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Bittersweet night Reffner wins, Biffle clinches; race marred by crashes
Updated: Saturday October 14, 2000 12:26 AM
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) -- NASCAR Truck Series driver Tony Roper was critically injured after his truck slammed into a wall during the O'Reilly 400 at Texas Motor Speedway on Friday night. Roper was unconscious and unresponsive when he was pulled out of his vehicle, TMS officials said. Roper was airlifted to a Dallas hospital where he was listed in critical condition and in need of a ventilator to assist in breathing. Polesitter Bryan Reffner won the race, his first victory on the series. Reffner won in his 112th career start, ending the longest streak of futility on the NASCAR trucks circuit. Reffner finished with an average speed of 112.993 mph and was 1.277 seconds ahead of Andy Houston. Greg Biffle clinched the NASCAR Truck Series season title, even though he was knocked out of the race on lap 81 and finished 25th, his worst finish of the season. Roper was injured after his truck slammed head-on into a wall after trying to squeeze through a gap between two other trucks along the frontstretch at the end of lap 32 of the 167-lap race. When Roper tried to get between Steve Grissom and Larry Gunselman, the gap began to close and his truck was nudged by Grissom's. Roper's truck crashed into the wall, burst into flames and spun out of control before stopping on the infield grass. Emergency crews had to cut the roof off Roper's truck to pull him out, and feverishly worked on him after he was placed on a stretcher and taken to an ambulance. He was taken by helicopter to the hospital. Nine other trucks were also knocked out of the race because of accident, but none of the other drivers were seriously injured. Biffle was knocked out of the race after he lost control of his truck and crashed into the wall coming out of the second turn. The one-vehicle accident did heavy damage to the front end of Biffle's truck. He needed only to finish 27th or better to claim the points title with one race left. Biffle took over the points leader with a victory at Texas earlier this season and had finished in the top five in 14 of the previous 15 races. Next season, Biffle is moving to NASCAR Busch Series racing. Mike Wallace entered the race second in the points standings behind Biffle, but didn't take the green flag. He missed the first 34 laps after his engine stalled and then his clutch got stuck as the trucks started their pace lap. His race ended on lap 152 because of a blown engine. The tone for the race was set on the second lap when 10 trucks were involved in a wreck on the backstretch after Chad Chaffin spun out of control. Six trucks were knocked out of the race, but none of the drivers were seriously injured.
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