Rapid Response: My inside story as a motor racing life-saver

by Stephen Olvey, Sid Watkins (Afterword), Alex Zanardi (Foreword by), Dario Franchitti (Afterword)

Overview

Originally published to great acclaim in 2006, Dr. Stephen Olvey’s memoir Rapid Response makes a long-awaited return to print — complete with new text and an afterword by Dario Franchitti — at the same time as the release of a documentary feature film of the same title. This book is the compelling story of the author’s often tragic, sometimes funny, and frequently frustrating journey through the volatile world of professional motorsports. Along the way, he introduces many of the characters — geniuses, good guys, bad guys — that he has encountered during his quest to save lives and make motorsports safer. 

• Among the racing legends with whom Dr. Olvey has worked — and who have their places in this book — are Mario Andretti, Emerson Fittipaldi, A.J. Foyt, Graham Hill, Nigel Mansell, Rick Mears and Al Unser Jr.
• Dr. Olvey attended his first race, the 1955 Indianapolis 500, at the impressionable age of 11, and saw his favourite driver, Bill Vukovich, killed in a fiery crash while leading.
• He began working at the famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway while attending medical school, making his first professional appearance there in 1966, when his first on-track rescue involved Graham Hill in his rookie year.
• Dr. Olvey organised the first traveling medical team in motorsports and was eventually joined by long-time colleague and friend, Dr. Terry Trammell.
• Continuing to work together over several decades, Dr. Olvey and Dr. Trammell have used their study of the cause and effect of racing crashes and injuries to make significant advances in safety, with many lives saved and serious injuries avoided.
• The writer of the foreword is Alex Zanardi, whose life Dr. Olvey helped to save after a violent accident in Germany in 2001, and who subsequently returned not only to motorsports, but also to handcycling, becoming a three-time Paralympic gold medalist.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781910505397
Publisher:	Evro Publishing Limited
Publication date:	05/21/2019
Pages:	312
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 9.40(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Dr Stephen Olvey has been involved in saving lives and improving safety in motorsports for nearly 50 years, primarily in his role as Medical Director for the Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) racing series in the US, a position that he held from 1979 to 2003. He remains active in motorsports as a member of the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile Medical Commission, a consultant to Indy Car Series and Motor Sports Director of the University of Miami Concussion Program. He is an associate professor of clinical Neurology and Neurosurgery at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.

As Medical Director for Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) in the USA, Dr Olvey helped save Alex Zanardi's life - hence Alex's foreword to the book.

Dario Franchitti is the 17th driver to win Indy 500 more than once, the first coming in 2007. Dario hails from Bathgate, West Lothian, Scotland, but currently resides in Tennessee.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements 5

Foreword Alessandro Zanardi 8

Preface - Germany 2001 12

1 The Race Fan Turns Doctor 25

2 USAC Takes a First Step 37

3 Carter Crashes at Phoenix 46

4 CART 50

5 Foyt Has Trouble in Daytona 61

6 Rutherford Does Phoenix 74

7 CART Ventures Out of the Country 77

8 The Ride 82

9 The Magician 91

10 A.J. Crashes Again 94

11 Death Pays Us a Visit 98

12 Rick Mears Proves He's Human After All 110

13 Al Unser Jr. and Chip Ganassi Get Together at Michigan 119

14 Daly Does Michigan 122

15 CART Fulfils the Wish 126

16 Lives Saved 136

17 Pushing the Medical Envelope 139

18 Horton's Fall from Grace 143

19 Emerson Arrives 146

20 The Good Years in CART 154

21 A.J. Crashes at Elkhart Lake 160

22 The Black Boxes 162

23 The Coming of Nigel 165

24 Another New Medical Unit 182

25 CART Goes It Alone and Tragedy Strikes 186

26 Emerson Has the Big One 194

27 Our Luck Runs Out 201

28 Looking for Answers and the Coming of HANS 211

29 The Driver as Athlete 217

30 Ongoing Research and Development 220

31 CART Goes to the Movies 226

32 Death in Daytona 231

33 CART Screws Up Big Time 238

34 Head Injury and Return to Competition 256

35 CART Augers In 260

36 The German Memorial Continued 268

37 Post-Mortem 275

38 What Goes Around Comes Around 280

39 As The Wheels Turn 285

Afterword Professor Sid Watkins 302

Afterword Dario Franchitti 305

Index 306