NASCAR's Talladega Injuries

05/01/96

Ricky Craven, Bill Elliot, and Stanley Smith all suffered injuries in crashes at last weekend's NASCAR Winston Cup Race at Talladega. Stanley Smith is still in critical condition with a head injury, Bill Elliot is recovering from surgery on his left (broken) leg and will remain hospitalized for a week to ten days, and Ricky Craven was treated and released on Monday after being kept over night in intensive care as a precautionary measure. Craven may be back driving in next weekend's Winston Cup event at Sears Point Raceway. Neither Elliot nor Smith will be so lucky.

Elliot lost control of his McDonald's-sponsored Ford Thunderbird on lap 78. His car left the ground twice over before stopping, and Elliot had to be extracted with the "Jaws of Life." He broke his leg (femur) in two places, just below the hip joint. His doctor announced that the surgery was "very successful and Elliot's leg should heal satisfactorily without any problems."

Elliot has won NASCAR's most popular driver award 10 times, including each of the last five years. He's won 40 Winston Cup events and is 1988's Winston Cup champion. Tom Kendall, SCCA Trans Am title winner of 1990 and 1995, will replace Elliot in next weekend's Save Mart 300 at Sears Point Raceway in California. Kendall has 10 Winston Cup starts under his belt. His best finish was 8th in 1988. Kendall is under contract to Roush Racing, who is loaning him to Elliot/Hardy Racing for one race only.

Ricky Craven, last year's Rookie of the year, jumped five cars in his Chevrolet Monte Carlo and bounced off the outside retaining wall before coming to rest in the infield. The wreck set him back from fourth to sixth in the Winston Cup standings.

Smith's accident was the worst of the three, and he was still unconscious on Tuesday. Smith's skull is fractured and he has sustained some paralysis on his right side. The race was Smith's first Winston Cup start of the year, and the 28th in his career. The crash he was in involved six other cars and occurred on the 69th lap of the race. In the same crash Jimmy Horton went over the wall in his Chevrolet Lumina and slid down an embankment on the other side.

Paul Dever -- The Auto Channel