Stock Car History Online - Bobby Allison Commentary

Bonnett Return Turns Scary
Reprinted from July 29, 1993 edition of Winston Cup Scene
By Tom Stinson

Neil Bonnett waited more than three years to return to Winston Cup competition, so shoot, he’s not going to let a little fender-bender dampen his good time.

Actually, Bonnett’s return to racing ended with a horrifying flip that sent him airborne, careening into the frontstretch fence and tore his Richard Childress-owned Chevrolet to pieces on lap 132.

The crash paralleled Bobby Allison’s at Talladega in 1987, tearing down a second of the fence and causing a one-hour, 10-minute delay for repairs.

“I’ve never felt this good,” the Hueytown, Ala., driver said after his first race since and April 1990 crash at Darlington, S.C., left him with temporary amnesia. “I was concerned going in about how I’d feel, but I’ve never felt this good in a long time.

“The guys at Childress’ just went out of their way for me to have a good time down here, and it looks like I broke their toy.”

Miraculously, Bonnett only bruised an arm in the crash.

“They not only build fast cars, they build pretty damn safe ones, too,” said Bonnett, who was credited with 34th place in the race.

“Well, we try to make ‘em good,” said Childress. “I’m just glad he’s all right. You can replace those cars. You can’t replace a person like that.”

Bonnett ran in the lead pack most of the race. He sat 24th on lap 131, one of the final cars in the lead drafting pack.

Through the trioval on the next lap, he lost control of the car and spun sideways. Once sideways, the car lifted off the ground, shot backward into the fence and bounced back across the track.

Ted Musgrave drove underneath Bonnett’s car and spun into the wall, his Ford bursting into flames momentarily. Musgrave was unhurt.

“Everybody was just racing as hard as they can,” Bonnett said. “Nobody does anything on purpose. We just got together, and the car went over

“I knew I was upside down, and then I felt a real hard lick. I couldn’t’ tell what it was. I thought it had landed, but don’t know what it was.”

Bonnett, who has 18 wins and 20 poles in 361 Winston Cup starts, said he was racing conservatively.

“That car had the capability of going right to the front,” said Bonnett, who started 20th. “But, we talked about using my head and just trying to stay on the lead lap. I probably should have been a little more aggressive.”

Bonnett is scheduled to test Earnhardt’s Busch Series car for the Aug. 14 Detroit Gasket 200 at Michigan International Speedway, but past that, his future on a race track remains uncertain.

“I don’t think Childress is going to loan me another car anytime soon,” he said laughing. “I want to get some of these bruises and kinks out of my body before I decide what I want to do.”

For Earnhardt, just seeing his friend in a race car again made his weekend.

“Neil has been out of a race car for a long time,” Earnhardt said. “He was a miserable person since he’s been out of it. I think today was the happiest he’s been for a long time. He had a great time.”