I was at a track last night and it took over 30 minutes to transfer a driver to an ambulance following an accident. I was in the pits and stunned when I saw track staff driving the driver out of the track in the back bed of a p-up, out a longgg rough dirt road to transfer him into an ambulance because they did not have a ambulance on duty at the track. Fortunately the driver is ok. Minutes can make the difference!!!

Didn't think it was legal to run without an ambulance on hand.
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neither did I,the 30 minute delay may have been to evaluate the condition of the driver..Ive personally sat in an ambulance 45 minutes,then been released when they felt I was OK....glad this driver turned out alright...the trip to the hospital may have been an error on the side of safety

I'm wondering if the track in question had some certified first responders on staff. Clearly, it's less than ideal to not have an ambulance on site, but I'm sure we've all seen races run without an ambulance, but with first responders at the track.

Would I play Russian Roulette with an automatic. I was officiating at a race when the director told me to go tell the drivers to put heat in the motors. I asked where the ambulance was and he told me he didn't know now go tell the drivers. I refused, I asked why we required helmets and belts to build heat if there is no danger. Go do it yourself I will not put my guys at risk. Shortly there after the ambulance pulled in. I also saw a driverbeing taken to the hospital in a station wagon at another track.

"Will you race at a track w/out an Ambulance?"



In a word......No.

when we raced karts, we ran at a track without an ambulance and my brother in law broke his leg. they put him in the back of a AMC Pacer and drove him (with the hatch up) the 30 or so miles to the closest hospital (middletown ny)
if you know anything about the area, and middletown ny at midnight on a saturday, you know none of this was a good thing.
we didnt return till they started having an ambulance on site.

we also ran the midget last year at a track that had an ambulance....that (we found out later) would not start...and had not moved from the infield in weeks! kinda scary.

most insurances only require e.m.t.'s. I know in some places it cost as much as $500 per hour just to have them there. Its a no win situation. An average Saturday night show starts at 5pm and ends at 12pm. People also forget that as several of the cities expand, volunteer fire departments are dropping ambulance services. Several Counties only have 1 ambulance service. No competition, price goes up.

I'd be willing to almost bet that a trrack that runs without an ambulance present also has pretty bad insurance coverage. Racing is dangerous as it is, if you elect to race at a track with bad insurance or no ambulance, well, why not just race without a helmet and seat belts?

I wonder if STIDA has any exclusions in their driver policy for racing at tracks that aren't properly equipped/staffed?