'It shocks you'

Garage filled with stories, well-wishes for Roush

Jack Roush (left) and Mark Martin first teamed up in 1988. Chris Stanford/Getty Images

By Denise N. Maloof, CNNSI.com

TALLADEGA, Ala. -- In the rough-and-tumble world of Winston Cup, the garage is a good place to find stiff upper lips. Motorsports' inherent risks and pressures usually don't foster sympathy, but Saturday at Talladega Superspeedway, both long faces and anxious conversations greeted any mention of Jack Roush.

One of NASCAR's most prolific owners suffered serious injuries in a late-Friday afternoon plane crash near Troy, Ala., and more than 24 hours later, his condition was uppermost in many minds.

"Any time something like that happens to anybody here in the garage area, they instantly become family," defending Cup champion Jeff Gordon said. "They're competitors when you're out there racing, but when it's a time of support and when they need friends and family, we're all there for them. And so we're definitely praying for them."

Roush's two senior Cup drivers, Mark Martin and Jeff Burton, ran a race of a different sort Friday night: to the University of Alabama at Birmingham Medical Center. That's where Roush was transported following a brief stop at a Troy hospital for stabilization, and the experience was other-worldly for Martin.

"Maybe I was a little bit in shock, but I wanted to see for myself for sure that it was Jack," said Martin, who, like his boss, is a licensed, veteran pilot. "Because they had said that he was in an ultra-light. And if I know Jack Roush as well as I know him, he wouldn't have been flying an ultra-light."

Roush was flying solo in a private, twin-engine single plane owned by a friend; not an unusual activity. He owns a collection of various aircraft, which has included several antiques, and is as comfortable in the air as on the ground, according to those who know him. NASCAR regulars spend innumerable hours in smaller aircraft and private jets, and the attitude is similar to the one drivers adopt when they climb through a race-car window.

"It's a tough deal," said fellow owner Robert Yates. "We all have to fly them every day almost, and of course he was out doing that, I'm sure, for fun. It's tough."

"When you got a passion for machines, that's a chance that you're willing to take," said owner Ray Evernham. "I just hope everything turns out all right for him."

Yet another owner, Andy Petree, provided perspective. Both of Petree's drivers, Mike Wallace and Bobby Hamilton, crashed in Saturday's final Cup practice for Sunday's Aaron's 499. Neither was hurt, but both had to go to backup cars.

"[Compared to] what Jack Roush is fighting today, our problems are pretty minor," Petree said.

Five Roush Racing drivers -- Martin, Burton, Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch and Busch series driver Greg Biffle -- appeared with Roush Racing executive Geoff Smith at a morning news conference. All appeared subdued, yet the news may have toughest on Martin, who lost his father, stepmother and half-sister in a 1998 plane crash. He spoke calmly, but appeared teary at times, pausing several times to search for words.

"We've all worked with a man who is completely and totally driven, and one of the things that earned us the opportunity to work with him was our same kind of drive," said Martin, who's worked for Roush since 1988. "We're all the kind of people who like to take care of our business. And that's what he wants us to do and that's what we'll do. Our greatest concern is for his health. In the meantime we will take care of business because the guy's got eyes in the back of his head."

Frankie Stoddard, Burton's crew chief, echoed Martin. "If Jack found out that I was going to work harder tomorrow than I am any other Sunday, he'd be mad at me," Stoddard said.

All four Roush teams will compete Sunday, albeit with an extra burden. But no one backed down from addressing the risk factor.

"I don't even know what to say because it's a passion that he has, flying," said Ricky Craven. "And you take for granted the risk involved. But knowing him the way I know him, he's going to pull through this and we'll see him back in the garage area. But it's certainly got everyone's attention."

"We really take it for granted," said Robby Gordon of the twin dangers of driving and flying. "We don't think of it until it happens to someone close to us."

Gordon, who was with friends Friday evening, said his buddies received a call asking if Gordon knew someone named Jack Roush. "It gave me chills," he said. "And I'm glad to hear that he is responding and that he's got a decent shot at making it."

Like most garage inhabitants, Gordon has a Roush story. He said the long-time owner gave him his first opportunity to race on pavement in 1989, and later, tried to give him a Cup ride in the early 1990s.

"Back in 1992 or 1993, he really wanted me to come Winston Cup racing when he had the Keystone program," Gordon said. "And I don't think he's ever forgiven me for that. And now that I'm racing Winston Cup and part of it, I know he's going, 'Man, I tried to talk you into doing this back in 93.' He's a trendsetter and we wish him all the best."

Friday's news was particularly painful for Yates, who shares the same birthday with Roush. The latter crashed a plane while celebrating his 60th; Yates received a harrowing late-night phone call on his 59th.

"Didn't sleep," he said following Saturday's final Cup practice, of the aftermath. "Haven't slept. I'm going to go lay down. I have the same birthday - yesterday was for both of us. I always think of that because he reminds of that."

Stoddard, who was in owner Bill Davis' motor home Friday night, said Dale Jarrett's crew chief, Todd Parrott, alerted him. "He pulled me outside and said that Jack had been in a plane crash -- had heard that he had," Stoddard said of Parrott.

"He didn't know. He was asking me to find out. I just got my phone and obviously there was some messages on there. Found out about it, and just tried to be optimistic until we found some true stories."

Evernham was at the dirt track across the street from Talladega Superspeedway when he heard of Roush's accident.

"The guy's an icon in the sport," Evernham said. "So any time anything like that happens, it shocks you a little bit."

 

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