Good race for the top three guys last night! Thought Dungey was going to get Milsaps, might have if there was more laps...but that doesn't count. Stewart...bummer, thought he really had a chance to get on the podium. Reed's going to hurt himself again trying to keep up with those guys! Can't believe Bell walked away from that first crash. My first reaction was that his season was done :eek1 Then he crashed heavy again...he'll learn, or he'll die trying! Wilson ran fairly good, made a few mistakes...be better next week if Musquin can get a good start and run with him. Hann ran good but his tactics of taking everyone out on every pass will come back and haunt him. Can't wait until next week!
Neither are the asterisk people by the looks of their ham handed treatment of people with possible head and spinal injuries.
Show a MD that crash vid and he'd insist on a C spine immobilization and a battery of tests at an ER, not a ride on the gate of a Rhino to the pits and an eyeballing by the on staff doc to rubber stamp the kid back to the fight.
That kid is damn lucky he landed on the track, and in a boat or on a truck. I thought he was going to be paralyzed or killed, that was scary.
I think the truck would've felt better, that had to of hurt landing on hard packed dirt on top of concrete :eek1 I was sure that was the end of his season!
So you actually know enough about this to speak for MD's everywhere? I am sure you are right that many DR's in doc-in-the-box clinics everywhere would have this opinion, but that is not where this happened. This is a professional sport, and the professionals make their own decisions. If they pass the concussion exam, and by all reports he did, than it is his decision to return to the track. Whether the Sunday morning DR's are happy about it or not.
I couldn't really give a shit either way if that kid's family doesn't care enough to park his ass when he crashes that hard. I said what I would do to mine. Guess what, there is another SX race in the very near future. In a sport where being in top physical and mental health is critical to performing the simple act of timing the jumps without even trying to race 19 other guys, getting knocked out should sideline a rider at least a week.
At no time did you ever mention Bell's family or what you would do if it were your family. You passed medical judgement. Do we even know if Bell's family was in attendance to be able to sit him down for the evening?
How do you know he was knocked out? My assumption is that he knocked the wind out of himself and couldn't move (it happens). Once he caught his breath and the crew was able to determine that he could move his fingers and toes and had no numbness or tingling, they let him walk it off. Going back out in the LCQ and qualifying for the main is the kind of thing that makes us who we are. By the way, Zach Bell is 18 and an adult, so is likely able to make his own decisions.
Andrew Short to ride for BTO Sports KTM http://www.racerxonline.com/2013/02/17/bto-sports-ktm-signs-andrew-short Good for him! I think Honda is making a mistake not holding on to him.
Wow. I didn't see him getting off of the Honda mid-season. I hope he is able to get comfortable on the KTM quickly. His he ever ridden anything other than Japanese in his pro career? I don't recall it...
I wish Honda had thrown their support behind him. But it will be interesting to see how he gets along with the KTM. It doesn't seem to be hurting Dungey any.
Hey, we are all different, maybe you'd let your 18 year old son go back out. I wouldn't. From his rag doll appearance and the lack of any movement at all, fingers, arms, recoiling from pain etc., I'm pretty sure he was unconscious. Maybe not. He still could have fractured his neck or spine or had internal injuries and despite walking off, could have died later. I don't see the athletes being put first, the show is. I DQ a rider one year as a AMA MX ref. He had been in the hospital a few days before and had a concussion. His dad was furious but it was the right call. If he crashed/died on the track and I knew about his current brain injury, I'd not only be liable but regret it forever. The doctor that was on our staff agreed. I just watched the crash again in slow motion. I don't have any reservations about my original opinion.
