[Bad Dad 54]

Driver of the car I crewed for is a County Sheriff Paramedic, 1 night during a bad crash he got out & assisted the safety crew to extract a driver after bad crash, driver ended up ok but got his bell rung

[copper14]

speaking of grundy county,one night a guy crashed a drawf car into the wall nearly head on.the car rolled and slid along the pit wall trailing gasoline.the driver had a nylon go cart suit on.the gas ignited and followed the car and when it got to the car the car exploded.the driver was trapped inside the burning car with a go cart suit on.this went on for a while.we had a fire crew there but...….other drivers ran over but couldn't roll the car over to get the driver out.people in the pits carried coolers onto the track and threw water from the coolers onto the burning car.this went on a long time.kids brought water out from the food stand and threw the water on the burning car.when the fire was finally put out and the driver rescued he was faced with a track ambulance only that couldn't leave the track.morris fd responded and they called for a helicopter to take the driver to a burn unit in the Chicago area.the driver survived but was never the same.changes were made after that incident but came too late for one guy.

[Vookie]

Originally Posted by copper14 speaking of grundy county,one night a guy crashed a drawf car into the wall nearly head on.the car rolled and slid along the pit wall trailing gasoline.the driver had a nylon go cart suit on.the gas ignited and followed the car and when it got to the car the car exploded.the driver was trapped inside the burning car with a go cart suit on.this went on for a while.we had a fire crew there but...….other drivers ran over but couldn't roll the car over to get the driver out.people in the pits carried coolers onto the track and threw water from the coolers onto the burning car.this went on a long time.kids brought water out from the food stand and threw the water on the burning car.when the fire was finally put out and the driver rescued he was faced with a track ambulance only that couldn't leave the track.morris fd responded and they called for a helicopter to take the driver to a burn unit in the Chicago area.the driver survived but was never the same.changes were made after that incident but came too late for one guy.

A driver standing in the pits ran out on the track with a fire extinguisher to put the fire out. The next week UMARA thank the rescue crew for a great job.

[Ray3]

From Kaleb Johnson Racing
"Kaleb was scheduled to start 4th in tonight’s feature. Due to no fire truck or the proper safety crew, the team has decided to make one lap and pull in. Unfortunately, this is not how we wanted to start the year.. On the bright side, there are always more races and laps to be made! Onto next weekend."

This was at a Sprint Car race in Boone, Iowa last night! This was an IMCA Racesaver Sprint Car race. I don't know all the details but I suspect this means no ambulance. Where is the IMCA in all this? How can they sanction a race where there is not proper safety equipment. They are as guilty as the track!

I encourage everyone to email Boone Speedway and ask them if they have an ALS ambulance and proper fire safety equipment on site and state that you won't attend races there until they do. promoter@raceboone.com

[JHarris]

Boone, safety crew in shorts and t-shirts.

West Burlington had no ambulance and a driver ended up with broken bones. This is crazy. Drivers should not race without the proper safety equipment.

That's any class, not just sprints.

[kdobson]

JHarris - This is a perfect example of what I posted a few pages back. It's too easy to simply point to the absence of a transport unit and draw the immediate conclusion that safety was sub-par.

The Burlington event was an co-sanctioned IRA/MOWA show. We usually have one series or the other take a leadership role in staffing a co-sanctioned event. This one was managed by IRA President Steve Sinclair. Not only has Steve been around sprint car racing for his whole life as a promoter/series director etc... his day job is as an agent for K&K Insurance. He is the person who visits all tracks for K&K in the region and evaluates safety annually. Steve is also a very active member of the Sprint Car Safety Council. Steve is a leader in safety for the sport. He has seen it all. Not only because he is my agent... but also because he is a foremost authority of all things "safety-related" for cars that go in circles... he is my first and primary call for guidance on anything safety related - which is usually a weekly call.

With that being said, I started getting some texts and seeing some tweets about the lack of a transport ambulance at 34 while I stayed back to get Jacksonville ready for Sunday's race. My immediate response to the texts were "Sinclair is up there running it... there's more to the story I'm sure. If anybody is going to make sure things are adequately staffed it's Steve." After things kind of turned into a Twitter uproar Saturday night criticizing the track and criticizing our two race series, I was able to confirm with my IRA counterpart that.. yes.. there was more to the story.... Here's Steve Sinclair's post Sunday explaining the situation - all of which is 100% accurate..

