THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, June 19, 1995 TAG: 9506190123
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BROOKLYN, MICH. LENGTH: Medium: 59 lines
In a couple of scary seconds, Ricky Rudd went from battling for a top-10 position to wondering where he was.
After leading 31 of the first 70 laps Sunday in the Miller 400 at Michigan International Speedway, Rudd had fallen back to seventh on lap 70. He passed Hut Stricklin for sixth as they entered the first turn on lap 71.
But as Rudd moved down the track, the left rear fender of his car struck Stricklin's right front. Rudd lost control, did a 360 and slammed hard into the outside wall, the driver's side of the car smashing flush against the concrete.
Nine other cars were caught up in the accident, including Stricklin, who told Ford's Wayne Estes: ``Two cars were vying for the same hole. It was really my fault as much as it was his. Everybody was racing hard and the race track is slick and it was really just a combination of thing that (ended in) one of those bad deals.''
Even before the car stopped, spotter Dale Cagle was calling: ``Ricky, you OK?''
There was no answer.
Cagle called again.
Nothing.
There was a long pause, and then crew chief Bill Ingle got on the radio. ``How 'bout it, Ricky, talk to us.'' Still, nothing.
More than a minute after the accident, no one had reached the crumpled, smoking car. Finally, Jeff Burton, who was also involved, went to Rudd's window. He motioned for emergency workers.
Rudd was knocked out, but he awoke as rescuers attended to him. They supported him as he hobbled to an ambulance. He was taken to the infield care center, where he convinced Ingle that he was OK.
``He's OK!'' Ingle said on his way from the care center to the garage. ``We'll be ready to go if the car's fixable.''
But Rudd wasn't that OK. And the car was finished. Both the front and rear chassis elements were badly bent.
``He seems to be OK,'' team publicist Kirby Boone said later. ``He's really shook up. He has a little concussion and some amnesia. And his right foot hurts a lot.''
Linda Rudd said her husband also had a bruised rib cage but was able to recognize her and the Rev. Max Helton from Motor Racing Outreach.
Rudd was airlifted by helicopter to W.A. Foote Memorial Hospital in Jackson, where he was released Sunday evening. ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS photo<
An anxious crew got no answer from the car of Ricky Rudd, top left,
after Rudd hit the wall Sunday.
Graphic
The Ricky Rudd Report
For copy of graphic, see microfilm
by CNB