Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
Moderators: dirtonly  /  dmantx  /  hosehead

Any update on Anthony's injury from last night at Williams Grove?

Compression fracture T4 and T5 per his facebook.

Thank you. The Kid has suffered some terrible luck the past few years. His crash did not look too terrible last night. I was surprised when they called for the ambulence. Wishing him a speedy recovery. He certainly makes things exciting on the track. 

Doesnt have to look terrible. Coming down flat puts immense pressure on the back. Watch Chase Johnson crash

Correct.  That last "thump" looked terrible.  Kevin Swindell was another.  

The T4 vertebra is the same one he fractured last year at Eldora.

Macri is still a young guy, but I would imagine he is going to feel the effects of two major back injuries by the time he hits middle age, DIRT big block Modified driver Barefoot Bob McCreadie broke his back in a racing accident in 1988. At the end of McCreadie's career, his back would give him so much trouble that he would often climb out of the racecar and immediately have to lay flat due to how much pain he was in. Several times, McCreadie went right from the racecar to a hospital emergency room because his back was so painful.

What a bummer..... good luck & get well soon, Anthony

Hope He can make a full recovery. Had a big lead. The sudden impact is worse than the spectacular end over end ones that disapate the energy. Many thought Macri was best non outlaw that wasnt part of WOO or HL.

Just ask Kevin Swindell.....

Within hearing distance of Tri City Speedway

Seems we are seeing these kind of hits more often with the landing flat on the rear. I wonder if a heavy rubber bump stop between the rear axle and frame would help slow down some of the impact. Maybe the frame wouldn't contact the ground so hard.

Sprint car safety is like whack-a-mole, you fix one thing and another pops up. These back issues are common now and have to be a function of the way the car is built. No idea how to fix it but those that do should be looking into it. 

I'm not being a smart-ass by asking this:  Are back injuries actually more common today than they were say 20-30 years ago?  I feel like racing fatalities seem to be down, which would lead me to think back injuries would be as well. ??  Maybe this isn't the case.  I know we've heard about a lot of high profile back injuries the past 10 years, and a couple of them were very serious.  Are the overall numbers up, or are we just getting instant worldwide news at our finger tips that makes it seems so?

Once again, I'm not being a smart ass.  I really want to know if back injuries have been tracked and what the numbers show.  I'd be curious.  

If deaths are down and back injuries are up, could it be that the car has become safer. The accident that used to bring death now brings injury. That sounds like an improvement to me although I understand no injury is the goal. Maybe there are more back injuries because you are injuring the back instead of snapping it and your neck so violently.

Good point.  I'd be curious if anyone has tracked these stats.  Maybe I'm wrong assuming deaths have declined since the old days?  I think it's insane there have only been 3 or 4 deaths in the history of the World of Outlaws sprint car tour.  I know this is only a small fraction of the sprint car racing that has happened since 1978, but:   Almost 50 years, thousands of races, and over a hundred thousand entries in these races.  I can also only think of a handful of career-ending back injuries in the series, with the highest profile drivers being Brad Doty and Kevin Swindell.  

Have the back injuries picked up significantly over the past decade or so?  Or, with the addition of another high-profile, national touring series, have we increased our awareness because we are following every, single streaming service, and social media page available to us and receive instant information? 

Hans usage up=back injuries up-do the math

l've always wondered about the solid metal seats. Why isn't there some padding in the bottom? It could be something like the 2" blue wrestling mat used in gym class. Wouldn't something like that help ease the impact in a crash like this?

John Westbrook was paralyzed in a 2008 Williams Grove crash. He is not as high profile as Brad Doty and Kevin Swindell, but Westbrook had won twice in the 410s at Port Royal and once at Williams Grove in his rookie year in the division before suffering the career ending crash.

I don't agree with that assessment. Brad Doty was obviously injured before the HANS became a thing. So was Bob McCreadie. I am not sure about Tim McCreadie and Kevin Swindell  Pretty much every major touring series in the world has mandated a head and neck device, and it is still difficult to come up with more than a handful of drivers who have suffered major back injuries in recent years.

Same injury twice....last time he came back after 3 weeks

For selfish reasons, I hope he comes back, cause I like watching him race, he's probably my favorite driver

But if he chooses to hang it up, its OK by me. 3rd strike & you're out, & I'd hate to see him end up like Kevin Swindell

I'm guessing he comes back, cause racing sprint cars is what he loves....

Not an expert on this by any means, but it looks like sprint cars have two rather glaring safety issues.   I don't believe either could be totally remedied.   The first is the open cockpit that can have a wheel from another car entering the open cockpit.   We've lost drivers that way.    The other is the back injuries which seem to be the hot topic of the moment.   I don't remember this much attention being given to it back when Kevin Swindell crashed.   I guess we have seen more of them recent and now have Chase Johnson's accident fresh on everyone's mind.   Seems like I remember an interview with Lavern (spelling?) Nance in Open Wheel magazine back in the day.   I remember his comments where he talked about the driver having the force of the rear end coming up and slamming him when he landed on the wheels, or something along those lines.   Apparently this was on his radar back then.     One question, I see the CASM devices being advertised, but does this fix it?