Mayfield's downed tire sparks six-car accident

TALLADEGA, Ala. -- Jeremy Mayfield blew a left rear tire nine laps into the EA Sports 500 Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway, triggering a multi-car accident that sent six drivers behind the wall and punctured the grill on Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s Chevrolet.

	Johnny Benson finished 41st.

Mayfield was running near the rear of the field as the pack coursed through Turns 3 and 4, when he said the tire blew, sending his car into the car driven by rookie Larry Foyt.

Both drivers went hard into the Turn 4 wall, and in doing so collected Johnny Benson, Tony Raines, David Green and Jimmy Spencer.

"I was going into Turn 3 and it just started vibrating and dropped down the left rear, must have run over something," Mayfield said. "I knew then I had a tire going down.

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"It was just hang on until I went all the way around and spun out. I hate to start a wreck like that. It was weird. Just driving along, trying to be patient, you know. We had a good car. I hate it for everybody else out there we tore up."

"We weren't expecting to cut a left rear tire," Mayfield said. "Doesn't make sense. But you've got to bounce back from this stuff. We've had a lot of luck on superspeedways. Just wasn't our day."

Mayfield had finished second in two of the past three races.

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Foyt got the worst of the accident. After being checked out in the infield medical center, he was transported to the University of Alabama-Birmingham Medical Center for further evaluation. He was awake and alert, but like Spencer was unable to return to the event.

"He said he would be OK, and that is about all he said," said Ben Holm, Foyt's crew chief. " I guess the 19 cut a tire down and shot straight up the track and clipped us and put Larry in the fence."

Earnhardt, victor of the past four Talladega events, suffered a gaping hole in the grill of the No. 8 Chevrolet during the melee. After multiple pit stops made under the caution to replace the grill, he returned to the field in 35th position.

Later, Earnhardt got his lap back under caution and then nearly won the race, winding up second to teammate Michael Waltrip during the final four-lap sprint to the finish.