On Sept. 11-12, more than 80 students gathered at Charlotte Motor Speedway for a two-day track services personnel training session in preparation for the Bank of America 500 Weekend. Twenty instructors led the sessions, which included classroom training and hands-on experiences for fire, rescue and EMS personnel. Topics covered included extrication, fire suppression and on-track EMS. The teaching staff consisted of instructors from nine race tracks: Charlotte, Texas, Kentucky, Darlington, Martinsville, Atlanta, Phoenix, Homestead and Memphis Motorsports Park. Also, on the ninth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, the instructors were joined by two FDNY firefighters who assisted with the training sessions: Mark Stone, Assistant Chief, FDNY Incident Management Team and Pater Cachia, Bureau of Operations.
Charlotte Motor Speedway has been a pioneer in safety training for NASCAR events and was the first NASCAR-sanctioned race track to offer such a class, starting in 1991. Personnel from other tracks including Indianapolis and Talladega came to the classes as students and began implementing similar programs at their respective tracks a few years later. Charlotte Motor Speedway was the first track to have its own rescue truck and the first to put paramedics on the track fire trucks.
Tickets for all October races at Charlotte Motor Speedway can be purchased online at www.charlottemotorspeedway.com or by calling the speedway ticket office at 1-800-455-FANS (3267).(CMS)(9-15-2010)
