Desoto Speedway safety
 

I have never been to Desoto Speedway but it seems to have had a lot of serious crashes over the years, most notably the April 1985 crash of stock car standout Butch Lindley which left him in a coma until he passed in June 1990. I ran across a cell phone video of Dave Steele's crash posted by a fan at the track. Most disturbing thing was the report that there was no ambulance or EMS service available at the track. If that is a fact, I don't understand why the drivers would race under those conditions. This track has been around for a long time and ESPN used to broadcast races from there. As a matter of fact, the race in which Butch Lindley was injured was being broadcast live. There was plenty of emergency personnel on the scene at that accident, which makes me wonder if the report of lack of EMS service at the track last night is true.
Perhaps Desoto isn't any worse than any other high banked paved speedway, but when you lose drivers the caliber of Butch Lindley and Dave Steele it is bound to cast a spotlight on the facility.
After posting this, I discovered a bit of irony, Butch Lindley was born on March 25, 1948, so Dave Steele's accident occurred on what would have been Butch's 69th birthday.

Did Dave ever start wearing a Hans, full containment seat, or window net? I saw a picture of him racing in 2015 & 2016 and at that time he had none of those. I hope that this is not the case, that proper safety equipment might have changed the result?

After watching the video I assume that he didn't have a full containment seat and possibly hit his head on wall? I am always interested in these accidents and what we can do to make our sport safer. I guess it's the engineering education in me that makes me inquisitive about these accidents. Most don't run a cage net or headrest on left side and that's about the only plausible thing I've deduced from watching the video.

Re: Desoto Speedway safety
 

The accident didn't look that serious, but he did hit the wall with the left side of the car, so it is logical that he probably didn't have safety equipment that would protect him from that sort of impact. His accident looked eerily similar to Butch Lindley's.

Oh,come on now.The discussion of emergency vehicles being on site has been on here,before.there are tracks all around Indiana,present day,that do the same thing.drivers still choose to show and race.It's an across the board thing.The drivers,the promoters,and the tracks have to get together and resolve this kind if problem

Last year at fun fest at Brownstown, we were told at the drivers meeting that there wasn't an ambulance. Looking back I should had packed up and gone home, but was weak and wanted one more race. But I decided I wouldn't go back until they had an ambulance and I might never go back because if they don't respect their racers enough to have an ambulance on the grounds, then they don't deserve my business.

Was not at the No way Out last night, but was told an ambulance was there. Can anyone confirm that?

WOW!! Are we really doing this again the day after a tragedy. Probably should have a little respect for the family and give it a few days before criticizing the whole situation

Re: Desoto Speedway safety
 

Seriously? Tracks in Indiana today that run a racing program with no ambulances? I have never witnessed that. I remember going to races at Ellis Speedway in Reed, KY and also Windy Hollow Speedway outside of Owensboro, KY in the late sixties and early seventies when the announcer would ask if anyone in the audience had a station wagon they could use as an ambulance. I do remember someone had a really nice '65 Ford station wagon they let the track use at Ellis Speedway one Sunday afternoon.

Unfortunately it all depends on the track's insurance policy requirements. No state laws and yes there is tracks in Indiana today with no ambulances where young kids even race at. Witnessed it with my series last year and cancelled the rest of our races at that track.

Re: Desoto Speedway safety
 

Well, this has certainly been an enlightening experience. Had no idea we had such tracks in existence in this day and age. Apparently there was an earlier thread about this issue sometime in the past, but I did not see it. With racing having such a prominent presence in Indiana, it is surprising that is so unregulated.