Jerry Nadeau aan de beterhand

[A.J.]

Jerry Nadeau is in kritieke toestand na een crash tijdens de kwalificaties voor de NASCAR race van zondag.
Er zal een nieuw bericht verschijnen zaterdag morgen (USA tijd) dus zullen we snel nieuws krijgen. Maar de berichtgeving op www.nascar.com is niet zo positief.

Voor de kenners, Jerry Nadeau heeft nog ooit in Zolder gereden met de Opel Lotus Euroseries en als ik me goed herinner behaalde hij er een top 10 positie (denk 6-de).

[Raceboy]

De baan in Richmond licht al heel de week slecht. Eergistern nog werden de kwalificaties voor de Busch Grand National series nog gestaakt omdat de eerste twee op de baan allebei de muur ingingen. Het schijnt een probleem te zijn met water dat op de baan komt.

[Raceboy]

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- A direct hit against the wall in Winston Cup practice at Richmond International Raceway left Jerry Nadeau critically injured and the NASCAR community in a somber mood.

The accident occurred a few hours before the Busch Series race on the track Friday night, and drivers temporarily pushed it from their minds.

"Those of us that sit behind the wheel, you kind of know that there's an assumed risk," said Tony Raines, who finished third in the race. "I don't know what his condition is. It's always unfortunate, but it's kind of a part of the business.

"I hope everything goes all right, but you can't think about it because indecision will get you in trouble."

Details on the 32-year-old Nadeau's injuries were not released, but the Danbury, Conn., native did not appear to be moving when he was removed from his car strapped to a body board, the roof of the Pontiac having been sawed off by rescue crews.

Nadeau was being given oxygen through a bag and his neck was in a brace when he was placed in an ambulance.

NASCAR spokesman Jim Hunter said Nadeau was in critical condition at the Medical College of Virginia Hospitals. He said officials were prevented from saying more while awaiting the arrival of the driver's wife, Jada.

She arrived in Richmond on a plane sent by NASCAR at about 11 p.m. She had been attending her grandfather's funeral in South Carolina.

Nadeau was listed in critical condition Saturday, and hospital officials still did not have the family's permission to discuss the nature of the driver's injuries, hospital spokeswoman Pamela Lepley said.

NASCAR impounded the car and was conducting an investigation.

Nadeau was racing in the clear when his car skidded, spun halfway around and slammed into the concrete wall between the first and second turns. The accident occurred in the final practice session on the three-quarter-mile oval before Saturday night's Pontiac Excitement 400.

After several minutes, rescue crews cut and peeled the roof off the car, climbed inside and removed Nadeau. He was wearing a head and neck restraint device made mandatory last year in the wake of the death in 2001 of seven-time Winston Cup champion Dale Earnhardt in the Daytona 500.

Nadeau was taken to the track's infield care center, then airlifted from the track as authorities ordered onlookers away from the helipad.

The driver, a one-time winner in his sixth full season on NASCAR's top circuit, was replaced in his backup Pontiac by Jason Keller when practice resumed. Keller also was expected to drive the car in the race.

Nadeau's only career victory came in the final race of 2000 in Atlanta.

His best season in Winston Cup was 2001, when he had four top-five and 10 top-10 finishes in 34 races as a Hendrick Motorsports teammate to four-time series champion Jeff Gordon. Nadeau finished 17th in points.

This year, driving full-time for MB2 Motorsports, Nadeau was 34th in points through 10 races with a fourth-place finish at Texas and a 14th-place showing last weekend in the Auto Club 500 at California Speedway.

Kevin Harvick won the Hardee's 250 Busch race, leading Scott Riggs across the finish line under a race-record 14th caution of the night.

Earlier, Terry Labonte broke a qualifying drought of more than three years by winning the pole for the Pontiac 400 at a speed of 126.511 mph. It is Labonte's 27th career pole and first at Richmond since 1997.

Jerry Nadeau:

[Raceboy]

RICHMOND, Va. - Winston Cup driver Jerry Nadeau, critically injured Friday during a crash during practice at Richmond International Raceway, remains in critical condition at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center and is being treated for head, lung and rib injuries.

Nadeau has been moved to his own room, though still in the intensive care unit.

NASCAR Busch Series regular Jason Keller will substitute for Nadeau in tonight's Pontiac Excitement 400 at RIR, marking his first career Winston Cup Series start.

