This Driver Could Have Used a Parts Decal

One of the most frightening racing accidents in years occurred during the Goody’s Dash series last month at Daytona International Speedway when Danny Bagwell’s car disintegrated to the point where all that remained was a sheet-metal carcass.

Bagwell was not seriously injured, but that wasn’t the end of his problems. When it came time to leave the hospital, no one could find his clothes.

“When I got to the hospital, I was naked and covered with a sheet,” Bagwell said. “After tests, they told me I could go but nobody knew where my clothes were.”

Bagwell’s father had to go to a nearby store and buy a T-shirt, a pair of walking shorts and some new sneakers so his son could go home.

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Trivia time: Where did the Lakers’ Dennis Rodman play high school basketball?

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Amazing: There have been 20 quarterbacks who won the Heisman Trophy, but only two--Roger Staubach and Jim Plunkett--played in the Super Bowl.

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Big wins: What is the significant item in the career of pitcher Chad Ogea, who recently was traded by the Cleveland Indians to the Philadelphia Phillies?

He twice beat Kevin Brown in 1997 World Series matchups when the Dodger pitcher was with the Florida Marlins.

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His own man: Max Papis, asked what it felt like to replace the retired Bobby Rahal on Rahal’s champ car team, said, “I’m not worried about following the footsteps of a legend like Bobby Rahal. I just want to form my own footsteps.”

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Cousy impressed: Jason Williams, the Sacramento King rookie guard they call “White Chocolate,” reminds Hall of Fame guard Bob Cousy of John Stockton, point guard for the Utah Jazz. “Every pass he made was solid, conservative,” Cousy said. “He’s got the range, he can penetrate, he’s solid on his dribble. I love the kid.”

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Are you sure? Listening to Miami Heat star Tim Hardaway, you would have to think he didn’t care for the New York Knicks.

“I hate their guts,” he said. “Hate them with all the hate you can hate. Can you hate more than that? If you can, then I hate them more than that.”

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Wishful thinking: Stock car driver Larry Pearson will be in Las Vegas for the first time this weekend to drive in the Busch series.

“I plan to test my luck playing the slot machines,” Pearson said. “I’m hoping to win big in the casino as well as on the race track.”

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Just an idea: Times’ staffer Jim Carr suggests that the IOC make bribery an official Olympic sport and change the name of the biathlon to buyathlon.

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New No. 1: ESPN the Magazine has Winston Cup champion Jeff Gordon on its cover, with this comment: “The No. 1 Winner on the Planet . . . Jordan? Sampras? Elway? Clemens? Hingis? Gretzky? No, it’s Jeff Gordon.”

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Just a country boy: Jacksonville Jaguar center Quentin Neujahr has donated 22 canoes to a summer camp in north-central Nebraska.

“I’m just replacing some of the canoes I probably helped tear up 10 years ago,” he said. “Three or four of those dents might be mine.”

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Trivia answer: He didn’t. Rodman attended Oak Cliff High in Dallas, but did not play basketball.

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And finally: Michael Jordan, while a freshman at North Carolina, was told by Coach Dean Smith, “There is no ‘I’ in the word ‘team.’ ” To which Jordan replied, “There is in ‘win.’ ”