Fiery wrecks mar GFS Marketplace 400 at MIS

R. Wallace takes blame for bizarre pit road mishap

BROOKLYN, Mich. -- The fortunes of six drivers changed dramatically in three separate incidents near the midway point of Sunday's GFS Marketplace 400 at Michigan International Speedway.

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First, Todd Bodine and Kenny Wallace were eliminated in a hard crash off Turn 2. Five laps after the race went green again, Ricky Craven bounced off the wall in about the same spot, and as the field sped past, Casey Mears clipped Craven's car and shot toward against the outside wall.

As the leaders headed to pit road, Rusty Wallace decided to dart back on to the track. But he slammed into the left-front of Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s car, causing both to do lazy spins through the tri-oval grass.

Earnhardt Jr.'s car suffered the most damage, and repeated pit stops under yellow didn't fix the problems. The left-front tire was cut down and shredded, damaging the body on that side of the car.

The trouble started on lap 63, when Bodine and Kurt Busch were racing for position. The two touched, sending Bodine's car slipping up the track. But Wallace was there, and Bodine turned right into the wall.

Bodine got airborne as his car slid backwards along the wall, with Wallace's car underneath. Wallace's car caught fire, and the two cars slid across the track.

Both drivers got out of their cars unhurt.

Bodine said he was originally angry at Busch, but then he watched the replay in the infield care center and called it a "racing deal."

"That's racing. I'm not going to blame Kurt," Bodine said. "I was mad at him at first. But after seeing the replay, I know it wasn't his fault. The air come off the spoiler, and he got into me. Just one of those deals.

"It was a pretty hard hit. When Kenny turned me up in the wall, it hit the wall probably 180 mph. Fortunately, I've got a LaJoie seat and HANS device, and everything did its job. I've got a sore knee and a sore ankle."

Bodine was limping slightly as he walked from the infield care center but was otherwise OK.

"I knew I was close to turning over when I looked out the windshield and the wall was going sideways," Bodine said. "That was not fun. Then the fire, I didn't know if that was my car or what was going on. I didn't know Kenny was underneath me like that."

Wallace squirted from his car almost before it stopped. And rescue workers got to both cars quickly.

"I don't like fire," Wallace said. "That puts to rest how quick we can get out of the car. I basically just took the window net down and unhooked my air hose.

"I figured the rest of the stuff I could rip off. Then when I got out, I ran right through the fire. Everything's cool."

VIDEO CLIPS Victory Lane Play video Hear post-race comments from Harvick, Kenseth Play video Final laps Play video Bodine, K.Wallace walk away from a fiery crash Play video McMurray's day ends early Play video Rusty Wallace bails out after his engine catches fiire Play video

The race returned to green on lap 72, but five laps later, Craven ran over some debris and cut down a tire. He hit the wall and skated near the top of the track off Turn 2, but Mears tried to get around him on the outside.

There wasn't enough room, and Mears' car launched into the outside wall.

"I'm fine, just discouraged," Craven said. "I just ran over some of that debris on the backstrech. One out of 20 times that gets you, and today it got us."

Mears car was demolished, but he was fine, too.

When pit road opened, many of the leaders went to change tires. Ryan Newman changed his mind and darted back on the track. Several cars behind Newman, his Penske Racing teammate, Wallace, did the same. But Earnhardt Jr. was on the outside, and the two cars slammed together.

"I came off of Turn 4 for a scheduled pit stop and was heading down pit road," Wallace said. "Everything was fine, and at the last minute, my crew chief started screaming, 'Go back on the race track. Stay out, stay out.'

"So I cut across the track to get back out, and evidently Dale Jr. was there. I didn't see him. It was my fault -- our fault."

	Kenny Wallace escapes his car after colliding with Todd Bodine. Credit: AP

After Earnhardt Jr.'s car had the flat tire, he returned to the race, two laps down. Wallace continued on -- for a few laps.

Just past the halfway point, Wallace's engine exploded much like Newman's in the race here in June. Fire erupted from the engine compartment, but Wallace was able to escape unscathed.

"When it blew, it made a really strange sound in the engine," Wallace said. "I've never heard an engine (like that). It sounded like it was sucking a lot of air and gargling oil and all kind of weird sounds. ... Then about that time, everything lit, and fire starting squirting everywhere. A bad deal."

Wallace said he tried to pull his fire extinguisher, but the mechanism to release it bent, and Wallace was unable to set it off.

"The installation of the fire handle wasn't too good at all," Wallace said. "It just bent over, and I couldn't get the thing out."