"While our thoughts are with Jerry during his recovery, we also want to express our appreciation to Jason for filling in on a short notice," said Jay Frye, CEO/general manager of MB2/MBV Motorsports. "Jason has proved himself in the Busch Series and we know he can get the job done."

Keller, 33, is in his 10th Busch Series season and currently ranks sixth in the series point standings. He finished second to Greg Biffle in 2002.

Fans may send well wishes to Nadeau at:

Jerry Nadeau Fan Club

P.O. Box 3610

Mooresville, NC 28117

Stay tuned to NASCAR.com for further updates.

[A.J.]

Jerry Nadeau heeft hoofd, long en rib kwetsuren.
Volgens zijn teamchef is de toestand serieus maar zal Jerry terug komen, al is niet geweten hoeveel tijd hiervoor zal nodig zijn.

[Raceboy]

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- Injured driver Jerry Nadeau got a hospital visit from Kyle Petty, Jeff Burton and NASCAR great Bobby Allison on Sunday.

Nadeau remained in critical condition Sunday, two days after his car slammed into a wall during practice at Richmond International Raceway.


The drivers visited Nadeau the morning after the Pontiac Excitement 400, which was won by Joe Nemechek. Nadeau's parents, sister and wife also were at Medical College of Virginia Hospitals.

Nadeau has a partially collapsed lung and unspecified rib and head injuries. His condition remained unchanged from Saturday.

"We're in a wait-and-see pattern," U.S. Army team spokesman David Ferroni


The 32-year-old driver had good vital signs and was sedated while being put through a series of tests, MB2-MBV Motorsports general manager Jay Frye said Saturday.

Nadeau had not spoken since the accident, but acknowledged the presence of visitors by squeezing their hands, Frye said.

The team still has not given any details about the extent of Nadeau's injuries, and Ferroni said he had no new information Sunday. Before Saturday night's race, Frye said the team hoped it would know more by Sunday morning, when the results of new tests were known.

Frye said team members and Nadeau's wife, Jada, were encouraged after seeing him.

Nadeau was injured when his car skidded, spun halfway around and slammed driver's-side first into the concrete wall on the three-quarter-mile oval.

Nadeau had qualified 12th for the race. The team hired Busch Series regular Jason Keller to drive its backup car in the race, and Keller finished 32nd in his Winston Cup debut.

bron: nascar.com

[Raceboy]

Er is hoop want het gaat weeral wat beter.

RICHMOND, Va. -- Winston Cup driver Jerry Nadeau, critically injured in a crash during practice last Friday at Richmond International Raceway, has been upgraded from critical to serious but stable condition, the team announced Monday.

Doctors at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center said Nadeau's head injury does not include a skull fracture, and his improvement is on course for the injuries he sustained.

Nadeau, driver of the No. 01 U.S. Army Pontiac, suffered head, lung and rib injuries when his car hit the wall on the driver's between Turns 1 and 2 only 10 minutes into the first of two Happy Hour practice sessions.

NASCAR Busch Series regular Jason Keller substituted for Nadeau in the Pontiac Excitement 400 Saturday, finishing 32nd in his Winston Cup Series debut.

Nadeau is the fourth NASCAR driver to suffer injury at RIR in the past year. Bobby Hamilton injured his shoulder in the Craftsman Truck Series event last fall, while Johnny Benson and Derrike Cope were both injured in last year's Hardees 250 Busch Series affair.

The Nadeau family has requested that get-wishes be directed to the team's race shop address at:

MB2 Motorsports

U.S. Army Racing

7065 Zephyr Place N.W.

Concord, NC 28027

[A.J.]

zijn toestand is van kritiek naar serieus maar stabiel gegaan. Let's hope

[Raceboy]

NASCAR Winston Cup driver Jerry Nadeau remained in a semi-conscious state Tuesday in a hospital in Richmond, Va.

Based on the progress he has made since he was injured May 2, he faces a long recovery with an indeterminate timeframe.

MB2 Motorsports general manager Jay Frye said doctors remain encouraged by the pace of Nadeau's recovery from his primary fault, a head injury doctors have told him is "moderate to severe."

Frye, who previously had to deal with a similar situation when MB2 driver Ernie Irvan suffered a career-ending head injury in the late 1990s, said Nadeau is responsive.

"His communication has consisted of hand squeezing and facial gestures," Frye said. "He is in a transitional state of regaining consciousness (and) being as determined and motivated as he is -- he has a hard time sitting still -- I think that will help him recover."

