Drs. Trammel & Olvey not to be retained by OWRS

[Dov]

http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/news/story?id=1740933

Saturday, February 21, 2004

Reuters

NEW YORK -- The two doctors who saved Italian driver Alex Zanardi's life in 2001 as part of the Champ Car safety team have not been retained to provide medical care by the CART series' new owners Open Wheel Racing Series (OWRS).


Dr. Stephen Olvey, a professor and director of the Neurosurgical Intensive Care Unit at Jackson Memorial Hospital/University of Miami, will no longer be involved with the series, which opens in Long Beach, Calif. on April 18.


Dr. Terry Trammell, an orthopaedic surgeon based in Indianapolis, will continue to work for the series but only in an advisory role related to 2005 chassis design.


"After 22 years neither myself nor Terry will be providing medical care at the race track this year," said Olvey, who established the CART safety team that eventually included a mobile medical unit to provide on-the-scene medical care.


Their work paralleled the medical support provided by Dr. Sid Watkins in Formula One.


Former CART champion Zanardi, who has also driven in Formula One for Lotus and Williams, survived a near fatal high speed crash at the Lausitzring, Germany in Sept., 2001 but lost two liters of blood and had to have both legs amputated.


Zanardi told Reuters by phone: "I can't imagine two doctors with not only the experience but the passion for the sport. I wouldn't be talking to you today if it were not for them."


Late last year Olvey had discussions with one of the three OWRS principals about continuing to work for the series on a cost reduction basis but recently was told by e-mail that his contract would not be renewed as it previously existed.


An OWRS spokesman declined to comment.


CART, which began racing in 1979, became a public company in 1998 but filed for bankruptcy last year after its shares plummeted. In January a federal bankruptcy judge awarded the assets of the bankrupt CART series to OWRS.

[macdaddy]

This is something totally unexpected. Especially after Dr.Trammell threatened to sue if his contract was sold during the bankruptcy hearings. I don't understand this at all.

[TedN]

Robin Miller commentary HERE.

Ted

[Jordi]

Sorry, but this is a stupid move. If it's not bloody broken why fix it??

[Dov]

After reading that Robin Miller article I am so furious with PG and OWRS....I'm speechless!!! The saftey of drivers is one area you cannot cut the costs in!!!

[Mags]

Originally posted by Dov
After reading that Robin Miller article I am so furious with PG and OWRS....I'm speechless!!! The saftey of drivers is one area you cannot cut the costs in!!!

It's an incredible move. It will be interesting to see the driver's comments over the next few days.

[norman-normal]

I didn't think CC would keep the be$t med response teem in racing for long.

Sad day. As OWR has stated: they are not beginners in business.

[indycool]

Dov, a rare time when we agree 100 percent. Very sad day. Maybe not beginners in business but this certifies 'em as far less than beginners in racing priorities.

[Brian W Keske]

What I find most quizical is that Olvey was open to renegotiating a lower contract. And OWRS never even had the decency to sit down and talk to him, at least call him. These guy's found out their fate via an email.

'Bush league' if you ask me. This is not the first time we have heard how these 'gentelman' conduct business. And they better figure out it's already hurt them, and they better nip this type of action in the bud if they plan on making any new friends in the sport.

[Snrub]

Really stupid decision. How much money are they really going to save? If Olvey is willing to meet them somewhere in the middle then it makes absolutely no sense. What has always struck me about those two guys is that they do it as a labour of love.

[Flatspot]

OK so I'm the devil's advocate today. I'm not so sure the story is being relayed or interpreted entirely accurately.

There is absolutely no question that Drs. Trammell and Olvey have done an absolutely incredible job. They have been the best. I don't see how that means that someone else can't also be the best. It is not as though the "new" guy, Chris Pinderski, is a neophite. He has been around for 10 years, and what do we know of his drive, ambition or passion for the sport. I personally know nothing.

From the quotes in the article it really doesn't seem that the OWRS didn't make any overatures to keep the current system in place. Paraphrasing, it says that OWRS offered to pay on a race by race basis and that Olvey said on that basis he couldn't give 100%. I ask, can any sanctioning body afford a safety team that can't give 100%. If I were making a hiring decision and I had a guy with 10 years experience ready to give me 100% vs. a guy with 18 years experience that could only give me 75% I might be inclined to make that same decision that OWRS has made. That is a very tough decision to make.

I'm not convinced it's only about the money and I am coming to the realization that Gentilozzi often speaks before he thinks about what it is he is saying.

[The Snout]

Chris Pinderski is the former Associate Medical Director. So not exactly a novice stepping into the breach. Seems on one hand Olvey wants time away from the track (R&D as he says), but now that it's been handed to him he's upset.

In addition, the article dribbles on about how the system is being dismantled. Well frankly, if removing a couple of staff dismantles the system then the system was too reliant on them. Any good system should remain intact even if you remove staff, so I'm not buying that either.

