Thursday, January 07, 2010

IHRA to Debut New In-House Safety Program in 2010

NORWALK, Ohio (January 7, 2010) – When it comes to the safety and welfare of its drivers the International Hot Rod Association has always been a leader in the motorsports industry and in 2010 that trend is going to continue as the IHRA is set to debut a brand new in-house safety program for all Nitro Jam events this season.

The organization will debut a new company owned and operated safety team at all Nitro Jam events in 2010 marking the first time the sanctioning body has taken ownership of its own safety and rescue program.

"While this probably was not the best economic time to make a huge capital investment, the safety of our competitors and the programs that effect it has never been an area that has ever seen a reduction in expense," said Skooter Peaco, IHRA Vice President of Racing Operations. "We will not compromise safety for budget issues and this new investment is an affirmation of Feld Motorsports continued commitment to our competitors.

"There is nothing more important than the safety aspect of what we do and bringing this very important program in house will enable us to continue to enhance our safety program. Over time, we hope to use what NHRA has done with their Safety Safari as our ultimate goal."

The new IHRA Safety Team will be led by 13-year IHRA veteran Marc Kinton. Kinton, who is known by most Nitro Jam competitors as the man at the head of staging, is a captain with the Youngsville Fire Department in North Carolina where he has served as a firefighter for 13 years.

Kinton holds numerous firefighting and EMT certifications in addition to his SFI fire/rescue certification.

"All the equipment in the world is worthless without the right people running it," Peaco said. "Marc has a passion for what we do and a genuine love of the sport. His credentials and experience in fire and rescue made him a perfect fit to lead the IHRA Safety Team.

"His talents will be much better utilized in his new role and I know that he will be as passionate about leading our safety team as he was as our head of staging official."

The new IHRA Safety Team will again include the IHRA trauma doctor group, led by Dr. Rob Genzel. Dr. Genzel and his group of trauma doctors are a regular fixture at the top end at all Nitro Jam events providing first response care to all competitors and crewmembers.

"Our competitors deserve an enhanced safety and rescue program beyond what is required for local racing and they deserve a trauma doctor on site to handle pressing medial issues." Peaco said. "I am very happy that we can continue to provide and enhance these services and that Feld Motorsports is willing to invest a substantial amount of money into this very important area."

The newly formed IHRA Safety Team will make its debut at the season opening Palm Beach Nitro Jam January 29-30 at Palm Beach International Raceway.

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