Speaking of Tears - The Latest

[terorizer]

The tv is on in the background, and I hear something about a fire... car... Dale Earnhardt Jr.... I apologize in advance for not having the details down completely, as I was barely paying attention at first.

Turns out it's a snippet of Mike Wallace's interview with him, to be broadcast later this week. Well, he's talking about how his car caught fire a few month's back, and how he can't remember much. He goes on to say that he doesn't want to put some psychic spin on it or anything, but he's sure his dad (Dale Sr.) had something to do with him getting out of the car. He said he remembers being in the ambulance (I think) and yelling at his PR person to "Find the guy who pulled me out of that car!!", to which he was told, "Nobody pulled you out!"

So now I'm paying attention and he says he was amazed to hear that, because he could swear he felt someone with their arms under his, pulling him out. Said it freaks him out just to talk about it.

...and there went the waterworks.

 

[steph]

He was taken to my burn unit for this! People kept trying to get me to get his autograph (idiots) HUGE hospital policy violation. He was under a false name which I thought was super lame, since the news was already reporting it...
XOXO

 

[The Sean Man]

How much security did they have to post to keep the autograph seekers at bay?

The Sean Man

 

[steph]

LOL!

Not much~the ICU burn unit is a locked facility, accessible only if you have a special card key (I have one) We're actually forbidden from letting in non-staff behind us. I've actually had to tell people trying to sneak in behind me, "I'm so sorry, you gotta use the intercom."

A lot of our trauma patients are admitted "on blackout" which means info cannot be released to the media, phone callers, etc. because of possible threat to their life. It's a kind of bizarre thing to be dealing with, very dark and secretive, very Hollywood!

XOXO

 

[QBWeaver]

As many of you know I work the car races at Sears Point (I won't call it Infineon) and Laguna Seca. I know the two flaggers who you see in the footage of Dale Jr's crash.

The one guy did exactly what he's trained to do... keep waving the flag to warn oncoming drivers about the incident. I know... seems kinda lame when the drivers can obviously see the smoke and flames but that's what we're trained to do. The other guy, Mike, went to the car with a fire bottle to help get Jr. out of the car but Jr. was already out on his own. Mike just assisted him to get safer and then worked on trying to take down the fire.

Our safety crew used up every bottle on their truck and every drop of water (with a fire retardant mixed in) and the fire still wouldn't go out. The car even ignited a few times on the flatbed tow when we picked it up.

There was a change to the fuel system that Jr's crew put in the night before. The nozzle punched through the back of the car and sprayed everything. Jr has an onboard fire extinguishing system but never hit it mainly due to his concussion. He wasn't wearing much in the way of safety clothing or a balclava (a nomex head sock) which would have reduced the burns he suffered. It's a NASCAR thing. NASCAR drivers don't like all the bulky safety clothing and often don't wear gloves. Jr did have gloves on only because the sanctioning body insists on them from a safety point.

Jr is fine now, as you know. The two workers were shaken up but continued working that same corner for the rest of the day. I was never so proud to be associated with such an awesome group of corner workers in my life as I was that day seeing their response to that horrific crash.

I've known Mike since he was a baby and watched him grow up. He has done flagging, emergency response and normally works with our region as a starter. His Mom and Dad are also involved. His Dad does Emergency, Flagging and Starter as well and his mom does Emergency, Social and Communications. They're an awesome family who volunteer all their weekends to support drivers in their race cars. The workers are not paid a cent to do that job. They are out on the corners, rain or shine, in support of racing. Their only pay is a beer at the end of the day and a free lunch! God Bless the workers!

I have no doubt that Sr. was there helping Jr. Stranger things have happened before. I'm just glad that Jr could remember the helping hands pulling him out. What a wonderful gift from his dad! Jr. has his own personal angel in heaven.