Marriage Is Rebuilt by a Crash

Tragedy pulled them apart, then another tragedy brought them back together.

Hall of Fame stock car driver Bobby Allison and Judy, after 36 years of marriage, divorced after the deaths of their sons, drivers Clifford and Davey.

Bobby Allison had been living in Hueytown, Ala., and Judy in Mooresville, N.C., for four years. They were reunited at services for Adam Petty, son of racer Kyle Petty and grandson of NASCAR legend Richard Petty, who was killed May 12 at New Hampshire International Speedway.

Thursday they repeated the vows they had first said on Feb. 20, 1960.

“It’s ironic that a tragedy presented the opportunity for us to, first of all, speak, and then to put our feelings aside to help someone else,” Bobby told the Birmingham (Ala.) News.

Sadly, there was another tragedy Friday, when Winston Cup driver Kenny Irwin was killed at the same New Hampshire speedway.

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Trivia time: Santa Anita Handicap winner General Challenge will be one of the favorites in Sunday’s 61st Hollywood Gold Cup at Hollywood Park. Who was the last horse to sweep both events in the same year?

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Smart too: Serena Williams, 18, who lost to her sister Venus in the Wimbledon semifinals, is fluent in four languages--English, French, Spanish and Portuguese.

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Oil and water: Trans-Am driver David Seuss, also CEO of the Internet search engine Northern Light, which sponsors the Indy Racing League series, puts his own twist on the IRL-CART situation:

“You’ve got a lion and a tiger and they’re different. I think they’re growing increasingly apart. One is international road racing and the other is American oval racing. The fact that both series are finding ways to be successful, taking different paths, that’s the future we have now.”

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Probably: Columnist Reid Grosky asks in the Riverside Press Enterprise: “Now that Bobby Beathard has left his job as general manager of the San Diego Chargers, does he have to make child-support payments to Ryan Leaf?”

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Can’t wait: Producer Larry Thompson, on his futuristic football feature “Super Bowl 3000,” says “The prototype lineman will be at least 8 feet tall and weigh more than 400 pounds with an average salary of about $1 billion annually.”

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Think about it: The last time the Lakers were NBA champions, the Dodgers won the World Series.

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Trivia answer: Crystal Water in 1977.

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And finally: After the Lakers had cut A.C. Green and replaced him with a draft choice, Alex Kaseberg told Tom FitzGerald of the San Francisco Chronicle:

“Green is famous for still being celibate at 36, but after what the Lakers did to him, I don’t think he qualifies as a virgin anymore.”