Drivers Have a Hard Time Keeping Focus

Joe Burris

Sunday, May 14, 2000 | 3:59 a.m.

LOUDON, N.H. - The third-generation Jarrett heard about the tragedy that struck the fourth-generation Petty Friday, and, for the remainder of the day, qualifying for Saturday's Busch 200 didn't matter.

"You just kind of lose focus, or at least I did," said 24-year-old Jason Jarrett, son of 1999 Winston Cup champion Dale Jarrett and grandson of two-time NASCAR Grand National champion Ned Jarrett.

Jason Jarrett spoke less than an hour before Saturday's race at New Hampshire International Speedway, the day after 19-year-old Adam Petty, grandson of NASCAR legend Richard Petty and great-grandson of NASCAR pioneer Lee Petty, died after suffering head trauma in a practice-run crash.

Jarrett, like many drivers, offered condolences to the Petty family. Jarrett's race ended with a crash on Lap 128 in Turn 3, just to the left of the site of Petty's wreck. Jarrett was able to walk away. He said he wasn't preoccupied with thoughts of Petty, "but of course, my thoughts have been with the family all weekend. It seemed the longer the race went, the better our car got. We kept making adjustments in the pit stops. And then 20 laps before we got into that wreck the 20 car (Mike Borkowski) hit me, and I guess 20 laps later he felt he needed to do the same thing. It ended our day quick because it tore the car up bad.

"The biggest thing I want to do is send my condolences out to the Petty family. It was hard to focus today, and obviously, some of the other drivers out there can't focus anyway."

Many of the drivers entered the race with a show-must-go-on mentality, saddened by the tragedy but determined to put it behind them long enough to do their jobs.

"I didn't know where it did happen until I went to qualify," said Tracy Gordon, who competed in the second race, the Busch 125. "I went into the third and fourth turn and I said, 'Oh, there's where he went in, right there.'

"It did take my concentration a little bit. It's always on your mind. It could have been any of us, I guess. But if you're thinking of that stuff, you're not pushing it as hard. We'll be thinking of him always but we have to race from the mind-set that we're not doing our jobs if we do that."

Randy LaJoie was among many drivers who said they leaned on their faith to help them accept the loss of what many believed to be a rising star.

"I always thought that the man upstairs has a plan for everybody and when it's your time to go, it's your time to go," said LaJoie, of South Norwalk, Conn. "It's just hard to figure sometimes why He would take such a young talented person with a wonderful life ahead of him."

Jarrett said he turned to family members for support.

"I talked to my grandfather this morning, and he always has something good to say," said Jarrett. "He said, 'There's nothing you can do. Go out and be your best today, concentrate on just getting better, just like you have every other week. And you can deal with (the tragedy) after the race.' I pretty much got into that mind-set after talking to him."

Jarrett did say, however, that Petty's crash made him think back to an accident he had at Memphis Motorsports Park in October, where he broke several bones in his foot during a practice session.

Other drivers spoke about their past accidents, which appeared serious, but from which they were able to emerge without life-threatening injuries.

"About three weeks ago, my car got into a wreck twice with very hard shots. I probably wrecked harder than Adam's was," LaJoie said. "And I played golf (the following) Monday.

"We've had two deaths in this series that have been very prominent NASCAR names," he said, alluding to the loss of Clifford Allison (son of racing legend Bobby), who was killed in an event in Brooklyn, Mich., in 1992. "And when that does hit, it hits hard. Those are very prominent names in our community. But when you look at the ratios of safety, I think it's safer being a race car driver than it is driving on the road."

Like Jarrett, LaJoie also suffered a wreck Saturday, but his was more severe. He and Buckshot Jones made contact on Lap 87 and LaJoie smacked into the area where Petty hit. LaJoie walked away from his car.

"He's OK," said LaJoie's father, Don, while standing in front of the infield care center. "He doesn't remember being taken out of the car, so he was knocked unconscious. They're taking him to the hospital for a CAT scan (which came back negative)."

Moments later, LaJoie emerged on a stretcher, with an IV in his right arm and an oxygen mask over his mouth, and was taken via ambulance to the hospital. He was released later with only seat-belt bruises.

Eddie Robison, a chaplain for Motor Racing Outreach, said he was asked Friday to take part in a prerace memorial service for Petty Saturday. He said many of the drivers shared stories and what Petty meant to them. Robison said it was the first time he has had to address an on-track death.

"Folks are not scared or worried for Adam as much as they are for everybody else around the situation, for the family," he said. "Everyone is concerned for them.

"It's been very traumatic for the whole community. I think I heard LaJoie say earlier you never know what can happen out on the track at any time. I think they are more aware of that than at any time in their career."

Petty's tragic death is the second in a week for the racing community. Christian Lovendahl, the 27-year-old crew chief for driver P.J. Jones, was killed in an automobile accident May 5 in Mooresville, N.C.

Robison and others said the two tragedies have affected not only the drivers and crew members but their families.

Lynn Bodine, the wife of driver Todd Bodine, said she spoke with her brother-in-law, Geoff, about a serious accident he suffered but was able to walk away from in a February truck race at Daytona.

"He shouldn't have walked away, and he did, and he's wondering how come he's here and Adam's not," she said. "I guess when you get involved in the sport, you know what the dangers are. But when it does hit, it hits hard. And it hits every family in our community.

"You know the dangers there are. We've all thought about that for the last 24 hours. But as wives we also know our husbands have a job and that's part of the job."