plus 4, RACIN' AROUND: Speed Channel's Despain entertains York crowd - Public Opinion

RACIN' AROUND: Speed Channel's Despain entertains York crowd - Public Opinion
WHO PAYS FOR RISK?: Medical insurance coverage an issue for Las Vegas ... - Las Vegas Review Journal
NASCAR's Kenseth, Tracy at Expo;Show at International Centre 'bigger ... - FOXSports.com
Local business knows how to keep vehicle batteries juiced up - Orlando Sentinel
Brad Pitt - San Francisco Chronicle

RACIN' AROUND: Speed Channel's Despain entertains York crowd - Public Opinion

Posted: 17 Jan 2010 10:53 PM PST

Continuing a tradition, the York County Racing Club (YCRC) held its 28th annual Hall of Fame awards banquet recently, with the usual fanfare -- a number of celebrated Hall of Fame inductees and another excellent speaker who was a big hit with all in attendance.

Dave Despain of the Speed Channel program, "Wind Tunnel," shared his insight from how his career got started until now, with complete expertise on every form of racing from dirt to NASCAR to motorcycles to Indy type and Formula 1 open wheel.

Despain grew up in Fairfield, Iowa and played football in high school. Deciding he wasn't cut out for that, he began announcing the games, which led to a disc jockey job at the local radio station. At 18, he found a love of motorcycles and bought one while his parents were on vacation.

After the dust settled from that, he went on to race with the American Motorcycle Association (AMA) and eventually spent 10 years in various capacities with the organization.

The launch of his career, as Despain described it, "was absolute dumb luck."

He went to Daytona in the early 1970s for Bike Week. ABC Wide World of Sports showed up thinking it would hire some rider not in the race to be their expert analyst for the event, but no one was without a ride.

"The AMA chairman told the producer that his new publicity guy had this 'electronic media' background," Despain said. "That was true -- a little 250-watt station in Iowa -- but ABC bought it."

Eventually he

got more involved with other forms of racing. This will be the eighth season for "Wind Tunnel." which begins a 40-week run at Daytona.

"I've been to fewer races since starting 'Wind Tunnel' than any other job and that troubles me a little bit because you don't want to get too separated from the activity," Despain said. "I miss getting to the track and talking to people and getting the 'dirt under your fingernails' take on what's going on. I don't miss the crowds or the five hours getting in and five hours out.

"Indy car is in a terrible state. NASCAR's strength in this turndown is that it was rich when it hit. NASCAR embarked on a tricky mission to broaden the fan base to new and younger people. Some of the things they did alienated the die-hard fan base. I think they discovered the new fans were transient. It's a short attention span society now. Someone who was a big Daytona 500 fan last year might not be the same this year.

"Realistically, Bruton Smith and Brian France overbuilt a bit. There's been constant growth since the 1970s, they've turned people away and it was like, 'Let's go build a bigger building.'"

Despain shared his thoughts about restrictor plate racing and aerodynamics no matter what type of racing.

"People ask me, 'If you could make one change in racing, what would it be?'" Despain said. "Unhook them. Sprint, stock, Indy, FI -- reduce the amount of down force, lessen the requirement on aerodynamics. By definition, the second car is in trouble because he doesn't have clean air, his car doesn't work and that makes bad racing. Let them spin, let them slide. Let the drivers figure out how to drive them. I believe a great driver is the one who can drive a loose race car. The more down force they have, the more it becomes a slot car game."

Hall of Fame Inductees were:

Denny Bonebrake (Present Driver) -- From a single race in 1968 to Hagerstown's championship in his rookie 1969 season, Bonebrake won six Hagerstown titles, three at Lincoln and one at Winchester, and accumulated 212 overall victories including two last season at Winchester.

"I think the trouble is the older I get, the faster I am," Bonebrake said. "As long as I'm competitive and having fun, I'm going to do it. I've had a lot of fun racing and this is my sixth decade. I'll see what I can do this year."

Carl Billet Sr. (Present Owner/Mechanic) -- Involved with racing careers of Carl Jr., Mark and now grandson Chase.

Bill Brunner (Past Miscellaneous) -- Flagged at various area speedways from the 1970s until passing away at the age of 81.

Chris Figdore (Present Miscellaneous) -- Developer of the Speed Dawg Central PA sprint series point fund.

Martin "Bud" Lawrence (Past Owner/Mechanic) -- Former owner for Frankie Kerr and Fred Rahmer during the 1980s and early 1990s.

Gus Linder (Past Driver) -- Western PA racer who came to Central PA in 1969 to make a name for himself and went on to score 96 wins.

