ALLEN SAYS HE'LL RETURN JUNE 1.

Byline: John Sturbin Fort Worth Star-Telegram 

Loy Allen Jr. has been unable to drive his NASCAR Winston Cup stock car since being injured during a crash at Rockingham, N.C., on Feb. 25.

In the interim, Allen has become an ace on the full-sized show car/interactive racing simulator of his No. 19 Ford Thunderbird. His primary sponsor is Healthsource Health Plans, and it was on their behalf that Allen was in town this week.

Healthsource provides health-care coverage for more than 3 million people, including one slightly dinged-up 30-year-old driver from Raleigh, N.C.

Allen, whose association with TriStar Motorsports and Healthsource began in April 1995, was sidelined in the season's second race when a blown right front tire sent him into a wall at ``The Rock.'' He suffered a concussion, shoulder and rib injuries - and a scare.

``There was a contusion on the spinal cord, a bruising, and that's the one the doctors were concerned about,'' said Allen, who became the first rookie to win the pole position for the Daytona 500 in February 1994. ``They didn't want me to do something and make it worse. That's what's taken the longest to heal up. They're doing MRIs on it every couple of weeks. I think June 1 is when I'm going to come back.''

The series is booked to race June 2 at Dover, Del.

Allen has availed himself of therapy while on the road, speaking at Healthsource centers throughout the region.

Allen and the simulator played host Tuesday afternoon to a group from the All Church Home for Children. He also visited patients at All Saints Health System on Wednesday.

``We do a lot of charity things,'' said Allen, a proponent of the ``Click it or ticket'' seat-belt awareness campaign. ``. . . It's great to let the kids come over here and see a race car.''

Rick's fix: When Rick Ravon Mears shocked the racing world by announcing his retirement in December 1992, he did so as Indy-car's ``ovalmeister.''

Mears became only the third four-time winner of the Indianapolis 500 in 1991. At age 39 and owner of a record six Indy 500 poles, Mears was a consensus pick to turn the Indianapolis Motor Speedway into ``The Rickyard'' within the next decade.

But citing a dropoff in desire, Mears retired and accepted the position of adviser to Marlboro Team Penske. As such, Mears is solidly behind the franchise-holders of Championship Auto Racing Teams in their power struggle with the Indy Racing League for control of the open-wheeled sport.

The showdown is scheduled May 26, when IRL founder and Speedway president Tony George plays host to the 80th Indy 500 minus the marquee names of IndyCar. Upset about a rule that guarantees at least 25 of the traditional 33 starting spots to IRL regulars, the CART teams have scheduled the inaugural U.S. 500 at Michigan International Speedway on May 26.

IndyCar's race at Michigan has been dubbed ``The Alternative 500.''

Mears suggested that the Indy 500, minus CART's regulars, will be nothing less than ``The Asterisk 500.''

``To me, it would be (tainted), if I was running Indy,'' said Mears, who scored eight 500-mile victories among his career total of 29. ``The whole point in racing is to run with the best and to beat the best. A very satisfying victory is when you've beaten the guy that was running the strongest all day long. To me, it would be a very hollow victory.''

Mears also offers what he termed a simple solution.

``If all you (IRL management) want to do is run another series, you leave Indianapolis alone, the way it's supposed to be, the way it's always been,'' Mears said. ``Get together on the rules, to where both series are pretty much the same in that department, and go run your series. And then make Indianapolis the Super Bowl of both of them.

``And then everything will be fine.''

Talking banked turns: CART officials Wally Dallenbach Sr. and Kirk Russell toured Texas Motor Speedway on Wednesday to discuss the feasibility of the planned dual-banking concept.

The 1.5-mile trioval will be banked at 24 degrees for NASCAR Winston Cup stock cars and taper to 8-degree banking to accomodate Indy-cars. A temporary wall will keep the Indy-cars from using the 24-degree banking in the corners.

``We spoke mostly about turn radiuses and banking in the turns,'' said Eddie Gossage, vice president and general manager of Texas Motor Speedway. ``Wally and Kirk had many questions and suggestions that we needed to walk through. I think they were impressed, and we both have some homework to do before our next discussion. But they made it clear that they want to race here, and we have a choice to make soon.''

