NASCAR BGN Food City 250 Report: #99, Glenn Allen
25 August 1997
#99 Glenn Allen, Luxaire Chevrolet Monte Carlo NASCAR Busch Series Grand National Division Food City 250 Race Report Bristol Motor Speedway August 22, 1997 ALLEN GOES UP IN A BALL OF FLAMES AT BRISTOL BRISTOL, TN - Luxaire driver Glenn Allen saw his hopes for another strong finish go up in a ball of flames Friday Night during the Food City 250. Allen and the Luxaire team had been riding a streak of 5 straight solid finishes until the accident. Just as the #99 Luxaire Chevrolet was beginning to adapt to the track conditions, Allen came upon a large mess of wrecked cars on the frontstretch. Allen and Phil Parsons made the slightest of contact and continued on through the mess that led to a caution. Allen came in to the pits to remove a loose piece of sheet metal. A few laps later, with the race back under the green flag, Allen radioed into his pit crew that he was feeling a vibration in the front of his car. Two laps later on lap 33, Allen slammed hard into the turn two wall. While rolling down the track, the Luxaire Chevrolet caught fire. Allen pulled the car down to the apron of the track and jumped out just before the flames were extinguished by the track's safety crew. The cause of the accident: a ball joint in the right front broke, instantly causing Allen to loose control of the car's steering at 140 mph. The ball joint must have become fractured during the slight contact on the frontstrech a few laps earlier. The crew went to work to return Allen to the track to pick up some more points. After an hour-long repair job, Allen rolled back onto the track to record a 37th-place finish. "I can't believe what luck we had here in both races this season," Allen said. "We just barely touched Phil, but I guess the impact was direct to the ball joint. The car had really started to take to the track just before the accident. I know we could have stayed on the lead lap all night and had a top-ten or fifteen finish. All we can do is put this behind us and head to Darlington with a goal of running up front." Jimmy Spencer held off Steve Park in a caution-filled race to claim the win. Thirteen caution flags for 87 laps slowed the pace of the race to 65.515 mph. The race was filled with fire, drivers losing their tempers and many accidents under the moonlight of a Tennessee evening. The Busch Series heads to Darlington Speedway for the annual Labor Day weekend race. The green flag will drop at 1:00 pm Eastern time. ESPN and MRN will provide live coverage of the event. By J&J Racing Public Relations