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By Dave Rodman, Turner Sports Interactive
May 21, 2004
10:11 AM EDT (1411 GMT)
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Busch Series driver Jeff Purvis, who suffered life-threatening injuries two years ago in a violent crash at Nazareth Speedway, is awaiting NASCAR's OK to compete there this weekend.
A NASCAR spokesman said Thursday that the sanctioning body was awaiting documentation from the physician who examined Purvis before making its decision. The decision is expected Friday.
Purvis, 45, said NASCAR's required paperwork, stating his fitness from three doctors that have treated him since his accident on May 19, 2002, was completed.
The sanctioning body asked for one more opinion -- from a Nashville neurologist "whose name I could not even pronounce," Purvis said Thursday evening -- before giving the veteran of 186 Busch starts the green light on his plans to drive James Finch's No. 1 Dodge in Sunday's Goulds Pumps ITT Industries 200.
"I thought I had worked through everything -- all the technicalities -- yesterday," Purvis said on his way to Nashville on Thursday. "Then they called me back this morning and they had some other things I had to go through.
"I don't blame NASCAR at all for wanting second opinions on every issue. It's not that big a deal and not something that I mind doing at all. I'm just praying that we get it done in time."
Practice at Nazareth does not begin until noon ET Saturday. Both Purvis and Finch are confident that Purvis would be there to drive.
Purvis, a veteran racer from Clarksville, Tenn., had entertained offers to return to racing since last season. But until Wednesday at Greenville-Pickens Speedway outside Greenville, S.C., he had not sat in a racecar since the 2002 Stacker 2 200 at the tricky one-mile Nazareth oval.
In that race Purvis' No. 37 Chevrolet blew its engine and spun to a halt at the exit of Turn 1, a high-speed corner with limited visibility. Greg Biffle's Ford hit the oil from Purvis' car's engine and spun, slamming broadside into the Brewco Motorsports car's driver's door.
Both Biffle and Purvis were knocked out in the wreck, and Purvis suffered a closed head injury, broken vertebrae in his neck and a broken left leg. After briefly hooked to a ventilator, Purvis returned home in a halo device to continue therapy.
Purvis, a four-time Busch Series winner who won the race at Texas Motor Speedway a month before the crash, wore the halo until August and a cervical collar until September.
By mid-October 2002 Purvis was well enough to attend the Busch Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
When Finch released Johnny Benson from his ride in the No. 1 Dodge earlier this month, a tentative plan for Purvis' return became a lot more definite in a hurry.
Finch announced the Nazareth driver change on Wednesday -- two years to the day on which Purvis was injured.
"It really is (a coincidence)," Purvis said of the timing of his return. "I know it doesn't look that way, but it really is. When James and Johnny parted ways, he was going to have Jamie (McMurray) drive the car (at Richmond), but there were some races that Jamie couldn't drive."
The first was this weekend, when McMurray's Nextel Cup Series job driving for Chip Ganassi has him competing in the Nextel Open Saturday night at Lowe's Motor Speedway.
"That's kind of how this came about," Purvis said. "It worked out good for me (but) my deal right now is Nazareth -- (James and I) haven't talked any further than Nazareth.
"Of course, they've got Colorado coming up at Pikes Peak, which is a track I truly love and some other good racetracks coming up, but right now I basically just want to see how I stack up.
"I'm just watching TV like everybody else, wondering how I'm gonna do."
Purvis laughed when asked if his wife, Margo and their children supported his decision, or had simply accepted it.
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"Keep giving me more options and maybe you'll run across one (that fits)," Purvis said before he got serious. "I think Margo has always known that if I ever was going to be able to do this again that I would.
"Quitting on the terms I had to quit on was not something that I ever envisioned, nor does anybody else and I'm not any different than anybody else. But having an opportunity with such a race team like James' and Yellow -- it's just something I really wanted to do.
"I had a certain time and date that I really thought I was going to retire from racing either way. It wasn't then (2002), so I just hope I go up there (Nazareth) and I'm competitive."
Purvis said the test at Greenville reassured him his competitive fire was still burning.
"I felt yesterday when I went to the racetrack that I still have a lot of competitiveness in me," Purvis said. "That's basically what drives somebody. When they feel like they lose that edge, you just need to quit.
"I felt that yesterday -- I felt like I wanted somebody else there so I could race against them. We'll just have to see how it goes. I'm not going to force myself to do anything. I'm just basically going to see how it goes."
Purvis said the reunion with Finch's Phoenix Racing team -- with which he won on dirt, in ARCA and the Busch Series -- was a revelation.
"It was a lot of fun," Purvis said. "Normally you go over there and it's always hot and it makes for a long day. But I enjoyed the day yesterday because I've just not done it in so long -- for two years -- so I had a good time.
"It reminded me of the old days," Purvis said of his reunion with Phoenix team manager Marc Reno. "It was a lot of fun working with him again -- like old times.
"I'm older than I was a couple years ago but I felt comfortable in the car. My biggest fear when I started back was that the car was going to be ahead of me."
Purvis said that feeling didn't last.
"After I made it through a couple corners, I felt in tune with the car and that's the main thing I was concerned about -- was that the car was going to be racing way out ahead of me."
Purvis said pairing with Finch, Reno and crew chief Jon Wolfe has eased his family's fears.
"I think it made Margo more comfortable because she's totally comfortable with anything that Marc Reno puts together," Purvis said. "There's so many things there that make her more comfortable than if I was just going anywhere else and just picking someone to race with."
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