05/29/2006

By JENNA FRYER  / Associated Press

Tony Stewart was in desperate need of a clean and easy race Sunday night.

The reigning Nextel Cup champion didn't get anything of the sort, and ended up in the hospital for the second straight day.

Stewart wrecked 33 laps into the Coca-Cola 600, apparently because of a flat right tire, and his Chevrolet slammed hard into the wall. It took safety personnel several minutes to help Stewart get out of the car, and he was wincing in pain and favoring his right side when he finally made it through the window.

Stewart was taken directly to the hospital for evaluation. He was seen and released about two hours after the accident, but NASCAR would not give an update on his condition.

He was already nursing a bruised right shoulder from a hard crash in Saturday night's Busch Series race that sent him to the hospital for X-rays. They were negative and Stewart had been cleared to compete in the longest race on the NASCAR schedule.

But crew chief Greg Zipadelli was concerned about his health and Stewart's stamina before the event began.

"They thought that he had chipped or cracked his scapula bone, but it wasn't that, it was just a bad bruise and swollen," Zipadelli said. "Like a cracked or bruised rib, it just takes time to heal."

So the team put Mike Bliss on standby in case Stewart couldn't make it to the end. With physically demanding tracks on the upcoming schedule, Zipadelli wants Stewart at full strength.

"We've got to look at the big picture right now, and the big picture is that we keep him healthy and in the top five in the points," he said.

Stewart, who came into the event second in the standings and 93 points out of the lead, was assured of finishing 42nd.

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MISCOMMUNICATION:@ Dale Jarrett's race didn't even last a full lap because of an apparently miscommunication with his new spotter.

Eddie D'Hondt was the regular spotter, but when he was fired as general manager of Robert Yates Racing last week Jarrett had to find a new one. But he and the replacement didn't share the same terminology, resulting in Jarrett's race-ending wreck on the first lap.

Jarrett apparently didn't understand a command to "hold your line" and was hit from behind by Robby Gordon. It sent Jarrett spinning into the wall, and out of the race with a guaranteed 43rd-place finish.

He left the track without commenting.

It's been a rough year for Jarrett, who is leaving RYR at the end of this season to drive a Toyota Camry for Michael Waltrip next season. His crew chief is serving a four-race suspension for an infraction found earlier this month in Richmond, Va., and the Yates organization appears to be in a current state of disarray.

Jarrett came into the race 12th in the standings.

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WIND TUNNEL:@ Car owner Gene Haas said Sunday he plans to build a $40 million wind tunnel on property adjacent to the Concord Regional Airport.

Cabarrus County officials have approved a three-year economic incentive grant for the project and Haas said city officials will help with electrical infrastructure.

The rolling road will be 10.5 feet wide and 29.5 feet long and can accelerate from zero to 180 mph in less than a minute.

It will be the first wind tunnel in North Carolina, and the only one in the country with a rolling road system involving a continuous steel belt running under the vehicle to simulate the road beneath a car traveling on a speedway.

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PIT STOPS:@ Veteran driver Mark Martin used the pre-race driver meeting to plead with his fellow competitors to show patience with a slippery track surface. ... NASCAR officials put a limit on air pressure adjustments before the start of the race, when they told teams they would only be allowed to tinker with the levels behind the pit road wall.