Hall escapes with minor injuries after LVMS crash

Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2000 | 9:30 a.m.

In a testament to the safety of NASCAR stock cars, Shane Hall was able to walk -- albeit gingerly -- out of University Medical Center Monday afternoon after he rolled his Busch Series car at least five times down the Las Vegas Motor Speedway backstretch.

Three hours into a test session for Winston Cup and Busch Series cars, Hall was on the 1.5-mile superspeedway when something broke in the steering mechanism on his Alumni Motorsports Chevrolet as he exited turn two.

Hall's car shot across the track, hit a tire barrier protecting the inside concrete wall and flipped end-over-end before coming to rest at the entrance to turn three.

"Something broke, I'm not sure what," Hall said. "I was coming off of two and the car just took a left on me. I didn't have any control of the steering in the car."

Although he said he never lost consciousness in the violent collision, Hall said he couldn't recall how many times his car flipped.

"I got down there and got into one of those entrance (barriers) and it got up on its hood," Hall said. "I can remember three of them (but) I don't know how many times it got over -- I lost count toward the end."

Winston Cup driver Jeremy Mayfield was on the track behind Hall at the time he lost control of his car and reported that Hall's car flipped "at least five times, maybe six."

Mayfield, who had just gotten onto the track and still was warming his tires, stopped on the backstretch when he saw Hall's car careen toward the inside wall.

Hall was taken to the track's infield medical center and then went to UMC for precautionary X-rays. Hall said he suffered a hairline fracture near his ankle.

"I've got a crack on the backside of the ball of my foot, by my ankle," Hall said. "The doctor said it probably will heal on its own, but we're going to go to an orthopedic doctor and see what they want to do."

Although Hall's car was destroyed in the accident, the protective roll cage was left intact.

"I feel pretty lucky -- very lucky," Hall said. "That's probably the wildest ride I ever took."

Despite a noticeable limp and some soreness "pretty much everywhere," Hall said he hoped to get clearance from NASCAR officials to complete his testing today at LVMS.

"That was going to be the car we were going to run here," Hall said of the March 4 Sam's Town 300 Busch Series race at LVMS. "I'm going to try to get out before the day is over (today).

"I want to get back in the car. I feel fine now but I guess I'm probably going to have to get a (medical) release to come back out."

According to a Las Vegas Motor Speedway spokesman, the tires that cushioned Hall's impact were put up only last November, prior to the American Le Mans Series race at the track. Hall said the accident could have been worse had the tire barrier not been in place.

"That definitely helped out," Hall said.

Hall, 30, has made 100 starts in the Busch Series since 1995. In 25 races last season, his best finish was a fourth place in Myrtle Beach, S.C. A former World Karting Association national champion, Hall has yet to win a race in the Busch Series.

* TEST NOTES: Jeremy Mayfield logged the fastest lap among the 23 cars (15 Winston Cup and eight Busch) testing Monday. Mayfield's best lap was 32.5 seconds (166.153 mph) in a Ford Taurus, followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr. (165.137) in a Chevy Monte Carlo, Stacy Compton (164.634) in a Ford and Jeff Gordon (162.162) in a Chevy. ...

The test marked Dale Earnhardt's return to the driver's seat following off-season neck surgery. Earnhardt's top speed was 162.162 mph. ...

Team SABCO transporter driver David Walker suffered minor injuries in a traffic accident on his way to this week's test at LVMS. Walker collided with a pickup truck on Interstate 40 outside Waverly, Ark., early Sunday morning. The driver of the pickup truck was killed when he crossed the median and hit the Team SABCO transporter; Walker suffered only minor cuts and bruises.