Motorsports

Earnhardt dizzy spell was years before death

By wire services
Published June 3, 2005

LEXINGTON, N.C. - NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt acknowledged on a life insurance application shortly before his death that he once had a dizzy spell during a race, apparently a 1997 event in South Carolina in which he crashed.

The disclosure was contained in 41 previously sealed exhibits in a lawsuit against insurer United of Omaha, which refused to pay millions to Earnhardt's widow after he died in a crash at the 2001 Daytona 500.

United of Omaha claims the policy was never valid for Earnhardt because he had not taken a required physical.

The exhibits were made public Thursday after several news organizations, including the Associated Press and the Charlotte Observer , went to court and asked for them. Testimony in the case continued Thursday.

In the insurance application, submitted a month before the fatal crash, Earnhardt admitted in a handwritten note that he experienced "dizziness in race in Darlington" about three years earlier. Earnhardt crashed in the first turn of the 1997 Southern 500 in Darlington, S.C., after blacking out twice at the wheel.

The note indicated that no cause was found for the dizziness and that Earnhardt returned to racing immediately and experienced no further symptoms.

Richard Childress Racing, Earnhardt's employer, took out the $3.7-million policy with United of Omaha and is pursuing the matter on the family's behalf. Another insurer has already paid a $3.5-million claim.

DRIVER SUSPENDED: Shane Hmiel was suspended indefinitely for violating NASCAR's substance abuse policy for a second time.

The driver, 24, was suspended for almost four months at the end of the 2003 season. NASCAR tested Hmiel again after Saturday night's Busch race in North Carolina.

Hmiel practiced his Busch car at Dover International Raceway but was escorted out of the garage by several NASCAR officials before the second session.

He's currently 14th in the Busch Series standings. His only NASCAR victory was in a truck race last year in Las Vegas.

Hmiel is the son of Steve Hmiel, the longtime technical director at Dale Earnhardt Inc., who recently became Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s interim crew chief.

WOOD'S NAME POPPING UP: It has been almost a given that Busch Series driver Jon Wood will end up behind the wheel of his family's No.21 Ford on the Nextel Cup circuit. That day could come sooner than expected if Ricky Rudd decides not to return next year.

But Wood's name also has surfaced as a potential replacement for the retiring Mark Martin in the No.6 Ford at Roush Racing and for other cars that will need drivers.

Wood, 23, drives the No.47 Ford for Tad Geschickter and remains under contract with the Roush Racing team he drove for in the Craftsman Truck Series. He said he has heard the talk about possible Cup rides but hasn't been contacted by owners.

"I'm always the last to know, but that's probably a good thing," Wood said. "The only thing I know for sure is that I'll be driving the 47 next year."

Wood said his ties to his family's team - his father, Eddie Wood, is a co-owner of the No.21 - and to Roush put him in a different situation than other young drivers such as Reed Sorenson and Carl Edwards.

"I'm like a pair of shoes on layaway," he said. "Reed and Carl are out there in the showroom, and I'm back behind the counter."

But he says he's prepared for Cup racing if he gets the call.

"I'm as ready as a lot of others who get thrown to the wolves," he said.

[Last modified June 3, 2005, 01:17:23]