Smaller Carburetors for NASCAR : Allison Crash Triggers Move to Cut Speeds; Ongais Hurt at Indy

Concern over rapidly escalating speeds is making headlines in auto racing these days.

A high-speed crash that almost sent Bobby Allison’s race car hurtling into a packed grandstand Sunday at Alabama International Raceway in Talladega has brought about a rules change designed to slow NASCAR’s cars.

And Thursday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where drivers are practicing for the start of Indy 500 qualifying Saturday, Danny Ongais became the seventh driver to crash this month. Ongais was hospitalized with a concussion.

Just three days after the near-tragedy in which Allison escaped injury, and several spectators suffered minor injuries, NASCAR ordered race teams to change to a smaller carburetor.

The notice, which was mailed out to Winston Cup competitors Wednesday, mandates the use of the smaller carburetor for the races July 4 at Daytona International Speedway and July 26 at the Alabama track, the two places where laps above 200 m.p.h. have become commonplace.

“This is something that we’ve been looking at for some time,” said Les Richter, vice president of competition for NASCAR. “Bobby Allison’s accident probably brought a consciousness that we would like to see the cars go slower.”

Allison was turning laps at speeds of more than 205 m.p.h. shortly before he apparently ran over some debris, cut a tire and flew off the track, tearing down 150 feet of fencing just 10 feet in front of the first row of spectators.

Ron Puryear, team manager for drivers Allison and Bobby Hillin, said of the change: “They have to do something.”

Darrell Waltrip, a three-time Winston Cup champion, added: “They should do whatever it takes to make the cars safe. The carburetor restriction is a good temporary fix at those speeds.”

At Indy, Ongais, who has started the past 10 500-mile races, slammed into the fourth turn wall, his car disintegrating as it skidded.

Hospital officials said Ongais was conscious and his vital signs were good, but he will be hospitalized for a few days, under observation.

Rookie Rocky Moran of Pasadena also hit the wall just before the track was to close for the day but walked away with a bruised knee.

In between the two accidents, Mario Andretti raised the unofficial record at Indy for the third time this week, going 218.234 m.p.h. On Tuesday, Andretti turned a practice lap at 218.204 m.p.h.

Andretti said it is not the escalating speeds he fears, but the increasing chance of equipment failure at those speeds.

“There’s no way you can ever make a 100% safe race car,” he said. “With these speeds, you certainly don’t want to make a mistake, not a big one. The only thing that’s really frightening because of the speeds is the equipment failures, like a suspension failure.”

It was here last year when his fears became reality. Andretti, who qualified fifth on the opening weekend of time trials, was practicing during the second week when a suspension part failed on his Lola and sent him careening wildly into the concrete wall.

The track records of 217.581 m.p.h. for one lap and 216.828 for four laps, set last year by Rick Mears, both are expected to fall.

In another development, Indy drivers voted to submit to drug testing. Racers who test positive will be banned from the sport.

Five spectators standing in zones marked as dangerous were injured Thursday in two accidents during the Tour of Corsica auto rally at Ajaccio, France.

French driver Francois Orsini drove off the course into a crowd in his Renault, seriously injuring a French woman, who was taken by helicopter to a hospital.

In the second accident, the most seriously hurt was a man who received a head injury. Further details were not available.