| ESPN Network: ESPN.com | RPM | NFL.com | NBA.com | NHL.com | ESPNdeportes | ABCSports | WNBA.com | FANTASY | |
|
|
|
| |
 |
  |
 |
 Start your engines! Play RPM.ESPN Stock Car Challenge! Win a Honda S2000! Play The CART Challenge powered by Honda! |
Saturday, June 30 Ray's departure trims field to 20 cars Associated Press RICHMOND, Va. -- Former Indy Racing League champion Greg Ray, who crashed a day earlier, will miss the SunTrust Indy Challenge on Saturday night. Ray was injured Friday when he crashed during practice for the race, the first Indy-car event at Richmond International Raceway. He had posted the third-fastest time in that session. He met with IRL medical director Dr. Henry Bock on Saturday morning, went through a series of tests and failed to get Bock's clearance to drive. The 1999 series champion, ninth in points through six of 13 events, was to start 21st after failing to make a qualifying lap Friday. He said he was disappointed and surprised, but understood the decision. "I feel like I'm in good enough shape to race and I want to race, but they're professionals and I deal with them all the time," Ray said. "There's times when people disagree with me, but when I'm in the position to make the choice, I make the choice. "It doesn't really matter what I think because I do respect them and have to follow their judgment." Bock said Ray was still complaining of back spasms in the morning, but he felt confident the driver from Plano, Texas, would be cleared in time to race next weekend at Kansas Speedway. Ray did all he could to prepare himself to drive Saturday night. "I took a couple of hot baths, stretched and put ice on it, took some muscle relaxers and tried to stretch it the best I could," he explained. "But they think my range of mobility is a little bit limited. "From the visual inspection and feeling around and testing, their best estimate is if I had another accident in these conditions, it might not be too good." Ray's departure trimmed the field to 20 cars for the 250-lap event.  Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
|
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Copyright ©2001 ESPN Internet Ventures. Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and Safety Information are applicable to this site. Click here for a list of employment opportunities at ESPN.com. |