Greg Hodnett (Kevin Gobrecht Memorial Achievement Award) -- Among his 10 wins, three were World of Outlaws triumphs, including the Williams Grove National Open and also the Speed Dawg title.

"Kevin was a good friend of mine," Hodnett said. "This means a great deal. I know all the guys worked hard, the team and everybody did a great job. It means a lot to stand up here and accept this in Kevin's memory."

Lee Stauffer (Ed Stauffer Memorial Mechanic of the Year) -- Stauffer was the head wrench for the Jim and Sandy Kline sprint driven by Hodnett.

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Bob Vores is a resident of McConnellsburg and covers local auto racing for Public Opinion. He may be reached at racinbob@innernet.net.

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WHO PAYS FOR RISK?: Medical insurance coverage an issue for Las Vegas ... - Las Vegas Review Journal

Posted: 17 Jan 2010 08:37 PM PST

The consequences of the Filipino boxer's brain injury have prompted elected officials and the Nevada Athletic Commission to work toward crafting a solution that keeps taxpayers off the hook for the medical care of professional boxers.

But Las Vegas is home to lots of different events, and some are very risky. Could Clark County taxpayers end up footing the bill when other athletes or entertainers are hurt when performing here?

"We probably have more big events than any other city in the country," said Dr. Dale Carrison, head of the emergency department at UMC and its chief of staff. "As everyone knows, Las Vegas is a magnet for that sort of thing. And if someone does get badly hurt, UMC's trauma center generally takes care of them."

NASCAR, National Finals Rodeo, Cirque du Soleil, daredevil stunts by the likes of the late Evel Knievel, the Las Vegas Rock 'n' Roll Marathon, National Hot Rod Association drag racing, championship boxing and mixed martial arts -- these are just some of the major events held in Las Vegas.

A survey of medical insurance coverage held by individuals who engage in events or performances where there is risk of injury -- the kind of events that thrill both live and TV audiences -- has found that coverage can range from nothing to 100 percent.

Bill Rundle, a longtime promoter of Knievel, said last week that the motorcycle daredevil "who broke every bone in his body" generally couldn't get medical insurance for his stunts because "they were too dangerous."

"No one would write him a policy for something where there was a good chance he wouldn't make it. It's that way with most people who do those kind of things."

Rundle also has promoted some stunts performed by Knievel's son, Robbie, "and getting insurance was always a problem for him, too."

Robert Zirkelbach, a spokesman for America's Health Insurance Plans, a trade association for 1,300 companies, said it would not be uncommon for an insurance company to refuse to cover a daredevil, or to offer medical coverage at such a high premium that it would be difficult to afford.

Attempts to reach contemporary daredevil Robbie Maddison, whose successful motorcycle jump at the Arc de Triomphe at Paris Las Vegas wowed crowds on New Year's Eve 2009, were unsuccessful. Maddison has suffered a number of serious injuries in stunts around the world.

Both Rundle and Zirkelbach said community leaders should be aware of the possible financial consequences should a daredevil be injured during a stunt in their community.

It was a 1967 stunt at Caesars Palace, Rundle said, that helped cement Evel Knievel's reputation as a performer who would risk his life to entertain an audience. When Knievel attempted to clear the casino's fountains on his bike, he took a nosedive that landed him in Southern Nevada Memorial Hospital -- later named UMC -- for several weeks with multiple pelvic fractures.

"That was early in his career, and he didn't have money to pay his medical bill," said Rundle, who talked on the phone from the Mayo Clinic in Arizona where he is being treated for cancer. "I think there were a lot of medical bills he walked away from until he was making good money. Then he had enough to pay them out of his pocket."

In 1974, the city manager in Carson City said police would arrest Knievel if he reappeared in the state because he didn't pay a hospital bill there that he incurred in 1968. Knievel ended up in a Reno hospital for 22 days after he unsuccessfully attempted to jump 16 automobiles on his motorcycle.

A collection agency representing Southern Nevada Memorial finally caught up with Knievel in the 1970s, the decade when he netted more than $6 million for his failed Snake River Canyon jump.

The Review-Journal reported that Knievel had "rolled up" a bill of $2,249.51 for his 1967 hospital stay in Las Vegas.

"The cost of medicine has gone up over the years," UMC's Carrison said.

EVOLUTION OF INSURANCE

Although daredevils have a difficult time getting insurance, NASCAR drivers don't.

Jim Hunter, spokesman for the stock car motor racing giant that has a race scheduled in Las Vegas next month, said each driver and crew member now has a medical insurance policy of slightly more than $1 million.

