THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 11, 1995 TAG: 9501110555
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTE LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines
Since he was released from the hospital a month after his near-fatal crash last August at Michigan International Speedway, Ernie Irvan has worn a patch over his badly injured left eye.
But during interviews with reporters Tuesday at his team's shops, the patch was over his right eye.
When puzzled reporters queried him about it, he had fun at their expense. ``Don't you know which eye was injured?'' he responded.
The fact is, Irvan's injured left eye is healing. And he sometimes covers his good eye to exercise the bad one to help it heal faster.
``The big thing was that the (injured) eye didn't move. Now it does move,'' Irvan said during Charlotte Motor Speedway's annual media tour. ``I'm told that there are five muscles that control the eye and four of them were damaged.
``The doctors never thought my eye would move again. It didn't do anything for three months. Now it's 60 or 70 percent, and they really feel it will move the rest of the way.''
Asked if he knew when he might be ready to return to competition, he replied, ``I really don't, exactly. But I want to come back 100 percent. I don't want to be the guy (of whom they say), `Well, after his wreck, he doesn't run as good.' ''
While Irvan heals, Dale Jarrett is eager to make the most of his one-year deal to drive the Robert Yates-owned No. 28 Ford Thunderbird, one of the best cars in the Winston Cup series.
I've put myself in a situation with a winning race car,'' Jarrett said. ``That's all I've ever asked for. This is my shot in one of the very top rides in the business. We hope it will only be for a year, so I've got to make the most of it.''
Jarrett said he has assurances from Ford that if Irvan returns in 1996, he will get another opportunity, perhaps with his own team.
Irvan, responding to reports that he might return in the new NASCAR truck series, said, ``It's one of the things I've kicked around.'' But at this point, his only involvement will be fielding a truck to be driven by Joe Ruttman.
Irvan did drive a production-based Thunderbird in a test on a road course at Naples, Fla., before Christmas, but ``it wasn't as exciting as it would be in a real race car,'' he said.
``I haven't even sat in a race car,'' he said. ``Before I sit in one, I want to make sure it's something I'll be able to sit in for awhile. I may go do some testing within this month. But when I come back, I want to be able to win my first race.''
GM TESTS: Robert Pressley turned in a fast lap of 191.083 mph Tuesday at Daytona International Speedway in the first day of tests for General Motors cars.
Jeff Gordon was second-fastest at 190.134, followed by Bobby Labonte at 189.633, Terry Labonte at 189.354 and Ken Schrader at 189.274, all in Chevrolets.
Dale Jarrett's 191.897 during Ford tests last week still stands as the fastest time of January testing.
SCHRADER RECUPERATING: Ken Schrader told reporters he spent several days in the hospital just before Christmas with Guillain-Barre syndrome, a neurological disorder that left his arms and legs numb and partly paralyzed.
``I was as scared as i've ever been. It was devastating. It came on sort of like the flu and got progressively worse. My legs weren't working and my arms weren't strong. My arms are 100 percent now, my legs 80 percent.''
Schrader was unable to participate in testing at Talladega in December but made up quickly for any lost time by turning in the fifth-fastest time in Tuesday's GM tests. by CNB