On his first pitstop #88-Dale Jarrett spun out, hit his jackman, John Bryan, who was attended attended to on pitroad [which was closed] – John was (and is) awake and alert, Bryan was transported to the local hospital, Doug Yates told IMS radio that Bryan’s shoulder hurts and he has pain in his pelvic area, but is awake and alert and Yates thinks he is OK – Good News! (radio and TV reports)(8-3-2003) UPDATE: #88-Dale Jarrett was headed to pit road on lap 37 when his brakes appeared to lock up and his car began to spin down the service road. He hit jack man John Bryan, who was unable to get out of the way. “It’s the most devastating thing I’ve ever been associated with,” Jarrett said. “It was just stupidity on my part.” The car spun around and went backward into the wall, pinning Bryan against the concrete barrier and sending his helmet flying into the fence. Bryan was awake and alert when taken to the hospital, complaining of a sore shoulder and pain in his pelvis. He was released Sunday night with no sign of serious injuries. Also injured was Joe Krupa, a photographer for The Star Press of Muncie, Ind. Another member of Jarrett’s crew dropped a tire which came up and hit Krupa. He also was released Sunday night. Jarrett had the first pit box. “I knew which pit box we had, and I thought I’d seen how far I could get in,” Jarrett said. “Apparently we just got in too far today.” Jarrett started 34th, but he never recovered from the pit accident. He finished 39th, 18 laps behind winner Kevin Harvick. “I didn’t even care about the rest of the race. I had to finish it for the guys,” Jarrett said. “I could have cared less. My thoughts were just, ‘God take care of John Bryan.”‘( Thatsracin.com/AP )(8-3-2003) UPDATE 2: John Bryan is at home and resting after being involved in a pit road incident at Indianapolis Motor Speedway during the running of the Brickyard 400. After being evaluated at Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis, Bryan was released with all tests coming back negative. Albeit a little sore, Bryans spirits are up and he is looking forward to getting back to the race track. Im very sore . . . I feel like I was hit by a racecar, Bryan joked Monday afternoon. I am a little sore all over right now but the biggest thing thats sore is my shoulder, which makes sense because I landed on my right shoulder. Other than that, I feel pretty good and hope to get back to the shop later this week. Bryan, who has been working at Robert Yates Racing since 1996, has been part of the #88 team pit crew since April 2002. He has worked as the Parts Manager since 1996, and shortly after that went to work pitting the #28 Robert Yates Racing Fords before moving to the #88 team in 2002. Bryan says he has every intention of returning to his jackman duties as soon as possible. Bryan, who flew home with the team on Sunday night, talked to Jarrett before leaving Indianapolis. I saw Dale at the airport and I think seeing me in person and being able to see I was OK was a big help for him, Bryan said. DJ is a great person and a great driver. Were having a tough time as a team, but well get through it and I just want to get back to the track and be part of that. Bryan says one of the positives that came out of the weekend was the performance of his safety equipment. The safety equipment did a great job, Bryan said. I wear a Troy Lee helmet which has a chin guard and I think that made a huge difference. I think I was able to figure some things out too that may even help make this job safer and have talked to both Robert (Yates) and DJ (Jarrett) about it. Bryan will sit out this weekends race at Watkins Glen and probably the August 17th race at Michigan International Speedway. He hopes to be able to attend the race in Michigan for moral support for the team. These things happen, Bryan said. This is the class I signed up for 10 or 11 years ago when I started doing this. Im not quitting and Im looking forward to getting back to the track in the next couple weeks. Bryan is going to continue resting for the next couple days before returning back to work.(Elevation Motorsports PR)(8-4-2003)
