Back in the early 80's we were at a super latemodel race at Shadybowl Speedway in DeGraff, OH. Back then they still had one of those old Cadilac ambulances. Buster Blackford crashed HARD into the turn 1 wall. He climbed out of the car and didn't want bothered, said he was ok.

Well, the track insisted he go in and get checked out, so they got him to lay down on the gurney, strapped him on, slid him up into the back of the ambulance, turned on the siren and red lights and took off real fast up the slight banking to the drive way to go to the hospital,,and,,lol the back door wasn't latched and came open. Here comes Buster rollin out the back of the ambulance, strapped to the gurney, and rolls down the race track and in the process, breaks an arm. The ambulance was clear at the end of the drive way before they noticed they had lost him.

It ended up the only injury he had was the broken arm from rollin out of the ambulance and, he vowed then and there,, he would NEVER get in another ambulance at Shadybowl Speedway again.

So, not all ambulances are good ambulances!!

Thanks for posting that story!! It is by far the funniest thing I've heard today! Glad to see the driver was okay! I don't know what I'd do if I saw that!

What an insightful question...and interesting responses. It is a crying shame that this question still needs to be asked and answered. Someone mentioned the role of the insurance companies...they have had the opportunity to play a huge positive role and thus far, have largely squandered it. I had a conversation several years ago with the rep from an insurance company that covers racing and asked what their definition of "fire protection" is...after a few minutes of stuttering and stammering, I was told if you "had about a dozen extinguishers on site, that was ok"...in my opinion, not a good answer.

Sometimes in racing, we are our own worst enemies. We settle for situations that are not in our best interest...we act as if nothing bad will happen. Guess what...bad things do happen. Bad things happen when we are prepared totally....bad things happen when we are not...and even if we are prepared, tragedies can occur. All of us know that the odds of tragedies happening when we are well-prepared are far less than not. Every race I work as a safety team member, I wear CarbonX underwear (long sleeved), a double layer firesuit, CarbonX gloves and socks and shoes, and a helmet (usually full face with a skirt)...could I wear less and be cooler?, sure could...and if someone I am there to help is compromised, or if I get hurt, because I was not wearing proper equipment, that is not ok. My first training session as a firefighter resulted in me getting significant burns because of inadequate equipment...promised myself then I would never let that happen again. I continue to train, research, and teach, and work at racing safety. That is what professionals do.

We can not rely on rules...we can not rely on insurance companies...we can not rely on state, federal, or local regulations...we need to rely on our own knowledge/experience and the knowlege/experience of professionals in racing safety. Read trade magazines...talk to vendors...talk to the safety team and EMS team at the tracks you run...make sure promoters know that you are concerned about having appropriate responses to on-track incidents.

Sorry I got a little wordy...but I care about making our sport as safe as we can...you folks are worth the trouble!

is that the floor dry crew that spreads floor dry on a dirt track for a little oil spill...1 spin 10 trucks around it looks like a president escort
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The ambulance at a track doesn't really bother me because most tracks I've raced at has one. The thing that scares me is not having a fire crew or fire truck. Running mini sprints, the only track I've raced at that has a firecrew is Lawrenceburg.

Kinda wish the result of the Wolfgang suit would have required a fire crew at all racetracks..

You'd want em there if it was you in trouble Lloyd, I seen a over a hour feature at Bloom last friday. so to harp on one track