THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, June 16, 1996 TAG: 9606160150
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: NASCAR NOTES
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LONG POND, PA. LENGTH: 69 lines
His injuries make it comfortable only to sit, so Dale Jarrett spent a good part of the day Saturday sitting in the driver's seat of his backup car at Pocono International Raceway.
Despite a broken rib and a slight leg fracture, Jarrett found himself compelled to practice almost as usual Saturday and to race in pain in today's UAW-GM 500 to help keep on track the finest season he's ever had in the Winston Cup series.
``Certainly, where we are in the points (fourth) and the year we've had (two major victories) are big factors in it,'' Jarrett said. ``This is no different than what you see guys in other sports doing - playing hurt. And sometimes you have to do it.''
Jarrett was in good spirits despite the injuries he suffered in a crash Friday during his warm-up qualifying lap. But he was on crutches to avoid putting any weight on his right leg, which sustained a slight fracture on the upper part of the tibia just below the knee. The crutches, in turn, put pressure on his sixth left rib, which was broken in the crash.
But he's planning to go all the way in today's race.
``Hopefully, I can stay good throughout the 500 miles,'' he said. If he can't, Mike Wallace will be standing by as a relief driver.
``In the race car, I'm not that bad,'' Jarrett said. ``The hardest part is getting in and out of the car - particularly getting out of the car.
``Really, the only time the rib gives me any problem is when I get really low in (turns) 1 and 2. It's still a little bumpy down there and that can jar me.
``The knee is what concerns me more. It's not that it really hurts me while I'm driving. I just don't know how much strength I'm gonna have with it and when it's gonna start to give out.''
He's particularly concerned about that for pit stops.
``I'm not sure what's gonna happen when I come in to pit,'' he said.
Jarrett was in the car at least five times Saturday and made more than a dozen laps. He made three practice runs Saturday morning, qualified 28th-fastest in the second round of time trials and practiced in the final session Saturday afternoon.
Jarrett said the accident happened because of his own mistake.
``I made a mistake and (the car) got down on the ripple strips and it just got away from me,'' he said. ``I was pretty sure that I had a fractured rib because of the pain. This was a real piercing pain. It was . . . like someone was sticking needles or even a lighter up to me.''
Jarrett said he thought his leg was just bruised, but by the time he got to the hospital, he couldn't put any weight on it. He said he's been told he'll be on crutches for about four weeks.
WALLACE WINS ARCA RACE: For a driver who just lost his Winston Cup ride six days ago, Mike Wallace was a busy man Saturday.
He requalified the car of Kyle Petty, who was in North Carolina attending his grandmother's funeral. (Wallace was 41st-fastest, so Petty will have to use a provisional starting spot today).
He consulted with the injured Dale Jarrett, who will have Wallace on standby as a possible relief driver in today's race.
And then he went out and won the ARCA 400K race, beating Tim Steele by 5.16 seconds. Wallace took the lead from a faltering Steele with 12 laps to go. There were three caution periods but no serious accidents.
SECOND-ROUND QUALIFYING: Geoff Bodine led the second round of Winston Cup time trials Saturday, winning the 26th starting spot with a lap of 168.407 mph in his Ford Thunderbird. He would have started eighth had he posted that lap in Friday's first round.
Everyone who tried to qualify made the race but Dave Marcis. He was 39th-fastest for a 38-car qualifying field and already had used all his provisional starts. The provisionals went to Kyle Petty, Dick Trickle and Johnny Benson. by CNB