"Even that may not be enough if something really terrible happens," Hunter said in a phone call Thursday from Daytona Beach, Fla.

In 60 years, Hunter said, medical coverage has grown from $2,000 to its present $1,000,050.

"As the sport grew, there was more at stake," said the 70-year-old Hunter, who is currently undergoing treatment for lung cancer. "At first, guys were racing as a hobby. They weren't making a living out of it."

Hunter said the 2001 death of driver Dale Earnhardt at the Daytona Speedway energized safety efforts by NASCAR, including collision absorbing walls and new head and neck restraints for drivers.

"But no matter what we do, accidents can and will happen and our medical insurance reflects that," he said.

Like NASCAR, medical insurance for participants in the National Finals Rodeo has dramatically increased over the years.

Jerry Ford, who has written coverage for the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association for decades, notes that the present coverage of $250,000 is a huge jump from "where we started years ago."

"When we first started in the '70s, the maximum limit was $3,000," Ford said. "It wasn't until the late '90s that we got limits above $20,000."

Since that time, he said, there have been only 10 or 12 performers who "maxxed out" their medical coverage.

One rodeo performer who Ford is certain did that in Las Vegas was bull rider Tuff Hedeman in 1995. Participating in the Professional Bull Riders World Championship finals, Hedeman was bucked off by the bull Bodacious and suffered severe facial injuries.

"I was the first doctor there," Carrison said. "It was awful. He ended up needing 11 plates in his face."

Hedeman stayed only a few days in the hospital after his plastic surgery.

"There was never any question about his paying the bill," Carrison said. "I'm sure I would have heard about it."

Both Carrison and Ford said rodeo participants hold fundraising rodeos to pay off such bills.

Don Andrews, who was part of the Justin Sports Medical team at rodeos for years, said, "PRCA cowboys don't walk away from bills. They get together and pay them off."

Ford said he would not be surprised if bull riders suffer catastrophic brain injuries similar to a boxer's. "Unfortunately, head injuries happen frequently."

The most tragic bull riding incident in Las Vegas occurred in December 1994 when rider Brent Thurman was bucked off a bull. The huge animal, Red Wolf, stepped on the back of his neck.

Thurman suffered facial and cranial fractures and massive internal bleeding. He was treated at UMC. Like Gorres, the boxer at the hospital now, Thurman's brain swelled. After spending six days in a coma, the 25-year-old Thurman died.

PAYING THE PRICE

Many boxers have seen their careers end in Las Vegas.

From 1995 to 2005, 10 fighters sustained career-ending brain injuries in Nevada, with two boxers, Leavander Johnson and Martin Sanchez Jr. both dying from subdural hematomas, the same brain injury Gorres sustained.

Because of federal privacy laws, UMC officials are unable to release the medical records of fighters, athletes or entertainers to whom they gave care. Gorres' wife gave UMC permission to release her husband's medical information to the Review-Journal. He was released from the hospital last week and is staying with friends in Las Vegas while undergoing rehabilitation.

Despite the lack of such information, UMC officials said Gorres' case is an indication that UMC has not been reimbursed for care that could reach into the millions of dollars.

While thousand of people each year are mesmerized by the beauty and grace of the Cirque du Soleil shows in Las Vegas, there's no doubt the acrobatic performers engage in risky maneuvers.

Audience members watched in horror in 2007 when two performers fell from as high as 35 feet during a "Zumanity" show at New York-New York. Both hit the stage; one performer was left in critical condition. Both were treated at UMC.

But the cost for medical care for Cirque performers, according to show spokeswoman Ceres Hill, is fully covered by the organization's insurance plan.

The thousands of participants in the Las Vegas Rock 'n' Roll Marathon basically fend for themselves when it comes to health insurance, spokeswoman Lee Haney said.

Last year, Eric Reitman, a Las Vegas resident who collapsed near the end of the half marathon, died.

Less serious health problems are common, Haney said.

"Whenever you have more than 20,000 people involved in an event, you're going to have some injury," she said.

Marathon participants often buy a personal insurance policy through USA Track & Field, Haney said. Though repeated phone calls to the organization were not returned, its Web site said individuals can purchase a policy that has a maximum accidental bodily injury payout of $10,000.

Just how much, if any, medical coverage is carried by drag racers competing in the National Hot Rod Association events seen frequently at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway is unknown.

"That's not something we want to divulge," association spokesman Anthony Vestal said.

Community leaders should make sure they know how much medical insurance coverage is carried by performers in risky events, Carrison said.

Not taking action when coverage seems insufficient can be costly, he said.

"We're seeing that right now with what happened to that poor boxer."

Contact reporter Paul Harasim at pharasim@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2908.

