Kevin Kovac's Take Five
Take Five: Assessing Alberson's helmet blow
In a new feature appearing regularly on DirtonDirt, senior writer Kevin Kovac will offer readers five things worth mentioning from around the Dirt Late Model landscape (index to previous Take Fives):
No. 1: As Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series regular Garrett Alberson recovers at his home in Colona, Ill., from facial injuries he suffered from debris hitting him in the helmet midway through last Saturday’s Sunoco North-South 100 at Florence Speedway in Union, Ky., a updated posted Tuesday on the Garrett Alberson Racing-Roberts Motorsports page provided further details. Four photos of Alberson’s helmet showed the damage it sustained: significant scratching and a dent to the left side of its visor. The visor, however, did not shatter from the heavy blow, the source of which the team remains uncertain. “Given the extent of damage to his face, we have to guess whatever came through the bars was much heavier” than a rock or mud clod; the impact “indented and smashed the whole helmet into his head,” leaving the 37-year-old native of Las Cruces, N.M., with a broken nose, multiple facial fractures and a laceration above his left eye. “We are blessed that Simpson Race Products made such a durable helmet,” the post declared. “The doctors told us it likely saved his eyes … and his life.”
No. 2: Alberson’s mother, Kathi, relayed a message from Garrett in the comments of the team’s Tuesday update post. “Don’t know for sure what it actually was that hit me, but judging by the damage and how it felt it was something either quite heavy and/or had a ton of velocity,” Garrett said through his mother. “I’ve been hit by rocks and mud before, even enough to break shields, but never felt anything like that before. It felt like getting hit by a full windup from a wooden bat … or at least what I imagine that would feel like.” As for Alberson’s timeline for returning to action, the driver ranked seventh in the current Lucas Oil Series points hasn't announced his status for this weekend’s Ace Doran Topless 100 at Batesville Motor Speedway in Locust Grove, Ark.
No. 3: Alberson and his family have offered heartfelt thanks to all the racers and fans who have offered their thoughts and prayers since the accident and special appreciation several individuals who provided extra support. That list begins with the Lucas Oil Series and track emergency responders who “did a great job getting him taken care of at the track” and the doctors who treated him at the hospital. Alberson’s wife, Dani, also noted that Lucas Oil Series director Rick Schwallie spent the night with them at the hospital while Alberson’s fellow Lucas Oil Series regular, Carson Ferguson, and his fiancee Makenna Adkins stayed with the Albersons’ young son, Westin, at the track and took care of moving Alberson’s merchandise trailer.
No. 4: During technical inspection in the pit area following last Friday’s North-South 100 preliminary program I bumped into former Dirt Late Model regular Kent Robinson of Bloomington, Ind., who was a spectator with his wife Sarah while enjoying a solo weekend away without the 8- and 4-year-old daughters. I saw a lot of Robinson back in 2012 when he was a World of Outlaws Late Model Series regular while I served as the tour’s public relations director and still crossed paths with him often in the ensuing years as he maintained a significant non-touring schedule, but he’s no longer fielding a family-owned racing effort so he makes only occasional racetrack visits. Robinson, who turned 40 in May, said he misses racing regularly but he’s plenty busy with his family and operating his family business, JB’s Salvage, which appears as a sponsor on several cars, including those driven by Kaede Loudy and Gordy Gundaker.
No. 5: Robinson hasn’t entirely stepped away from competition. He reported that on June 19 he accepted a friend’s offer to drive a super stock at his hometown’s Bloomington Speedway and proceeded to drive it to victory in the 20-lap feature. His success did produce one problem: his younger daughter was there to see the race and experience the victory lane joy and she definitely liked it, leading her to “think I win all the time,” K-Rob said with a laugh.
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