Tracy #57

[Poppop]

Does anyone have any news on Tracy?

Poppop

[punchy]

Last I heard ..... they thought she might have bruised her ribs.

[Maddawg]

Hope all is well.

[Poppop]

Let's hope it is just bruised ribs. Very painfull but not life threatening.

poppop

[69racing]

Hope Tracy is ok. I feel so bad that I was the one who hit her. That was the hardest hit I've ever experienced. I hope it is just bruised ribs.

[CJfilms]

The call as of 9:00 PM last night was that she had suffered some severe bruising to her ribs, two but possibly more, no breaks though!

Like Poppop said, painful but not life threatening.... Still, you can ask Erin if you have never bruised/broken a rib before how painful it is.

Worst part is the healing time as ribs heal SLOWLY!!!! It may take 4-8 weeks for them to heal....possibly more time for the pain to go away. Erin's ribs were hurt over 2 years ago and she still has pain at times.....

Overall, I think she will be fine....give her a few days and I'm sure she'll be posting an update on her condition herself!

Tracy, I'm glad you got out of the car when you did....originally, she was trying to continue racing, but it turned out that was the opportunity she needed to get to the EMT....

Get well soon Tracy!

[NJ Chick]

So glad to hear the ribs aren't broken at least! Hope you feel better Tracy, take it easy! ;)

[greenflag]

Get well soon Tracy. Racing has always been my favorite sport, but the one downside is to see anyone get injured. Hope its a quick recovery and we see the #57 back on the speedway soon.

[Danger83Ranger]

yeah breaking ribs is not fun. cant move what so ever without massive amounts of pain.

[STU]

Get well soon Tracy, racing can wait, just get yourself fixed up.

[Philter39]

Get well soon Tracy I can feel your pain. I injured my ribs at Hagerstown MD in an enduro race. Took months to heal. I felt lucky in that is was the last race of the year. The next race I had a racing seat. phil

[Tracy57]

I would like to thank everyone for all the visits, emails, text messages and phone calls to see how I was doing after the confrontation with the wall on Sunday.

After seeing Gary's video, I didn't realize I lifted and was on two tires.
It was a split second decision that I made to go high out of turn 2- no ones fault but my own. In racing we all take risks and make split second decisions or we wouldn't get anywhere in our "racing careers". :)

Although I saw the wall coming towards me, when I hit, it took my breath away and took a few seconds to gather my thoughts. When I got hit a few seconds later by Scott, I said to myself, "you got to be kidding me!" For second, I thought it was Linsey again to say hi! :lol: There was nothing he could've done to avoid hitting me. I'm glad he didn't hit me head on with his car since more damage is caused that way to both cars. IT'S RACING! I knew I hurt my ribs at that point and would be visiting EMS after the race, then but since the car was still running, I decided to continue racing. As many of you would agree, its all adrenaline out there and you may not realize you are that hurt on the track until you stop or slow down.

After a few laps, I knew that my car was not running as fast as it was before I hit and decided to pit when it stalled. I made EVERY attempt to get it restatred (just ask Joe who was at the pit entrance) but we later found out that the tranny was cracked and leaking fluid. I tried to get it into the infield (thanks for not hitting me) but no luck. Once the red came out and I stopped and got out of the car, then the pain hit me. Yes, I think it was WORSE than being in labor!

The EMS people did a fantastic job to get me to the ER. It was a painful, bumpy ride to get there but they were great and deserve a pat on the back. :cheers:

I was in the ER until around 7:30 getting a series of tests, labs, xrays and a cat scan to rule out internal injuries and breaks. All came back negative- just some very bruised ribs. I was in a lot of pain Sunday night- I could barely get in the car to go home, talk, walk, take a deep breath, and worse hold my 7 month old son. Thank god I have a wonderful husband. :) This was the first time in years, that I had to take pain medication (didn't even do it when I had my son!). Yesterday was the last day that I took my percoset. I do not want to take it anymore so I can get back to nursing. I am slowly getting better each day- black and blue marks are getting lighter- and less pain than the day before but I have to be careful on how I move, lift and reach for things.

Lessons learned from this that I want share with my fellow drivers....
make sure your racing seat fits to your body and is not too big. Especialy if you share a car. Get a cover on it or a smaller seat. Make sure 5 point straps are on tight- I joked to Larry when he strapped me that "I'm lactating" to be gentile- but he wasn't which was a good thing. You guys don't have to worry about that.... :lol:

Secondly, EMS is there for US if you need them- don't feel like you are a chicken if you have to go to them. Even if its for something minor. They are there for US! I had a friends father die from internal injuies on a snowmobile- he thought he was fine. When his wife got to the hospital, he was gone.

and thirdly, eventhough we are getting into the warmer months of racing, be sure to have SOMETHING under your racing suit- you never know!

Larry wants to me race hard- and has no problems fixing a car as long as I am not the slowest one out there. We need a tranny, tie rods and a few other parts, but the body is still good. I want thank those on the track for avoiding hitting my dead car and keeping it in one peice too.

Looking forward to seeing you all next month, I may have to forget about the points and have Larry drive, but we will be there, so stop by and say hi!

Love you all! :wave:

[CJfilms]

Glad to hear you are in good spirits Tracy! Take your time and HEAL RIGHT! Don't rush on getting back behind the wheel until you know you are ready....and, you may want to get cleared by your doctor first.... I'm sure they will give you "the look" when you say you want to go racing, but at least if you have a clean bill of health, you will have one less thing on your mind!

Lessons from Tracy:

1st:
As Tracy noted, make sure your seat fits YOUR body....I've noticed it's hard to check these things when people like Jake Daigneault drive up both Don and Dan's cars...Linsey Rummel drives up Rob, Phil, hers and Brian Moyer's in the Big Car division....get the point? The smallest person is the one jokey-ing from car to car for pre-race safety tech. I think I might have to make a mid-season rule change here and say that all DRIVERS must bring their OWN car through the safety inspection.....effective immediately! Any other crew member may drive the car away, but the DRIVER must bring it there...

2nd:
As Tracy said, guys just want to shrug off the EMT to act tough....DON'T DO IT.....really, don't do it... Things that may not hurt now may be life-altering later on in the day or the week even.... Go to them and at least let them look you over and make sure that "just a kink" is all that it is...they want to know you know your own name, what day it is, where you are, etc... I am not going to make it mandatory everyone who gets hit to see the EMT...but if you take a hard hit to a driver's side door or rollover, please just let them give a quick examination.....just say Joe made you do it.... :D

3rd:
Oh jeez Tracy!~ I hope you didn't learn that the hard way Sunday!!! LOL! But, still not a bad idea! NJ mandates fire-retardant nomex underwear to be worn.... Wear something under that suit since in case of fire, you only have a thin layer of protection! If it's EXTREMELY hot out that day...bring one of those "Cold Packs" you can throw in the freezer....chill it to nearly frozen and throw it IN the suit...somewhere where it won't slide down to your leg! It will afford you some coolness on an extreme day...

[tbirdracer]

I saw on highlights what happen to Tracy. I am glad see is ok. But I had a flash back--- the last time she had a hard hit, she winded up with a bun in the oven and Larry got the car for a whole year to himself. Just throwing that out there. So glad you walked away and will be ok. your friend Ray