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NASCAR's Kenseth, Tracy at Expo;Show at International Centre 'bigger ... - FOXSports.com

Posted: 17 Jan 2010 09:06 PM PST

Four years ago, Glenn Butt - who had previously been Mosport's marketing manager - promoted the first Canadian Motorsports Expo in a little hall at the Toronto Congress Centre.

There were a few displays and a few seminars (Chris Economaki, the dean of North American auto racing writers, was the headliner at one of them) but it was pretty much low-key.

Next weekend, at the International Centre, the fourth Motorsports Expo will be held and to say it's bigger and better would be an understatement.

To wit:

NASCAR star and defending Daytona 500 champion Matt Kenseth will be the featured guest next Saturday afternoon. He'll answer questions from fans and sign autographs from 2 p.m. till 4 p.m., so don't be late.

(Jacques Villeneuve was the Saturday star a year ago and was still feverishly signing autographs when time ran out, although he stayed on to finish the job. Matt likely will too, but there are no guarantees.)

Paul Tracy will conduct a question-and-answer session next Sunday afternoon, starting at 2 p.m., and will also sign autographs. The second half of Paul's session will be devoted to kicking off Mosport's 50th Anniversary Season.

(Can you believe that they started racing at that track north of Bowmanville in 1961? Me neither - and I was there!)

Ex-Formula One and Indy Car driver Derek Daly will conduct a seminar on Advanced Driver Development on the Saturday from 11: 45 a.m. to 1: 15 p.m.. Daly is particularly interested in youngsters starting out in the sport (his son, Conor, started in karts when he was 10 and now, at 17, is coming off a third-place finish in the 2009 Star Mazda Championship) and believes in starting a proper motorsport education early.

For two-wheel fans, Canada's first family of motorcycle racing, Yvon Duhamel and his sons Miguel and Mario, will be making two appearances to answer questions and sign autographs. They'll be at the Canadian Tire stage next Saturday for an hour starting at 5: 45 p.m. and then again on Sunday from 11 a.m. until noon.

Canadian racing legend Ron Fellows, a strong supporter of the Expo since its beginning, will hold a "Fellows and Friends" forum next Saturday from 11 a.m. till noon featuring some of Canada's top racing personalities. They'll discuss the state of the sport in Canada and where it's heading.

Scott Atherton, CEO of the all-green-powered American Le Mans Series, will participate in an Alternative Fuels Forum next Saturday from 12: 15 p.m. to 1 p.m., which will also feature Liberal MP Dan McTague, who's best known here for predicting the daily price of gasoline.

Several years ago, Butt took on a promotional partner, Inside Track Communications, and according to Inside Track magazine editor Greg MacPherson, next weekend's show will be well worth the price of admission.

"In addition to our headliners, we will have the NASCAR Sprint Cup cars of Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. on display. The car driven by Andrew Ranger to the 2009 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series championship will be there, too - and we hope Andrew will also be able to come.

"All of Hall 1 at the International Centre and part of Hall 2 will be full of other racing cars and bikes, booths promoting Ontario speedways, parts and accessories manufacturers, safety equipment - you name it and it will be there.

"And there will be other autograph sessions, in addition to the ones already announced. For instance, Canadian Tire series drivers Mark Dilley, Kerry Micks, J.R. Fitzpatrick and Derek Lynch, for sure, will be available for autographs Saturday afternoon from 4: 45 to 5: 30."

And Robert Wickens, who finished second in the 2009 FIA Formula 2 series, is expected to be on hand Saturday evening to collect at least one of the magazine's Reader's Choice awards.

Admission is $15 for adults but if you go to the Inside Track magazine website, there's a coupon you can download that will get you $2 off. Seniors and youths between 10 and 15 can get in for $10 while children under 10 won't have to pay.

The show opens next Friday at 1 p.m. The big deal Friday night will be the Spencer Lewis Ontario Short Track Power Ranking grassroots racing awards that will be handed out to the top late-model stock car drivers in Ontario.

There were smiles all 'round last Saturday at the Delta Toronto Airport West Hotel when Subaru Canada, Yokohama Tire Canada and Mitsubishi Motor Sales of Canada all announced their continuing support for the Canadian Rally Championship in 2010.

And while it seems like yesterday that the Rally of the Tall Pines in Bancroft in November put an end to the 2009 season, the first event of the 2010 season, the Rallye Perce-Neige Maniwaki in Maniwaki, Que., will be held in a mere three weeks.

There really is no off-season in motor sport, is there?

Before starting the new season, the Canadian Association of Rallysport and ASN Canada FIA, as well as officially signing agreements with the sponsors, honoured the 2009 champions during an awards luncheon at that Mississauga hotel.