Speedway management has met with representatives of CART/IndyCar and the new Indy Racing League without aligning with either sanctioning organization.

More like dyna-mite: Winston Cup team owner Robert Yates hardly could be faulted for wondering whom he has ticked off at NASCAR.

Last Sunday, two days after NASCAR's new chassis dynamometer test swallowed up the pole-winning engine of Ernie Irvan's Ford, the second-place T-Bird of teammate Dale Jarrett was subjected to a similar check after completing the Winston Select 500 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.

``If it had to be done, (doing it) after the race made more sense. Not with the race engine before the race,'' said Yates, whose restrictor-plate motors are the stoutest in the Ford camp. ``Today, they (NASCAR inspectors) ran the engine in the correct (RPM) range. The other day, learning how to run and operate the unit, and with my confusion thrown in there, that did the damage. We have proof that it did the detonation on the dyno.''

The dynamometer tests are designed to measure horsepower, and ferret out those attempting to cheat the restrictor-plate program. NASCAR Winston Cup Series director Gary Nelson inadvertently detonated a piston in Irvan's pole engine when he slipped the clutch while bringing up the revs.

``If this helps keep all the people honest,'' Yates said, ``I'm all for it.''T

Larry McClure, owner of the Chevrolet Monte Carlo driven by race-winner Sterling Marlin, also watched his car pass the dreaded dyno test.

``I'm a proponent of doing this,'' said McClure, who took a good-natured jab at rival Yates. ``I'm a proponent of doing it again in Charlotte with the non-restricted engines - and make sure Robert qualifies with an engine he's not going to race, so we can do it (win) again.''

A Craven for excitement: Leave it to a Cup driver to rationalize away the most horrifying wreck.

That is what Ricky Craven was doing Tuesday morning, shortly after being released from a Birmingham, Ala., hospital. Craven took the wildest ride of his 41-race Cup career Sunday during the Winston Select 500 at Talladega. Swept up in what became a 14-car wreck, Craven's Chevrolet Monte Carlo became a barrel-rolling, parts-spewing heap that was kept inside the 2.66-mile oval only by the catch-fence going into Turn 2.

``To begin with,'' Craven said, ``I didn't like that car. It didn't run good at all during the beginning of the race. So that was the best way for me to assure myself we wouldn't bring it back.''

Craven, the 1995 rookie of the year, said he has been struggling to piece together the episode, which began when Mark Martin's Ford whacked the outside wall and rode down the banking into traffic.

``I remember Mark being sideways and I know that I got hit, or I went over the top of Mark or something and I can't put it all together,'' Craven said. ``Once I caught my breath, I asked them: `Hey, just help me get out of this thing.' I was in a lot of pain. Then when I saw the wreck on replay, I understood why. It was pretty nasty. I don't know what I would have done differently. I know you can't stop at that speed. And I'm going to be in that position 100 more times throughout my career.''

Craven suggested that what is left of the Chevy, built by Mike Laughlin Race Cars, ought to be put on display to demonstrate that the safety measures mandated by NASCAR work.

Running like fine wine: At 13 seasons and counting, Ricky Rudd owns NASCAR's longest current streak of winning at least one Cup race a year.

Rudd took it down to the wire last year, scoring a victory in the next-to-last race of 1995 at Phoenix International Raceway. But the season's first road-race of 1996, on Sunday at Sears Point Raceway in Sonoma, figures to afford Rudd his best chance at victory this season.

In seven races since the Cup series first visited the wine country of California in 1989, Rudd has posted six top-five finishes, including a victory in that first year.

The only year Rudd finished outside the top five was a 14th-place showing in 1994, dropping his average finishing position on the twisting 2.52-mile course to 4.42. Average starting position for the winning driver at Sears Point is 5.43.

Rudd, incidentally, has scored four Busch Poles at Sears Point, including last year.

CAPTION(S):

Photo

PHOTO Ricky Craven tumbles through the air in crash duringNASCAR Winston Select last weekend at Talladega Superspeedway.

Associated Press