Before Penske Racing driver Will Power ever stepped foot into his racecar on Friday, he had a problem. Unknown to most in the garage area, the 35 year old driver Australian had been battling an inner ear infection, but was still determined to be medically safe to drive. Now, I don’t know about you, but most people who suffer from an inner ear infection face balance issues, nausea, and dizziness; all of these can be compounded by the extreme G-forces that IndyCar racers face. Nonetheless, he jumped in the car, and went out for morning practice. What happened then is history; he crashed!
It wasn’t a major crash, to be sure, but it did total the No. 12 Verizon sponsored Chevrolet. We will never know if the inner ear infection contributed to the accident, but my guess is that it was a contributing factor.
After climbing out of the machine, he promptly lost his lunch, sorta speak, and lounged around until Saturday. On Saturday, he strapped back into the racecar, and dominated the speed charts, setting a new track record in the process, and qualifying in the pole position. Following his record setting run, he was interviewed about his accomplishment, and didn’t look right. To be honest, he looked as though he was about to pass out!
Sunday morning, he skipped practice, replaced by Spaniard Oriol Servia. Rumors in the garage area, and in the media, were that he was battling a stomach flu, but IndyCar and the Penske team knew the truth. In Friday’s crash, he suffered what has been labeled as a “minor” concussion, which was diagnosed late Saturday by the IndyCar medical staff. Nonetheless, he still drove on Saturday, placing not only himself, but other drivers, fans, and safety workers in jeopardy.
In the 15 years since Dale Earnhardt was tragically killed due to a closed head injury, one would think that the auto racing world would be more aware of these sort of brain traumas, and their impact on the health and well being of the competitors. However, a macho, walk it off attitude still pervades the paddock area. This attitude is at the very least unsafe, and at the worst dangerous to not only the sport, but the future well being of the racers themselves.
Will Power has now entered into the IndyCar concussion protocol, and will continue to be evaluated before being allowed to compete again. Let us hope that IndyCar, and racing in general, will improve their diagnosis of brain injuries, and that the lackadaisical attitude towards the danger of concussions and other sports related injuries will not be allowed to continue. Otherwise, we might not be so lucky in the future.
About Me: Adam has been a race fan since the first time he went through the tunnel under the Daytona International Speedway almost 30 years ago. He has had the privilege of travelling to races all across the state of Florida (as well as one race in Ohio), watching nearly everything with a motor compete for fame and glory, as well as participating in various racing schools to get the feel of what racecar drivers go through every week. Adam has spent the last three years covering motorsports for Examiner.com., where he had the opportunity to see the racing world from behind the scenes as well as the grandstands. He invites everyone to follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus, and looks forward to sharing his enthusiasm for all things racing with the readers of SpeedwayDigest.com.Be sure to tune in for his weekly sports talk program, Thursday Night Thunder, where he discusses the latest in motorsports news with drivers, crew members, and fans. The show takes place every Thursday at 8:00 pm EST on the Speedway Digest Radio Network.
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