Wreck ends Elliott’s shot at upset

Sunday, July 2, 2000 | 2:54 a.m.

After the wreck, Elliott climbed out of his car, threw his arms in the air, ripped his arm restraints off and threw them on the ground. After refusing help from rescue crews, he walked toward Skinner's car and pointed a menacing finger at him - frustrated because a good chance for his first victory since 1994 was lost.

"This is aggravating for us, this ain't racing," Elliott said later as he went into his trailer. "This is just going out there and riding around."

Asked what happened, Elliott said, "I wish I knew. It's a tiger bite. But this track sets you up for stuff like that. With 40 or 50 laps to go, what do you expect? There's going to be more of it when all the cars run together."

Skinner acknowledged the wreck was his fault and apologized.

"It's happened to us, and it's happened to him before. It's not the first day on the job," Skinner said. "I feel terrible."

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BAD CRASH: Terry Labonte was taken to the hospital for a CAT scan after a crash that took him and two other drivers out of the race in the 82nd lap.

Labonte's car and Michael Waltrip's touched, sending Labonte into a spin and sideways into the wall. As Waltrip spun out of control and came back across the track he was hit in the middle of the track by Jeremy Mayfield.

"His car just kept moving and I didn't have anywhere to go," Mayfield said.

Labonte was taken to a local hospital for the brain scan, which was negative, and then released.

Waltrip got out of his car shortly after the crash and appeared fine.

Mayfield was treated for a bruise on his right shoulder at the track hospital and released.

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KING BIRTHDAY: It has been a year of change and loss for Richard Petty.

Back at one of the tracks that made him famous, The King blew out the candles on his birthday cake, scooped a finger full of frosting and started looking forward to his 63rd year.

Petty, who has the most wins (200) in NASCAR history, celebrates his birthday Sunday. He made his traditional trip to Daytona to watch the Pepsi 400, meet with old friends and get a taste of how many others he has touched over the years.

His new main sponsor, Cheerios, presented him with a giant birthday card that held at least 1,000 signatures. Fans clamored to sign it outside of the museum next to the track. It took about 15 minutes to fill the card.

"I've never been this old, so I don't know how you're supposed to be," he said Saturday. "I don't do things any differently than I did five years ago, 10 years ago, 15 years ago."

But life has changed, especially over the past few months.

In April, his father passed away. Lee Petty was among the original trailblazers in the world of stock-car racing that is so popular today. In May, grandson Adam was killed during an accident at practice for a Busch Series race in New Hampshire.

"I sort of go with the flow," Petty said in a recent interview. "It's tough losing anybody in your family. I just lost my father. We were still dealing with that with my mother, and then this other happens. After you get to be 62 years old, you sort of go with the flow, and that's what we've been doing."

Changes have occurred on the business side for Petty, too.

Beginning this week, the STP logo that has been connected with the Petty tradition for 29 years won't be the primary sign on the car he owns. Petty's car had a Cheerios logo with a blue-and-yellow paint scheme instead of the traditional blue-and-red.

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NEW BRIDGE: With his big brother, Texas Gov. George W. Bush, serving as grand marshal and stumping for presidential votes, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush announced the state would put up money for a pedestrian walkway at Daytona International Speedway.

The $2 million grant will go to build an overpass over the bustling International Speedway Drive in front of the track, a congested eight-lane thoroughfare that clogs to a standstill in the hours before and after races. There are satellite parking areas and hotels on the other side of the road from the track.

The announcement Friday raised caution flags for Democrats, who complained that the Republican governor was rewarding Daytona for the national publicity for his presidential candidate brother at the race.

The Florida governor vetoed money in the state budget for the same project last year.

The walkway will be the first of its kind at Daytona. Several NASCAR tracks, including Lowe's Motor Speedway in North Carolina, have had the walkways for years. One of the walkways at Lowe's collapsed in May, injuring 107 people.

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FRANCE UPDATE: NASCAR president Bill France continues to recover from cancer treatments.

"He's had a lot of examinations recently and all the results have come back pretty good," NASCAR vice president Mike Helton told The News-Journal of Daytona. "His treatments have continued as a preventive measure. But as you know, chemotherapy and radiation do take their toll."

France, 67, was diagnosed with cancer last winter. He would not reveal what kind of cancer it was.

In February of 1999, NASCAR gave Helton a more active role in the day-to-day operations, allowing France to lighten his workload. But France still has an active presence.

"He was in the office on Monday," Helton said. "I had a couple of meetings with him. And I've talked to him on the phone twice today. Believe me, he knows what's going on out here."

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