Wrecked day
Two-time Daytona champ Jarrett dismayed over pileup
Posted: Saturday February 27, 1999 08:13 PM
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Dale Jarrett walks away from his car after crashing at the Daytona 500. David Taylor/Allsport |
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (CNN/SI) -- Multicar crashes are a fact of life on superspeedways, but that's no comfort when it's your rear end being smashed.
Sometimes it's best to walk away, which is what former Daytona 500 winner Dale Jarrett did halfway through Sunday's race. After all the bumper-banging had ceased in a 12-car pileup, and Jarrett had lost his day-long spot among the leaders, he scrambled out of his crumpled No. 88 Ford.
Gone was the chance to become only the fourth driver to win three or more Daytona 500s -- he won it in 1993 and 1996 -- so Jarrett approached Terry Labonte, another wreck victim.
"What happened? Was it my fault?" Jarrett asked.
That question may never be completely resolved.
At first glance, it appeared he had been nudged by teammate Kenny Irwin. But several replays indicated Jarrett simply lost speed while bogged down in traffic. He wasn't able to tuck in line ahead of Irwin's car, which was bearing down in a hurry, and the No. 88 Taurus spun, helping trigger the incident. The wreck also claimed Mark Martin's car.
"I don't know," Jarrett said. "I got tagged going into [turn] three. I pushed up coming out of two and they got a run on me. I was just trying to go into three and somebody hit me in the left rear. It all started from there."
As he slid toward the inside, Jarrett took contact from Labonte, who sent him spinning across the track, into the path of about 10
cars. Then he was tagged by another car, sending him skidding back toward the bottom.
Irwin, a second year driver who considers Jarrett something of a mentor, said he was trying to let Jarrett back in line.
"I don't know if we actually touched, or if the air just got off his spoiler and he spun," said Irwin, who avoided the crash and went on to finish third. "I have no idea, but I feel very,
very bad about it if it was my fault."
Who is this guy?
So far in his career, Mike Skinner has been best known for winning a pair of poles at Daytona in 1997 and switching crew chiefs with teammate Earnhardt last year.
Finally, on Sunday he showed he may be a major factor on the Winston Cup circuit this season.
With Earnhardt's former chief, Larry McReynolds, at the helm, Skinner ran in the top five virtually all day and finished in fourth place.
It was a promising start to the season after an injury-plagued 1998 left him in 21st place on the points list. He had been as low as 40th before McReynolds came on and helped spark a late-season rally.
The momentum continued into the Daytona 500.
"I really appreciate Larry McReynolds making brilliant calls all day for us," Skinner said. "And those guys going over the wall were awesome."
His only regret was not being able to sneak up from fourth to third place to try to give Earnhardt a boost down the stretch.
"I would have much rather been behind that black 3," Skinner said. "The way circumstances were, it wasn't meant to be that way today."
Maybe it will be at Talladega, in April, which is when the next restrictor-plate race takes place.
I object
Mike Helton, who last week took over day-to-day control of NASCAR from longtime president Bill France, introduced Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas at the prerace drivers' meeting.
"I'd like you to meet a member of the highest court in the land," Helton told the drivers.
Then, grinning, the new chief operating officer of NASCAR added, "Well, he's not Bill France, so maybe it's the second-highest court in the land."
Thomas served as grand marshal and gave the traditional command: "Gentlemen, start your engines."
No millionaires here
Gordon earned a $1 million No Bull 5 bonus by following a top-five finish at Talladega Superspeedway last October with a victory at Daytona.
As part of the promotion, the name of one fan was drawn and paired with each of the top five finishers from Talladega. Ray Grimm of Hagerstown, Md., was the lucky fan paired with Gordon and he also won $1 million.
But - one snag - he had made a deal with the other four contestants to split the $1 million evenly.
"That's true," he said. "It's a pact I made and I'm going to keep it."
It still made for some pretty exciting moments for Grimm, a correctional officer who had been a big Earnhardt fan until this week.
"I can't really describe how I felt," he said. "It was so tense. I really couldn't see the whole race from where I was sitting. Until I heard he had come over the finish line, I just
couldn't stand it."
Gordon has now collected the $1 million bonus from series sponsor Winston four times, including the 1997 Southern 500 and last year's Brickyard 400 and Southern 500.
His total payoff of $2,172,246 on Sunday is the biggest in auto racing history, breaking his own mark of $1,637,625 in the Brickyard.
Pit stops
Rookie Tony Stewart joined A.J. Foyt as only the second racer to start in the front row at the Daytona 500 and the Indy 500. Stewart dropped out of contention early and finished 28th. ... Dave Marcis competed in his 32nd straight Daytona 500. He finished 16th. Terry Labonte made his record 603rd consecutive Winston Cup start and finished 38th. ... Bobby Labonte led 20 of the first 50 laps, but fell back because of engine troubles and finished 25th.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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