Daytona 500 2000 - Notebook: Rudd not hurt in frightening crash

Notebook: Rudd not hurt in frightening crash
Associated Press

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Ricky Rudd never figured to finish his first race for the vaunted Robert Yates team on his roof.

"Things didn't quite turn out like we expected," he said after wrecking on the final lap Sunday in the Bud Shootout.

But Rudd, who starts second next Sunday beside teammate Dale Jarrett in the Daytona 500, was caught up in a three-car accident after exiting the high-banked fourth turn on the final lap.

"I'm scrunched up thinking, 'I hope nobody hits me when I'm upside-down,' " Rudd said of the accident at Daytona International Speedway.

Nobody did, and he was unhurt despite the frightening appearance of the accident at almost the same spot where he was badly banged up in a wild flip 16 years ago.

Sterling Marlin, who knocked Bobby Labonte into Rudd, took the blame for this accident. But it was a perfect example of what can happen when cars get to racing three wide through the narrow Daytona turns.

"I saw daylight," said Rudd, who finished the race just short of the finish line Jarrett had crossed seconds earlier to win the race. "About the time I made my move, things got jumbled up."

Helpless Martin
There isn't much that frightens Mark Martin in a race car, not even running the ragged edge while he's injured. He proved that the second half of last season, hardly missing a lap after sustaining multiple fractures while practicing for the Pepsi 400 in July at Daytona International Speedway.

But Martin was worried Sunday when he realized his brakes weren't working well as he made a pit stop in the Bud Shootout. Trapped in front of the car was jackman Mike Ehret, who didn't have enough time to get out of the way.

"It got hot coming off the race track and I couldn't get it stopped, I couldn't get it slowed down," Martin said. "I couldn't miss Mike."

Ehret, trying to get around to the front right wheel, was knocked down but not seriously hurt. He immediately regained his feet and hopped back to the wall. He was treated for a bruise to the right leg.

But Martin, who left the race, a support event for next Sunday's Daytona 500, had his moment of terror.

"I was just helpless," he said. "I had to just sit there and watch it."

Burton's accent
Ward Burton's deep Virginia drawl has caused people to wonder for years how he and brother Jeff can sound so different.

They grew up together in South Boston, Va., yet Jeff's accent contains only a trace of his heritage. How could that be?

"Well, he lived in the northern end of the house and I lived in the southern end," Ward said, laughing.

Jeff, at 32 six years Ward's junior, has another explanation.

"We hung out with a different crowd," he said.

Ward is widely mimicked in NASCAR, but doesn't mind.

"That doesn't bother me any more than being short," the 5-foot-6 Burton said. "I've never had being short stop me from doing anything except maybe reaching up to the shelf.

"The way I talk is the way I talk, and I'm not going to try to change it. It's a Southern background culture, and I'm proud of that."

Marcis' record
Outspoken Dave Marcis, who holds the record for consecutive starts in the Daytona 500, might not have the opportunity to extend it to 33, which would break his tie with Richard Petty for the most in history.

The 58-year-old from Wausau, Wis., says the lack of speed of the new Chevrolet Monte Carlos has put his run in jeopardy. Like so many of the Chevy drivers, his slow qualifying speed means he'll have to finish in the top 15 in one of two qualifying races Thursday to make the field for the Daytona 500 Sunday.

He says NASCAR hasn't done a good job with the specs for the all-new Chevys and the faster Ford Tauruses, which have undergone a 50 percent change from last year.

"I think Gary Nelson needs to get someone to help him analyze the wind-tunnel testing sheets," Marcis said of the Winston Cup series director. "Somebody needs to help him read the test results."

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