Ford team, on which Brett Bodine is the driver.
Crew chief Mike Beam and two other crew members were said to be resigning Monday, with Beam planning to join Bill Elliott's effort.
SPOTTERS AND SNAKES: Sears Point has the most interesting location for the team spotters, who warn their drivers when danger looms ahead.
The spotters gather on a grassy knoll several hundred feet above the track. It's so far above the track that you can see the entire 2.52-mile course, as well as spectacular views to the north, east and south.
In fact, it's such a nice spot to watch the race that some team members' wives, including Rusty Wallace's wife, Patti, spent the afternoon there enjoying wine and cheese. But danger lurked in the bucolic setting.
John Andretti's spotter, Buddy Barnes, told Andretti after the race: ``I'm with you through thick and thin, but you were almost by yourself those last five laps. They killed a rattlesnake up there that was about as big as I am.
``I wasn't going to leave you, but I did briefly consider passing out.''
GORDON'S STREAK ENDS: Jeff Gordon's streak of leading at least one lap in every race this year ended at Sears Point.
But while he didn't lead, he remained in the top five all through the race and finished third. A NASCAR-record 29 cars finished on the lead lap. by CNB