Recovering Bahre back on fast track
INDIANAPOLIS -- Bob Bahre, the 78-year-old chairman of New Hampshire International Speedway, was back at his track to preside over this weekend's Loudon Classic motorcycle race meet. And he was feeling no pain, certainly none from the multiple injuries he suffered Jan. 29 in a single-car accident.
"I'm feeling pretty good now," said Bahre, who spoke for the first time about his accident yesterday by telephone from NHIS. "I was in the hospital four days short of two months."
And, by Bahre's account, that was too much time. Way too much.
"I was in the house for two more [months] working with physical therapists and I just finished up with them," he said. "I had a nurse who had to give me a shot once a day in my stomach, but I'm done with that, too. So I'm feeling good. I'm just very fortunate that the good Lord was riding with me."
Bahre does not remember the accident. All he can recall was the lunch meeting he had with a business associate, Kenneth Hoyt, who led Bahre home to Maine from Alton, N.H., in a two-car caravan.
"I was tired as hell when I left to go home," said Bahre, who sustained a head injury in addition to a cracked vertebra, broken ribs, and a broken right ankle. "I must have fallen asleep at the wheel, but I don't really remember. I guess I hit this big tree."
When Hoyt looked in the rearview mirror of his pickup truck and no longer saw Bahre's car, he doubled back and came upon the accident scene. "I don't remember saying it," Bahre said, "but when Kenny got to me, he said I told him, `Guess I got to ride in the pickup home with you.' "
Bahre, who was wearing a seat belt at the time of the accident, was taken by ambulance to Bridgton, Maine, and later airlifted to Maine Medical in Portland.
"I can't say enough about those good people who helped me there," Bahre said. "I was very, very fortunate they were there to help me. They weren't there just to do a job. They were trying to do their best to help me."
Bahre's wife, Sandra, and their son, Gary, president of NHIS, spent the next 3 1/2 weeks near his side. "Gary and Sandra saw how much they were doing for me at the hospital," said Bahre. "Gary sent down about 100 pounds of chocolate to all the nurses and right after I got out [in March] he sent them another 100 pounds. We're going to take care of all of them and host them at our July [NASCAR Nextel Cup] race."
Bahre missed attending the Daytona 500 (won by Dale Earnhardt Jr.) and spent his 78th birthday (Feb. 19) in the hospital. When he finally departed, Bahre did so in a wheelchair. Tuesday, Bahre returned to Maine Medical to visit to the staff that treated him.
"They were so happy to see me walking again," Bahre said. "They threw their arms around me." So enthusiastic was their reception, "I thought I was going to have to wrassle them down to the floor," Bahre said with a cackle.
Bahre, though, did suffer one setback while in the hospital.
"Kenny Williams, this kid who had worked for me since he was 8 years old, had died from a heart attack about three days after I got to the hospital. He was 48 and was from Oxford [Maine], but he'd worked for me on all sorts of construction jobs," Bahre said. "My brother, Richard, knew about it, but the doctors didn't want him to tell me about it. It wasn't until seven weeks later that they finally told me about it. It was shocking."
Asked if his accident had caused him to consider stepping back in some way, Bahre said, "I like doing what I'm doing . . . You got to do something. When I got back to the track for the first time, it was good to see that everything was in shape and that everyone had done such a good job, but they always do a good job. I was also happy to hear everyone say what a great job Gary did while I was in the hospital. God forbid, but if something were to happen where I didn't make it, it feels good to know it's still going to be in good hands."
Count him in
Michael Waltrip was the latest Nextel Cup driver to commit to the New England 200 NASCAR Busch Series race at NHIS July 24. Waltrip will be joined in the Busch race by Nextel Cup drivers Kevin Harvick, Robby Gordon, Greg Biffle, Kasey Kahne, and Matt Kenseth in their attempt to become the 18th different winner in 18 Busch Series races at NHIS . . . NASCAR officials Wednesday hit Harvick and Kenseth with $25,000 fines and placed the drivers on probation until Aug. 11 for their bumper-car act in last Sunday's Nextel Cup race at Pocono. Kenseth and Harvick showed up yesterday at Michigan International Speedway and held dueling press conferences, engaging in a battle of rhetoric. NASCAR officials summoned both drivers to the hauler, where they were no doubt told to zip it and bury the hatchet . . . Kyle and Pattie Petty this week held the grand opening of Victory Junction Gang Camp, a retreat for seriously ill children near Randleman, N.C. When it came time for the official ribbon-cutting, the Pettys bestowed the honor upon the race crew of their late son, Adam, who was killed three years ago practicing for a Busch Series race at NHIS.
Quite a ride
Jeff Gordon, who was expected to be on hand for today's qualifying session for the US Grand Prix at Indianapolis, was still buzzing from the chance he got June 11, 2003, to swap rides with Formula One driver Juan Pablo Montoya in a "Tradin' Paint" day that was televised on the Speed Channel. Montoya, winner of the 2000 Indianapolis 500, drove Gordon's DuPont Chevrolet Nextel Cup car while Gordon drove Montoya's BMW-Williams around the 2.605-mile, 13-turn F1 circuit at The Brickyard. "That was a real chance of a lifetime for me," Gordon said, "and for it to be televised on Speed [Channel] was even better because I get to relive it over and over again. To have that in-car camera and to see that I was actually driving an F1 car, one of the best F1 cars out there, was just, I can't even put it into words how to describe that." The car swap led Montoya to invite Gordon and Hendrick Racing teammate Jimmie Johnson to attend the 2004 Spanish Grand Prix May 7-9 as guests of the BMW-Williams F1 team. "Ever since I drove a BMW-Williams last year, I said I have to go and see a race now," said Gordon. "We went down to Turn 1 on Friday, and when I saw them driving I knew what they were experiencing. Now that I have driven the car it takes on a whole new meaning for me." . . . Several F1 principals seemed to endorse an idea for a second US grand prix date, possibly on the West Coast, as a means of increasing F1's domestic exposure. But Eddie Jordan, the Irish-born team principal of Jordan Ford, had other thoughts. "I'd like to see us go to Boston," he said. "I could see more of my Paddies there." . . . Joey McCarthy, of Randolph, N.J., will attempt to defend his title at Holland (N.Y.) International Speedway when the Busch North Series resumes tonight in the
Material from personal interviews, track publicity departments, race teams, sponsors, and various sanctioning bodies was used in this report.
