RIR safety team hopes to sit this one out

These guys have the worst seat in the house -- but undoubtedly the most important one.

Ideally, Doc Jernigan and his safety crew won't be seen this weekend at Richmond International Raceway. But should a crash, oil spill or other potentially dangerous event occur, they'll be right there to clean up the mess.

The crew, which is comprised mainly of Henrico Country firefighters but also includes others from around the area, will assume posts around the track for tomorrow's and Saturday night's races, keeping an eye out for anything that demands their attention.

But it's only a low-profile job until something happens. The safety team's greatest test came in May 2003, when driver Jerry Nadeau spun out during a practice session, hitting the wall at high speed.

Jernigan was remembering that event earlier this year in his "office" in the middle of the infield, a small shed with faux-wood paneling that will become operations central this weekend.

He was inside with track superintendent Linwood Burrow. Outside, waiting for a training session, were Steve Wood and Bobby Marshall. All vividly remembered the Nadeau crash, though not the details thereof. They said that once they saw the wreck, it was all instinct.

"The guys out there literally saved his life," Jernigan said. "They had to breathe for him after he was cut out of the car."

Nadeau hasn't raced since the incident, but credits the safety crew's quick work with helping to minimize damages.

NASCAR took notice, too, using the lessons learned from the Nadeau wreck as part of the group's annual safety training process.

Track services coordinator Lee Watson, in Charlotte, sends out a training kit to each track hosting a NASCAR-sanctioned event. It includes 22 training "modules," each of which is based on an incident that happened at a track.

Allowing the tracks to learn from each other's experiences is the best kind of training, Watson said.

"The reason we have the classroom pieces, as well as hands-on things, is to help people be in the right mindset and develop the skills they need," he said.

The training is constantly evaluated and refreshed, so if something happened in Atlanta last weekend, it would have been available for training at RIR this weekend.

Jernigan leads the crew at the track, which is assisted by NASCAR personnel situated in "spotting towers" on top of the grandstands.

From there, they can radio down to the crew members in the turns. Those individuals don't always have a good view of the overall picture.

The most common occurrence is a simple oil spill, but even that must be acted upon quickly.

"A fuel spill doesn't sound like much," Jernigan said. "But you get all these people in there, and it could be a catastrophic thing if it were to catch on fire."

At a short track like RIR, the team has to cover every inch of ground, because the grandstands fully encircle the track. That means spotters keeping track of every turn and straightaway all weekend.

Entering his 35th year of work, it might seem like Jernigan, a Henrico firefighter by day, has seen it all. But he said that constant changes to the car including the recent Car of Tomorrow keep him on his toes.

To prevent being caught off-guard, he takes his training cues from Watson in Charlotte, then passes them along to his crew.

This weekend there will be 72 local firefighters at the track working to ensure safety. Among their equipment is fire suits, radios and helmets and any number of rescue vehicles.

They'll hope to avoid an incident like the Nadeau crash, but if it happens, fans can rest assured that the RIR safety team will be on the job in the blink of an eye.

Contact Michael Phillips at (804) 649-6546 or .