THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 23, 1995 TAG: 9507230216
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: TALLADEGA, ALA. LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines
Chad Little's victory in Saturday's Humminbird 500k Busch Grand National race was little more than a footnote to a wreck-strewn nightmare.
Two cars flipped in separate accidents, and two other cars slammed into the pit wall, coming dangerously close to crew members. One driver, Robbie Reiser, was seriously injured.
There was plenty of good racing in the 117-lap event as well, but it seemed that the competitors were driving over their heads throughout the long, hot afternoon.
Three of the seven crashes were big ones, including a 13-car melee on the 11th lap and a six-car crash with only seven laps to go.
Reiser received a head injury in the last crash and was listed in serious but stable condition at Carraway Methodist Medical Center in Birmingham.
``He was conscious but very disoriented at the hospital,'' track spokesman Jim Freeman said.
Mark Martin also left the track in an ambulance after banging his knee in a wicked four-car crash on lap 41. Martin broke no bones, but he returned to the track on crutches for the final Winston Cup practice.
The first big wreck started when Johnny Benson Jr. tapped Ward Burton, sending Burton's car into a spin. The roof flaps on Burton's car popped open like they were supposed to, but Burton's car lifted off the ground anyway when it straddled the banking and the flat apron. It flipped onto its roof and slid far down the track as the other cars crashed trying to avoid it.
Burton was uninjured but said, ``It was `Days of Thunder' all over again because I just saw pavement in front of me.''
Later, Kevin LePage spun and slammed the wall in his pit. And Michael Waltrip, who crashed after colliding with Jimmy Spencer, didn't come to a stop until he hit the pit wall.
In the final crash, Lajoie, driving in relief of Tommy Houston, climbed over another car and flipped 1 1/2 times.
When it was over, at least 25 of the 42 cars in the race had been involved in one crash or another. And 21 cars dropped out because of wrecks.
Usually, one big crash here has the effect of settling down the survivors. But this wasn't the case Saturday.
``It's just a lot of hard racing,'' said Little, who won his fourth race of the year by holding off Spencer in a one-lap sprint.
``I hope (the DieHard 500) is not the way it was today.''
QUALIFYING: John Andretti and Robert Pressley cracked the top 10 in the starting lineup for today's DieHard 500, while Chad Little led a sparse contingent in the second round of time trials.
When rain washed out the end of the first-round of time trials Friday, nine drivers were left waiting their turn. They went out beginning at 8 a.m. Saturday. Andretti qualified ninth-fastest at 193.384 mph while Robert Pressley was 10th.
In second-round qualifying, Little qualified 22nd-fastest.
Provisional starting spots went to Kyle Petty, Bobby Hamilton, Derrike Cope, Ward Burton and Bill Elliott, who took the champion's provisional.
Jimmy Hensley stood on his Friday time, bumped from the field and wasn't eligible for a provisional starting spot. by CNB