THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, June 6, 1994 TAG: 9406060158
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: 940606 LENGTH: DOVER, DEL.
Although he apparently broke no bones after his collision with Dave Marcis and the first-turn wall on lap 360, Musgrave was sore all over after his body bent the steering wheel and his driver's seat in the hard crash.
{REST} The crash occurred when Dave Marcis blew a tire, nearly hit the wall in turn four and slowed coming down the frontstretch. NASCAR officials did not throw a yellow flag, but Lake Speed slowed to avoid hitting Marcis. Musgrave sped past Speed and tried to get under Marcis but hit him instead.
Musgrave's car lost its brakes and steering, and hurtled up the banking and into the wall.
Crew chief Howard Comstock asked Musgrave if he was hurt.
``I don't know,'' Musgrave replied weakly. ``I'm hurt a little bit.''
After rescuers got him out of the car, Musgrave sat on the banked turn for several minutes, taking oxygen.
Later, in the infield care center, he said: ``Well, I'm glad I can remember everything, because that tells me my mind is still in my brain bucket here. I tell you, that's an awful feeling here at Dover to have absolutely no control over the steering or stopping, seeing that wall coming at you.''
GANT FIRST TO CRASH: There were 12 yellow flags during the race, and the first victim was Harry Gant.
After hitting the wall in the second turn on lap 15, he told his crew he'd had enough.
``Boys, ain't no use fixing it,'' he said. ``We're going to finish dead last anyway. I've about had enough of this place.''
Gant, who also had a hard crash in Saturday's Grand National race, said Kyle Petty caused the accident.
``He just turned dead left on me,'' Gant said. ``I guess his spotter didn't see me.''
Petty's move put Gant onto the apron, where he lost control and spun up into the wall.
As he predicted, Gant was 42nd in the 42-car field.
WALLACE'S SCARE: Even though he had no major problems throughout the afternoon, race winner Rusty Wallace did have a scare at the end.
Just before the final restart with five laps to go, ``the engine vapor-locked and actually completely quit running,'' he said. ``I'm pumping the gas, trying to get it running, and I jammed it down in first gear and I turned the motor to about 9,200 rpm, which should have blown it up. But I had to give it an incredible amount of RPM to keep it running.''
SURGERY FOR CREWMAN: Robert Owings, the crewman on Johnny Benson's team who broke a leg in Saturday's Grand National race, was flown from Dover to Charlotte for surgery Sunday.
The 31-year-old jackman had a compound fracture of two bones in the bottom of his left leg. He also suffered facial abrasions.
``I saw the tire coming and thought it was going over pit wall, so I decided to jump out on pit road,'' Owings said. ``I was about halfway over the wall and then it seemed to pick up speed and it hit me hard. I knew right off my leg was hurt pretty bad. I tried to get up, but the leg just gave out.
The tire came off Bobby Dotter's car during a crash. Dotter broke his right shoulder in the wreck.
ILLEGAL TIRE: Winston Cup director Gary Nelson penalized Joe Nemechek's team Sunday morning for having an illegal tire, then rescinded the penalty just before the race.
The team had used a slightly taller, 11-inch-wide Hoosier Grand National tire on the right rear of the car during qualifying instead of a 12-inch Winston Cup tire.
A Goodyear tire specialist spotted the illegal tire Sunday morning. It had slipped by NASCAR inspectors Friday because the four-digit identification number on the side of the tire had the same last digit, a ``5,'' but a different third digit, Nelson said.
There were differing opinions as to whether that tire helped or hurt during qualifying. Nemechek, who qualified third-fastest, said he didn't know.
Some thought the narrower tire would hurt, but others thought it would improve stagger because it was taller.
In any case, NASCAR at first fined the team $500 and announced that the car had to start at the back of the field. NASCAR spokesman Andy Hall said the penalties had been rescinded because ``we felt it was an honest mistake, and we had a lot to do with not catching it.''
BUD MOORE HONORED: Car owner Bud Moore, a D-Day veteran, was honored in pre-race ceremonies with a crystal sculpture by his current driver, Lake Speed, and former drivers Ricky Rudd, Dale Earnhardt, Brett Bodine, Geoff Bodine, Morgan Shepherd, Buddy Baker and Bobby Allison, who made the presentation.
EARLY TROUBLE FOR MAST: Rick Mast had to make an early pit stop because he was leaking fluid.
When he did stop, the car caught fire.
``I don't have a clue what went wrong,'' Mast said. ``When we stopped, it caught on fire. This was the best car I've ever had at Dover. No joke.''
Mast returned to the race around lap 100 and eventually finished 98 laps down.
by CNB