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Sports Editor 1-D 18, 1969
WORDS
Continued From Page 1-D
' three weeks ago, when Dodge
driver Bobby Isaac complained
of physical discomfort after a
series of tests with Chrysler’s
new racing stock car. the Dodge
Charger Daytona.
? - < i i re : :>und it difficult
:: see : a the bumpy areas
~aav running at speeds of 195
a. ; h. plus. As the driver was
not in the car for extended pe
riods of time, nothing further
was discussed.
But when practice and quali
fying began at Talladega last
week, new, more alarming
symptoms were reported. An-
u.r-er iSodg? Charlie
Glotzbach, after pulling into the
pit area, exclaimed, “Hell, I
don’t know where I’m going. I
can’t see.” Pressed further,
Glotzbach admitted that, for a
few brief seconds, he experi
enced momentary blindness
while going through certain
aaas oc the track.
Tas revelation rang a bell
--bin Bill Wright’s mind. He
recalled that, during the Gemini
test program, astronaut Tom
I Stafford and other personnel
: aboard the test crafts had been
| affected by a temporary loss of
sight, pains in the chest, person-
el discomfort such as nausea
::na..y, loss of conscious-
phe-
" came was Arced
a vibrations
' - the
5 — a :: tne astronauts.
Additional convincing
Tfii r was diiaWiWMMri -Aden. ait-
raged"11
meh a a record—all but
:r.’-:e lavers s aid they were out |
The unaffected drivers were;
Richard Petty. Cate Yarborough!
arc Ta .T ■ • ?n. Bill Wright
:axaa tn a. because these men
ke a themselves in top physical
condition, they could withstand
I the peculiar stress.
Engineer Bill Wright now
' elected to telephone astronaut
Stafford at the Houston space
center. Stafford concurred that
me -range physical reactions
ne racing drivers were in
deed similar to his own experi
ences in the NASA test vehicles.
His advice to Wright: “If I were
at Talladega, I would not try to
race tomorrow.”
The Ford racing people also
have suggested that Lee Roy
Yarbrough be checked out by a
specialist for any possible after
effects. Yarbrough might be
sent to the Houston Space Ceil-
1 ter for tests.
