Medical Director at Speedway Motorsports Tracks UPDATE: H.A. Humpy Wheeler, president and general manager of Lowes Motor Speedway, conducted a Tire-Side Chat with media members earlier today. mentioned was: One of the other things that were looking at as a company at Speedway Motorsports is the possibility of hiring a full-time medical director for our tracks and our events which include not only NASCAR, but also Indy Car and drag racing. This medial director post we are looking at would also assist sanctioning bodies with driver records and crewman recordsand we havent talked much about that and as these pit stops get faster and faster were going to continue to see orthopedic-type injuries with the pit crews and we need to be on top of that as much as possible. You mentioned the possibility of a medical director for the SMI tracks. Can you clarify that? I think this thing could happen fairly quickly. Weve been studying it for some time and we still are. We want to make sure we get the right person. We would continue to have the personnel in our trauma centers and the individual track medical directors, but this person would oversee things and make sure we have everything that we need in the trauma centers at our various speedways. This person could also be involved in continued research on making the trauma centers better as well as whats happening on the track and even to the point of working with the various people who are trying to make the cars safer. See full story/teleconference at the LMS Site and another story at Racing Extra(4-11-2001) UPDATE – SMI Adds Medical Coordinator: Speedway Motorsports Inc. took a step forward for driver safety Wednesday when it added Dr. Jerry Petty to its staff as medical services coordinator. Petty will assist at each of the races at Speedway Motorsports tracks — Atlanta, Bristol, Charlotte (Lowe’s), Las Vegas, Sears Point and Texas. NASCAR, unlike CART and Formula One, doesn’t have a series physician who travels and assists at all of the races. Drivers often are attended to by physicians who know nothing about the drivers’ medical histories. It’s a step NASCAR must take, and perhaps Speedway Motorsports is pushing the sanctioning body in the right direction. (Sporting News)(5-10-2001)
