| | Associated Press
LOUDON, N.H. -- The cause of the crash that killed Kenny Irwin remained a mystery to NASCAR 48 hours after the driver's death at New Hampshire International Speedway.
Mike Helton, the sanctioning body's chief operating officer, said the reason for Friday's crash at New Hampshire International Speedway might never be known.
"The impact of the accident itself kind of loosened a lot of parts around," he said Sunday before the New England 300. "We continue looking at the car, but that doesn't necessarily mean we'll come up with anything conclusive."
It took NASCAR and the track more than three hours to announce the death of the 30-year-old driver. But details have not been released.
Where did Irwin die, on the track or at the hospital?
"I'm not aware. I don't know," Helton said.
What killed the third-year Winston Cup driver?
"I have not seen or heard from the medical examiner the exact cause," Helton said.
He would not say what might have happened had the almost-flat third turn -- where Busch Series driver Adam Petty also died in a practice crash two months ago -- been banked higher. At the least, both drivers would have had a speed-robbing uphill run to the wall.
"I can't speculate on what-ifs," Helton said. "It's not fair to point a finger at race tracks."
Irwin will be buried Wednesday in Indianapolis. The viewing will be from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday at Abundant Life Church. Funeral services also will be at the church at noon Wednesday.
Donations in Irwin's memory can be made to the Riley Children's Hospital, 702 Barnhill Drive, Indianapolis, Ind., 46202.
Ailing Labonte keeps streak alive
Ironman Terry Labonte, driving with a cracked right shinbone -- the result of an accident a week earlier at Daytona International Speedway -- extended his Winston Cup record for consecutive starts to 654.
But he wasn't around long. He and Chad Little crashed into the
fourth-turn wall on the sixth lap of the New England 300.
"Chad was on the outside of me, and I guess he broke loose a
little bit," Labonte said after emerging from the infield care
center.
Labonte, already on crutches but not wearing a cast, was not
injured. Little was taken to Concord Hospital, then released after
treatment for a bruised right shoulder.
Burton's run ends at three
Jeff Burton's run of three straight July victories ended quietly when rain curtailed the New England 300 with 27 laps remaining Sunday. But he had no reason to blame the weather for an 11th-place finish.
"It was a long day," said Burton, who won eight days earlier at Daytona International Speedway. "We didn't handle as well as we needed to."
Burton lost two spots in the series standings, falling to seventh. He now trails Bobby Labonte by 221 points.
"We're struggling with our short-track program right now for some reason, and that's always been out strength," Burton said.
Pit stops
Tony Stewart is proving to be a master of NASCAR's flat tracks. Five of his six career victories have come on such layouts.
The top five drivers in the standings are separated by just 215 points. It's even closer between positions 4 and 7, where the margin is an astonishing seven points.
Jerry Nadeau's fourth-place finish was the best of his career.
Jeremy Mayfield's eighth-place finish gave him the greatest net gain in
the standings as he moved from 19th to 15th.
Bobby Labonte has led in the standings for the last nine races.
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