Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, February 12, 1994                   TAG: 9402120171
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: DAYTONA BEACH, FLA.                                LENGTH: Long

HE HAD TO BE IN DRIVER'S SEAT

Neil Bonnett, the popular and personable NASCAR driver who was killed Friday in a crash during practice at Daytona International Speedway, knew his return to racing last year was unsettling to his family and to many of his fans.

"It's just something I've got to do," said the 47-year-old driver who was born in Hueytown, Ala., and lived in nearby Bessemer.

The possibility of a crash did not worry him. His biggest fear was "not being competitive."

"Some people might expect an answer like busting your [rear end]," he said. "But if that's what someone fears, they have no business being in the car."

Bonnett's career had ended abruptly at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway in April 1990 in a huge crash on the front stretch. He suffered a severe head injury that left him with amnesia for weeks.

By 1991, however, he was back in the sport as a television commentator. With his bright, friendly personality, the articulate driver was a smashing success behind the microphone.

But as his Hueytown compatriot and friend, Bobby Allison, already knew, a forced retirement is extremely difficult to handle.

Bonnett found it impossible.

So, after testing cars for Dale Earnhardt in the spring of 1993, Bonnett returned to competition in one of Earnhardt's backup cars July 25 in the DieHard 500 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.

He had cried with joy after qualifying, and during the race he keyed his radio mike and shouted, "Man, this is some kind of fun!"

With 54 laps to go, however, Bonnett had another terrible crash. His car spun sideways near the start/finish line, flipped on its roof, careened into the outside fence, tore a hole in the fence and spun to a stop on the track.

Bonnett walked away from that one with nothing more than a bruised right arm and headed to the CBS television booth to provide color commentary for the rest of the race.

In Phoenix in October, he announced he had agreed to run six races in 1994 and six in 1995 for car owner James Finch, with sponsorship from Country Time Drink Mix.

Bonnett said he knew some folks would call him crazy.

"That's what people don't understand," he said in Phoenix. "The reason I'm doing this is I'm going back to something I enjoy. Racing means more to me than anything else. I'll trade a TV day for a race day any day."

Bonnett was the 26th person to die at the speedway since it opened in 1959. The list consists of 25 racers and one spectator and includes NASCAR stars Marshall Teague and Friday Hassler.

But Bonnett is the best-known driver, by far, to die at Daytona.

When Earnhardt - one of Bonnett's closest friends - was privately told the news early Friday afternoon, several hours before the official announcement, the reigning Winston Cup champion walked into the lounge of his hauler, closed the door and remained there for a long time.

Earnhardt and car owner Richard Childress, who had sold Bonnett's team the car he crashed Friday, did not want to publicly talk about the tragedy Friday. But members of his crew shared their thoughts with team publicist Kevin Triplett.

"You can't express how much you grow to care about a guy like that," said gasman Danny "Chocolate" Myers, whose father was killed in a racing accident at Darlington more than 30 years ago. "He was more than a guy who tested our race car. He was our friend and a member of our family. I can't say enough about how much I'll miss him."

"I'm crushed," said tire changer Will Lind. "I'm absolutely heartbroken. We've lost somebody that we couldn't really afford to lose."

"His sense of humor is one of the things I'll remember most," said jackman David Smith. "He could make light of the [1990] accident and was fun to be around."

Bonnett won 18 Winston Cup races in a career that started in 1974 at Talladega. He had 361 starts and earned $3,856,061. His best finish in the Winston Cup points standings was fourth in 1985.

He started racing in 1969 at Alabama tracks. In 1973, he made his Daytona debut and won the Sportsman (now Grand National) race. Although he never won any of the 15 Daytona 500s in which he competed, Bonnett crossed the finish line first here in the 1979 Pepsi 400.

Other than his Darlington crash, Bonnett's worst Winston Cup wreck was at Charlotte in 1987, when he broke a leg. He was back in the driver's seat 12 weeks later.

Bonnett is survived by his wife, Susan; daughter, Kristen, 20; and son, David, 29, who has started his own driving career.

When Davey Allison was fatally injured July 12 after crashing his helicopter at Talladega Superspeedway, it was at the end of a flight from Birmingham to the speedway to see David Bonnett practice.

Neil Bonnett was there, too, and helped lift Allison out of the cockpit of the mangled chopper.

Neil Bonnett spent hours sitting in a chair under a tree in his backyard grieving for Allison.

As the days passed, what most helped him reconcile the numbing sorrow was the prospect of getting back in a race car and running again on the ragged edge at almost 200 mph.

Keywords:
AUTO RACING