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Eglin firemen join Talladega team, put lives on line

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Mike Meares
  • 96th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  At a motor sports Mecca known for multi-car pileups and speeds near 200 mph, there is a silent force of hidden warriors who prefer to be neither seen nor heard -- unless they are needed.

Three Eglin firefighters joined the ranks of a pit fire crew at Talladega Superspeedway for the running of three separate races at the 2.66-mile tri-oval course Oct. 5-7.

John Piccuito, J.R. Suddarth and Tech. Sgt. Jimmy Reed are among a group of firefighters from all over the country that go to the spring and fall Talladega NASCAR races to make sure the drivers and race teams are safe. Sometimes that means protecting the race teams from themselves.

"Everytime they strap into their car, they could possibly lose their lives or be seriously injured," said Mr. Suddarth, Eglin Fire Department district chief. "We are the guys they hope they never run into, but are always glad we are there when they need us."

The general consensus about the 500-mile race is not if, but when the "Big One" -- the name given to multi-car crashes -- is going to happen. Fire safety teams, as well as drivers, don't know how big it will be or when it will happen, but a single miscue on the track will send car multiple cars spinning, shredding or flipping along the track.

The first serious incident came on lap 92 when Jeff Burton's No. 31 Chevrolet's engine blew up and caught fire. Mr. Suddarth and several other fire fighters followed the flame engulfed car until the driver stopped it near the garage area and extinguished the flames immediately. The main race on Sunday had a total of nine cautions.

"It happens in the blink of an eye," said Sergeant Reed, a fire captain at Station 1 and a Air Force reserve firefighter at Keesler Air Force Base, Miss. "You have to be paying attention whether they are on pit road or not. If something happens on the track along the front stretch, cars go spinning and sending debris in all directions. If it happens in the front of the pack, cars might dive down pit road to avoid the carnage at very high speeds."

Bobby Labonte, driver of the No. 43 car, was in the fifth position when he suddenly lost control in Turn 4 of Lap 144, starting a chain reaction that caused the infamous "Big One." It left 10 other drivers in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Although the high speeds on the banks of the track are a real hazard, the close proximity of pit road is a hot zone for activity. Pit road at Talladega Superspeedway is 1,730 feet long from entrance to exit. Each of the 47 stalls on pit road are 32-feet long by 18-feet wide, not leaving much room for error when cars are sliding into and taking off out of the stalls.

The cars, rolling 55 mph, come sliding into the pit space for a sub 13-second tire change and fill up. Sometimes there isn't enough room for the pit crew and all the cars trying to make pit stops. Tire changers, a jack man and gas men jump off the wall before the car comes to a screeching stop, make the necessary adjustments so the car can spin its way out of the stall to get back in line.

"There is a considerable amount of anticipation and intensity on pit road during pit stops," said Mr. Piccuito, an Eglin Fire Department district chief. "You get to see how fast 13 seconds really is. You are part of their highly rehearsed and orchestrated team."

The race weekend is more like a week for some of the fire safety crews. They arrive at the track several days before the race to provide safety at track practice and in the garage area before the races start. The days are long as they wake up with the sun and don't go to sleep until after midnight in some cases. They spend more than 12 hours per day working each day at the race.

Every morning the team gathers together to discus the day's assignments and the important safety items.

"They are long days, there's no doubt about it," Mr. Suddarth said. "A the end of the day, if we can walk away after providing gold standard care and not have been noticed, we've had a good day."

The Friday night race was the Automobile Racing Club of America REMAX Series, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series was Saturday and Sunday rounded out the weekend with the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series.

Race day, for each race, begins as fans start pouring into the infield to check out all the cars, pit crew teams and wait anxiously for a glimpse of a driver. Anything can and does happen in a split second, whether it's in the stands, in the pits or on the track.

"You never know what's going to happen next," said Mr. Piccuito, a pit fire supervisor at the races. "We've had cars rolling down pit road completely engulfed in flames, unconscious drivers, injured pit crew members and out-of-control cars hit the pit walls. You just never know."

The emergency services crew, including firefighters and paramedics, provided the same professional service to spectators, NASCAR officials and race teams alike. The drivers and teams know the firefighters are right there in case something happens. Kenny Schrader, the driver of the No. 21 Woods Brothers Air Force car, says he doesn't want to meet them during the race if he can help it.

"You hope you don't see them until they are waving to you in the end," said Mr. Schrader, who blew a tire and hit the wall of Turn 4 during the race. "But what they do is invaluable to the sport."

With only a few races left in the Nextel Cup season, firefighters from around the country will continue to protect the race teams.

"We just want to make sure they can walk away with the best possible emergency care so they can climb into another car the next weekend and go racing again," said Mr. Piccuito.

For 14,457 miles, 43 cars run 36 races and one moment can change people's lives forever. The Talladega fire and rescue crew knows what's riding on the track and will do everything they can to keep the drivers and fans safe.