| | Associated Press
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Bill Elliott led 42 laps Saturday
night and looked to have a car that could win the Pepsi 400. Then,
Mike Skinner hit his rear bumper on the 114th lap, sending him
spinning out of the race.
After the wreck, Elliott climbed out of his car, threw his arms in the air, ripped his arm restraints off and threw them on the ground. After refusing help from rescue crews, he walked toward Skinner's car and pointed a menacing finger at him -- frustrated because a good chance for his first victory since 1994 was lost.
"This is aggravating for us, this ain't racing," Elliott said later as he went into his trailer. "This is just going out there and riding around."
Asked what happened, Elliott said, "I wish I knew. It's a tiger bite. But this track sets you up for stuff like that. With 40 or 50 laps to go, what do you expect? There's going to be more of it when all the cars run together."
Skinner acknowledged the wreck was his fault and apologized.
"It's happened to us, and it's happened to him before. It's not the first day on the job," Skinner said. "I feel terrible."
Labonte shaken up in crash
Terry Labonte was taken to the hospital for a CAT scan after a crash that took him and two other drivers out of the race in the 82nd lap.
Labonte's car and Michael Waltrip's touched, sending Labonte into a spin and sideways into the wall. As Waltrip spun out of control and came back across the track he was hit in the middle of the track by Jeremy Mayfield.
"His car just kept moving and I didn't have anywhere to go," Mayfield said.
Labonte was taken to a local hospital for the brain scan, which
was negative, and then released.
Waltrip got out of his car shortly after the crash and appeared
fine.
Mayfield was treated for a bruise on his right shoulder at the
track hospital and released.
'The King' turns 63
It has been a year of change and loss for Richard Petty.
Back at one of the tracks that made him famous Saturday, The King blew out the candles on his birthday cake, scooped a finger full of frosting and started looking forward to his 63rd year.
Petty, who has the most wins (200) in NASCAR history, celebrates his birthday Sunday. He made his traditional trip to Daytona to watch the Pepsi 400, meet with friends and others he has touched over the years.
His new main sponsor, Cheerios, presented him with a giant birthday card that held at least 1,000 signatures. Fans clamored to sign it outside of the museum next to the track. It took about 15 minutes to fill the card.
"I've never been this old, so I don't know how you're supposed to be," he said. "I don't do things any differently than I did five years ago, 10 years ago, 15 years ago."
But life has changed, especially in recent months.
In April, his father died. Lee Petty was among the original trailblazers in the world of stock-car racing that is so popular today. In May, grandson Adam was killed during an accident at practice for a Busch Series race in New Hampshire.
"It's tough losing anybody in your family," Petty said recently. "I just lost my father. We were still dealing with that with my mother, then this other happens. After you get to be 62, you go with the flow, and that's what we've been doing."
Changes have occurred on the business side for Petty, too.
Beginning this week, the STP logo that has been connected with the Petty tradition for 29 years won't be the primary sign on the car he owns. Petty's car had a Cheerios logo with a blue-and-yellow paint scheme instead of the traditional blue-and-red.
That was on his mind as he blew out the candles and got ready to watch John Andretti take the wheel of the car he owns.
"It will be odd to get on top of the truck and not look for the red-and-blue car," Petty said. "I hope I can get used to the yellow. I hope everyone else gets used to seeing yellow up front."
Officials say Adam Petty's car did not fail
NASCAR officials found no sign of mechanical failure in the car Adam Petty was driving when he crashed and was killed in May.
The 19-year-old, fourth-generation member of the Petty racing family died when he struck a wall at the New Hampshire International Speedway while practicing for the Busch 200.
"There weren't any signs of any failures of any sort," NASCAR senior vice president Mike Helton told the Union Leader newspaper.
Petty crashed into the Turn 4 wall at full speed. Crew chiefs said his throttle may have stuck, but Helton said there was no evidence to support that theory.
"It's hard to piece together what might have happened," Helton said. "Once the impact has occurred, a lot of the parts and pieces are rearranged."
Bridge over to Daytona
With his big brother, Texas Gov. George W. Bush, serving as grand marshal and stumping for presidential votes, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush announced the state would put up money for a pedestrian walkway at Daytona International Speedway.
The $2 million grant will go to build an overpass over the bustling International Speedway Drive in front of the track, a congested eight-lane thoroughfare that clogs to a standstill in the hours before and after races. There are satellite parking areas and hotels on the other side of the road from the track.
The announcement Friday raised caution flags for Democrats, who complained that the Republican governor was rewarding Daytona for the national publicity for his presidential candidate brother at the race.
The Florida governor vetoed money in the state budget for the
same project last year.
The walkway will be the first of its kind at Daytona. Several NASCAR tracks, including Lowe's Motor Speedway in North Carolina, have had the walkways for years. One of the walkways at Lowe's collapsed in May, injuring 107 people.
France continues cancer recovery
NASCAR president Bill France is recovering from
cancer treatments.
"He's had a lot of examinations recently and all the results have come back good," NASCAR vice president Mike Helton told The News-Journal of Daytona. "His treatments have continued as a preventative measure. But as you know, chemotherapy and radiation take their toll."
The 67-year-old France was diagnosed with cancer last winter. He
would not reveal what kind of cancer it was.
In February of 1999, NASCAR gave Helton a more active role in the day-to-day operations, allowing France to lighten his workload. But France still has an active presence.
"He was in the office Monday," Helton said. "I had a couple of meetings with him. And I've talked to him on the phone twice today. He knows what's going on out here." | |
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