NASCAR NOTEBOOK: OWNER, MANAGER OK AFTER CRASH.

Byline: Louis Brewster Staff Writer

FONTANA - W.C. Donlavey, better known as Junie in the NASCAR Winston Cup garage, has endured quite a bit as a team owner in the sport for 52 years. But nothing like the Thursday night car crash in Riverside en route to the track.

Donlavey and team manager Jason Hedlesky were involved in a two-car crash at 7 p.m. after their arrival at Riverside Municipal Airport.

They were following driver Rick Mast to the team hotel in Pomona when hit. Donlavey, the 78-year-old owner of the Duke's Mayonnaise Ford Taurus, suffered cracked ribs and a cracked right knee cap. Hedlesky did not have major injuries.

Both men were treated and released from Kaiser Permanente Hospital in Fontana.

``We were just driving along when, all of sudden, this car comes out of a side street running 60 or 70 mph and he nailed us,'' said Donlavey, who has just one victory in 812 races. ``I've never been in a wreck like that. In 1939, I laid my A-model Ford over on its side hanging corners but, other than that, that's the only wreck I've ever been in.''

Donlavey said flashes of car owner Jack Roush, injured in an air crash last week, flashed before him.

``The very first thing I thought about was Jack Roush,'' Donlavey said. ``At the moment, I didn't know if I was dead or alive, either, but that's the first thing I thought of. And then Rick made a comment about the owners trying to catch up to the drivers as far as wrecks go, I took a second to collect myself.''

Hedlesky said it took a while before he was able to give the 911 operator the location of the accident.

``I told her we went underneath Route 60 a couple of miles back but didn't have any specific idea where we were,'' said Hedlesky, whose team shop is in Richmond, Va. ``Finally, some guy was walking and he told us where we were. It took five minutes to get it out of anybody as to where we were.''

Mast said both cars were ``torn all to pieces'' and all three involved, including the other diver, were fortunate to escape further injury.

--Sold out: All 92,000 grandstand tickets for Sunday's NAPA California 500 have been sold, marking the sixth consecutive sellout of the event. Tickets for today's tripleheader - Winston West Pontiac 200, Busch Grand National Auto Club 300 and the second round of the IROC series - are available at $40 and $50.