Just to correct a misconception from last night at 34 Raceway where it was made to sound by some as though we raced without proper medical in place. That is absolutely untrue, and that would never be allowed at any of our events, and anyone who knows us should be aware we take safety very serious, in fact we are one of only a few series who have ever traveled from event to event with their own safety team and equipment, and IRA was one of the first series to have additional med insurance available to our members. And we are always one of the first to upgrade rules in regards to safety, such as no hesitation in going with new roll cage bars, etc. Some tracks have transport units, some have a transfer system. Both meet mandated guidelines as long as proper staff, equipment, and a transfer plan are in place. Transfers are not uncommon. A transfer is where the crew on site begin treatment and call for a transport, utilizing a pre-arranged transfer plan. Then the patient is transferred to the transport unit while on race track owned property. The same medical/fire that was at the track, the New London Fire Dept, has provided the Raceway's fire/rescue, plus staffed and equipped their own multi-purpose vehicle plus stocking the track owned ambulance, and have done so for many years. All were present last night. Several other sanctions, national and regional, have competed there with the very same staff, and equipment as last night. They brought 5 people, some dedicated to fire, some med, but all capable and certified on med side. Plus we had our med/fire person and 2 equipped atv units. There absolutely was equipment on site, and a very well organized crew with stabilization capabilities and a transfer plan in place. I just wanted to clarify and correct any misconceptions. Thank You, Steve

A well-known racer and friend of mine who is also very concerned about driver safety had made some posts on Twitter critical of the situation - which at first blush very will might be valid criticism - changed his position after learning more today and tweeted:

Great convo with @IRA_sprints today!@34Raceway definitely had a good fire/safety crew Sat night. Always things to learn when an accident happens on the driver/team side & the track/promotion side. We are all focused on making things better & as safe as possible for all involved.

The point I am trying to make here is this. YES, there are for sure some deficient rescue/emergency response operations at some race tracks. But you can't simply base all of your conclusions on whether or not there is a transport unit on site. Things like distance from track of a unit, what staff and equipment is actually at the track, what types of situations are they capable of handling and many other factors should come into play in that evaluation.

34 Raceway has an very well-planned and trained staff to handle a wide range of eventualities. There is thought and preparedness. That's what we should be asking for. Not simply whether there's a box on the premises. Again, this is all coming from a guy who is fortunate enough to have a staffed transport ambulance at all events. But I think it's unfair to take the easy shots at some places that don't... but might have an even more comprehensive plan and response than I do with my ambulance service.

Sorry for the length.

[egh170]

Speaking of Grundy County, please get your facts correct before you make posts like this.
1.The people in the pits put out the fire with water from coolers? (FALSE).
2. However long it seemed for the fire to be extinguished it was put out by the safety crew in 27 seconds (Fact)
3. Driver was extricated from he car in less than 2 minutes
4. ( Fact) Water was brought out to attempt to cool the driver after he was out and on a gurney.
5. The Ambulance was there and was treating the driver until life flight got there. Also there was a certified nurse on the scene attending to the driver
I was there monitoring the situation. Where were you?
GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT BEFORE YOU MAKE A RIDICULOUS POST LIKE THIS.

[Therealether]

Either way, a certified nurse is no substitute for EMT's, nor an ambulance that can't leave the facility.

[rockstar5]

A few years ago I was running at Montpelier and out of no where the red flag came out it was a few minutes later we found out there was an injury in the stands and the ambulance had to leave they didn't resume the race until the ambulance returned

[rockstar5]

Originally Posted by treecitytornado Paragon, only had an old Meat Wagon, & would have to wait on an Ambulance for a serious injury! I ran there a few times over the years & thankfully it wasn't an issue, but hopefully the New Promoters will have an Actual Mobile Ambulance, there every race night!

We ran Paragon 0NE TIME the tow truck driver was wasted drunk lol he about ran my car into the trailer trying to back my car in