Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Outlaws champion recovering from freak accident

Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2001 | 10:38 a.m.

Brian Hilderbrand covers motor sports for the Las Vegas Sun. Reach him at bh@lasvegassun.com or 259-4089.

Three-time Pennzoil World of Outlaws champion Sammy Swindell is recovering at his Tennessee home after sustaining multiple injuries in a freak accident last week at Lernerville Speedway in Pennsylvania.

Swindell was injured when he ran into the back of a push truck that had failed to exit the track. Swindell had just completed his first of two qualifying laps and was running at full speed when he rear-ended the truck on the front straightaway.

Swindell, 45, suffered a fractured right ring finger, a cracked kneecap, contusions and broken bones in his left hand and contusions to his head and groin area -- the latter injury requiring stitches.

Swindell was treated, held overnight for observation and released from Butler Memorial Hospital in Butler, Pa. The driver of the push truck and a passenger were treated and released from the same hospital.

"The car did its job," Swindell said. "The down tubes (roll cage) saved my life."

Swindell said he hopes to recover in time to race in the 41st Annual Amoco Ultimate Knoxville Nationals at Knoxville Raceway August 8-11.

Goodyear still is recovering from a lower-back fracture suffered in May during a crash in the Indianapolis 500. It is expected that Goodyear will be sidelined for another four weeks while the injury heals.

Unser, a part-time resident of Henderson, also replaced Goodyear in round three of this year's IROC series -- in June at Michigan International Speedway -- and finished second to NASCAR's Tony Stewart.

Unser, a veteran of 13 IROC campaigns, would surpass the late Dale Earnhardt as the all-time IROC career victory leader with a win at Indianapolis. Both drivers have 11 career victories in the series.

The tests will complement previous simulations run by the series' engine and chassis manufacturers as well as teams in further evaluating a variety of factors, including track surface conditions, tire wear and projected straightaway and cornering speeds.

Former CART driver Alex Barron, who competed for Dale Coyne Racing during the 2000 CART season, and former Formula One driver Johnny Herbert tested at Rockingham on Tuesday and Barron will test alone next Monday in Germany.

Montoya, who was leading the race before a bad pit stop, appeared headed to a second-place finish but suffered his ninth DNF in 12 races when his engine let go just past the halfway point in the race.

"I am so disappointed I cannot find the words to describe how I feel," Montoya said. "Up to the pit stop, the race was going perfectly for me. We then had a problem with the refueling rig and this lost me the lead. I had a safe second and then two laps later the engine just went."

BMW Williams teammate Ralf Schumacher scored his third win of the season in the race.