This was all we could
see of the big wreck on lap 140 of the race. I'll admit that I saw almost none of it. I found that
watching on the backstretch meant the best views were in the high banks as they left the turn. At 190
mph Gordon getting loose was not registered in the brain (which was slightly awash in
Budweiser). The gentleman I went with said he saw Gordon's car sideways and ran down to take
this photo. I stayed up and saw what remained of his car on the infield. I heard Ray ask Jeff if he
was OK on the scanner. Jeff's reply was he "blew a tire" and yes he was OK. Ray asked him if he
needed a tow and Jeff's reply was "We're done today, we need a flatbed". 
Official photo of the accident coutesy of CBS sports.
CLICK(HERE)
At that point I
had no idea of the magnitude of that wreck and as cars went by again all banged up it became
apparent. I went down to the front of the bleachers and sat down on the grass. A local came by and
asked if I was OK (with my DuPont racing hat on I looked depressed for sure). I said no so he
asked if these beers might help. I said sure and was treated to some real southern hospitality. I must
thank that man for that!!! My friends that I attended the race with did not know where I'd gone as
they let us sit on the grass!! This photo was taken by one of them so I'm showing them exactly where
I was!!
Here's what some of the big guys looked like trying to gather up points. This is Gordon, Martin and Earnheardt's cars going very slow after significant repairs to their cars.
This is a
photo of Wally Dallenbach's car after skidding through the grass right in front of us.
This is the way it ended!!! You can see the Labonte brothers and John Andretti as they head towards the final turn 3!! (this is a "full" speed photo- sorry for poor quality!!)The other one is Terry and the Kelloggs team celebrating their first win of the 1997 season.
While trying to leave the track (with 110,000 others) we were able to take these in traffic. These are the team trailers as the trucks that sell the gear stay a little longer.
This is my friend Chuck
(aka Devo) that I went to visit. He and his family were great hosts and my appreciation can not be
expressed in words alone. With Chuck is someone known as #1babydoll on the internet. The photo on the right is deergrunt #1's husband. I met all of these people through buckmasters chat room on
the internet. I had the time of my life and meeting these people was everything I thought it would
be....FUN!!
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