In addition to the head, lung and rib injuries that Nadeau sustained when his No. 01 U.S. Army Pontiac slammed into the Turn 1 wall during a practice session at Richmond International Raceway, doctors have also diagnosed a fractured left scapula, or shoulder blade.

Nadeau was moved from the Intensive Care Unit at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center to a private room last Thursday and his condition was upgraded to fair. Frye said doctors are in no hurry to move Nadeau out of Richmond.

Nadeau has begun therapy that includes being taken out of bed to a standing position, sitting in a chair, being physically manipulated and being stimulated by television -- including racing tapes -- and familiar smells.

While Frye continually espoused the doctors' feeling that Nadeau's recovery to this point is "encouraging and consistent with the injuries he's received," he said there was no time frame for Nadeau to become conversant or to be moved to a North Carolina rehabilitation facility, which is the long-term plan.

Nadeau's wife, Jada; her parents; and Nadeau's parents are all with him at the hospital and monitor the driver virtually 24 hours a day, Frye said. He said he had seen Nadeau five times since the accident, but that the family is more in tune with Nadeau's progress.

"He looks good -- he looks like Jerry," Frye said. "We're very encouraged. Jerry and his mom and dad are very strong. Jada and her family are there (and) every day they see signs of him getting better.

"That's their motivation. There is a lot of determination. I haven't seen him try to talk (but) every day is he is trying to do more."

Frye said the team is not even contemplating Nadeau's return to its race car at this point.

"We're all frustrated -- we want to wave a magic wand and make him better," Frye said of the mood of Nadeau's team, which will field a car beginning this weekend at Lowe's Motor Speedway for Mike Wallace. "He (Nadeau) is our teammate and our friend (and) you feel helpless. We want to make it go away (but) we feel like he will recover.

"I believe it is premature to look at what he will do in terms of getting back in a car. Our concern is to have a full recovery (and) it's too early in the recovery process to determine the possibility of a comeback."

Ironically, Nadeau filled in for Irvan in the final 12 races of the season after Irvan announced his retirement at Darlington Raceway in 1999. Frye said it was tough to draw parallels to the two men's conditions.

"All head injuries are different and people react differently to them," Frye said. "We're encouraged but we don't know what the next step is. He's getting better every day and there are more and more responses every day."

bron: nascar.com

[Raceboy]

Nadeau is nu weer volledig bij bewustzijn en spreekt weer.

RICHMOND, Va. -- Twenty days after he suffered critical injuries in a violent crash during a NASCAR Winston Cup practice at Richmond International Raceway, Jerry Nadeau has regained full consciousness and is verbally communicating.

Nadeau, 32, continues a rehabilitation program at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center that includes physical, recreational, and occupational and speech therapy.


The Danbury, Conn., veteran suffered a moderate to severe head injury, a fractured left scapula (shoulder blade) and injuries to his left-side lung and ribs on May 2 when his car spun and hit the Turn 1 wall during a practice session at RIR.

Doctors at VCU Medical Center said Nadeau has shown rapid progress this week, is medically stable and is not in a situation where it is necessary to classify his general condition.

Jay Frye, general manager of MB2 Motorsports, visited Nadeau on Tuesday and was amazed with the progress of his driver, whom he had visited a week before.

"The difference since the last time I saw Jerry was incredible," Frye said. "He is more responsive, more alert and following commands with more consistency. It was an emotional and wonderful feeling when he made the first move to shake my hand.

"He was hugging and kissing his daughter (Natalie Kate, three-months-old) and had pizza for dinner. It is really remarkable to see how far he has progressed in a short time."

Mike Wallace is the fill-in driver for MB2 Motorsports until such time as Nadeau can consider whether or not he will return to driving. Frye has refused to put a timetable on that determination.


bron: nascar.com

Ik zou wel eens willen weten of je hier in het ziekenhuis pizza krijgt.

[Raceboy]

Hij gaat terug testen, maar blijkbaar zal hij er blijvende letsel aan overgehouden hebben.

Nadeau preparing for a possible comeback: Jerry Nadeau simply can't get racing out of his system. More than three years after a crash [May 2003] at Richmond nearly ended his life, he's looking to test an ARCA car. If that goes well, he'd like to enter a race either late this year or in 2007. Then again, Nadeau, 36, knows that might not be the best idea. The left side of his body will always be numb after suffering a severe head injury in his 2003 crash, and the next hard hit might be his last. He's trying to find his place in the sport, but left a role coaching David Gilliland to focus on his next step. Nadeau plans to test with MB2 Motorsports.(NASCAR Scene)