Pat Richard of Squamish, B.C, and Alan Ockwell of Toronto received trophies for winning top driver and top co-driver championships, respectively. For Richard, it was his second consecutive championship and his fourth in total.

Antoine L'Estage of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., was second in the driver's championship, followed by Simon Losier of Ste. Therese, Que.

While Andrew Comrie-Picard of Toronto finished in fourth place in the driver's championship, he was honoured for winning the North American Rally Cup driver's title - awarded for most points won in a combination of Canadian and U.S. rallies.

Finishing second to Ockwell in the co-driver category was Nathalie Richard (Pat Richard's sister) of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu with Francois Morin of Lac-aux-Sables, Que., third.

The Canadian Rally Championship is made up of six events starting in Maniwaki in February and ending in Bancroft next November. In between, there are rallies in Calgary (May), New Richmond, Que. (July), St.-Agathe, Que. (September) and Merritt, B.C. (October).

All are telecast on TSN.

For more information on the championship, you can go to www.carsrally.ca.

And to read an interview with Pat Richard (did you know that 10 years ago he got the idea to go rallying by watching TV and now he's a four-time national champion?) and his sister Nathalie (who lost, with her partner l'Estage, just about every championship imagineable during the very last stage of the very last rally of 2009?), please go to my blog at wheels.ca.

nmcdonald @ thestar.ca

Norris McDonald blogs

on motorsport

at wheels.ca

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Local business knows how to keep vehicle batteries juiced up - Orlando Sentinel

Posted: 17 Jan 2010 07:26 PM PST

Mike Prelec is president of the Deltran Corporation, a DeLand company that makes the Battery Tender, a device that keeps batteries charged on vehicles that may not be operated regularly, such as motorcycles and boats. He spoke recently with Sentinel staffer Steven Cole Smith.

CFB: Many of us who need to keep occasionally used batteries charged are familiar with trickle chargers, which pump a tiny bit of electricity into batteries constantly. But the Battery Tender is different. How so?

A trickle charger will charge a battery to the maximum level, [but] the voltage keeps going up, to where a 12-volt battery hits 18, 19, 20 volts. Eventually it just cooks the battery. Our Battery Tender has a microprocessor that monitors a multitude of readings — it brings the battery to 100 percent, but it won't let it overcharge.

CFB: That seems as though it would definitely lengthen the life of the battery.

It can easily double the life of the battery. We have some customers who have batteries that are 10 years old.

CFB: Where did the idea come from?

I fish a lot, and I needed a reliable charger to handle the trolling motors on my boat. We were working on a charger that could maintain two batteries at the same time. But we had just hired an engineer who was fresh out of the U.S. Navy, where he worked on nuclear submarines, with the very important duty of keeping those batteries charged. But every time he'd come in from a cruise, he'd have to buy a new battery for his motorcycle. He came across a microprocessor that was used for something entirely different, adapted it to the charger, and that became the Battery Tender.

CFB: It was not an immediate success, was it?

I took a bunch of them to a motorcycle show in Cincinnati. Didn't sell a single one. But we managed to crack the marine industry, and it went from there.

CFB: Originally, this was not your company's core business, was it?

No, we built transformers. My father founded the company in 1965, and we had a plant in DeLand. Then, in 1982, we built this plant three times the size of the old one in DeLand.

CFB: You build a lot of models, from the basic models for a single battery for $39.95, or an industrial 10-bank charger for $735. Plus you build private label products for Harley-Davidson, BMW, Ducati, and other companies. How much work is done here in DeLand, and how much in China?

We do probably 15 percent of the work here, the rest in China. The problem is, all the components we need are built in China. We tried to bring them over and assemble them here, but it just wasn't cost effective.

CFB: So most of your employees are there?

We have about 50 here in DeLand, maybe 400 in China.

CFB: You are a private company, so I'm guessing you don't release financial information. Can you say how many Battery Tenders you sell each year?

It's well into the hundreds of thousands.

CFB: You advertise a lot in niche publications, but you also sponsor race cars in the Grand-Am series, such as the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona this month. How does that work?

We started out with Patrick Dempsey Racing, and that was great, but Patrick was limited in what he could do for us. We moved to Matt Connolly's race team, and now Alex Job's Porsche team from Tavares. It's a business-to-business undertaking for us — many of the people involved in Grand-Am are independent businessmen, and we've made some great business contacts, and some great friends.

CFB: But you still enjoy the racing.

Absolutely. We'll be in the pits with Alex Job's team for the 24 Hours.

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