If, as he says, removing them screws up the system, then I guess they should have involved their backups in the operations a bit more and have spread the experience around some. Even they admit to that. "..but the new medical director (Chris Pinderski) has been with us for 10 years. He doesn't have as much experience as Steve and I but he hasn't had the opportunity."


"It's ridiculous. Why would you want to screw up the best system in the world?" said Olvey. "Neither one of us is going to be at the race track or the medical center and it's going to be mostly inexperienced people."


Perhaps Steve, but if you two guys were responsible for the oversight of the medical team did it ever occur to you that the day may come or some unforeseen circumstance may happen that may lead to you being unavailable and that the system would have to function without you ?

[Jordi]

I don't think OWRS is right this time. Would you replace Michael Schumacher with Ralf Schumacher just because Ralf will work for less?

If the guy's available, keep him. And if the guy's the best at that, just freaking keep him!

[The Snout]

Of course the drivers could always put in a small contribution each, if they believe that it's more important than money.

[indycool]

Couple things:

1. Flatspot, Olvey DIDN'T say he couldn't "give 100 percent." What he said was that if he was paid on a race-by-race basis, that would eliminate all his work between races. They obviously were trying to cut his pay and/or force him out.

2. Snout, it wasn't Olvey who "wanted time away from the track." It was Trammell saying he wanted to get more into the R&D aspects. Neither said they didn't want to be there.

[The Snout]

Originally posted by indycool
Couple things:

1. Flatspot, Olvey DIDN'T say he couldn't "give 100 percent." What he said was that if he was paid on a race-by-race basis, that would eliminate all his work between races. They obviously were trying to cut his pay and/or force him out.

2. Snout, it wasn't Olvey who "wanted time away from the track." It was Trammell saying he wanted to get more into the R&D aspects. Neither said they didn't want to be there.

Correction noted. I wish them both all the best and thanks for their contribution. I also wish Chris Pinderski the best in his new role.

[JohnSSC]

There are some things that it just does not pay to cut corners on. The safety of the drivers, crew and marshalls is not one of them.

It is disturbing that OWRS is apparently approaching the entire operation with a "lets find the low bidder" mentatlity. It is also unfortunate that the drivers apparently are not being given the opportunity to have input on this decision.

This is nothing to play with. I remember racing at a track where the track doctor was an anesthesiologist. Not exactly confidence-inspiring. Neither is this move by the new owners.

[The Snout]

Don't see the "lets find the low bidder" approach. They simply said it was too high. And last I checked the replacement was qualified and the staff will still be qualified personal.

[JohnSSC]

Replacing these gentlemen to save $$ should never have even come up for discussion. It seems rather silly that the $$ they are saving can be considered more significant than the life that may not be saved or the criticality of an injury minimzed.

If money is that tight for this series that it has to find a cheaper way to maintain driver safety than perhaps the series is in more trouble than I believed it was.

[Flatspot]

"I received an email from John Lopes (CART's vice president of racing operations) that I was going to have to be paid on a race-by-race basis and I responded by saying if that was the caseI couldn't do my job as comprehensively as I'd been doing it in terms of time away from the hospital."

Sorry indycool, but that statement says to me; I can't give it 100%.

Again, I am not taking anything away from these two doctors. They have been great and I wish them the best. All I am saying is that to beleive these are the only two guys that can do the job is naive. I also have to agree with Snout that they should have been looking at succession as part of the model.

[racerkeke]

Ummm, marshals are not technically looked after by the safety crew (altho if something catastrophic occured I believe the safety crew would attend). Until 2003, hard card observers could access Drs Trammell and Olvey, or go to the medical centre for treatment if required. When Champ Car made its deal with SCCA, one of the things lost was formalized access to the medical centre. Luckily this past year there hasn't been the need.

But the move to drop Trammell and Olvey tells me that Champ Car continues to throw babies out with bathwater.
keke

keke

[Dov]

"I received an email from John Lopes (CART's vice president of racing operations) that I was going to have to be paid on a race-by-race basis and I responded by saying if that was the case I couldn't do my job as comprehensively as I'd been doing it in terms of time away from the hospital. The next thing I got was another email from Lopes that said thanks for my years of service but OWRS was not going to renew my contract."

This tells me that OWRS doesn't really care about it's drivers. If they did, the three amigos would have worked something out with Dr. Olvey and not let him go through an email.

[Mags]

Originally posted by racerkeke
Ummm, marshals are not technically looked after by the safety crew (altho if something catastrophic occured I believe the safety crew would attend). Until 2003, hard card observers could access Drs Trammell and Olvey, or go to the medical centre for treatment if required. When Champ Car made its deal with SCCA, one of the things lost was formalized access to the medical centre. Luckily this past year there hasn't been the need.

But the move to drop Trammell and Olvey tells me that Champ Car continues to throw babies out with bathwater.
keke

keke

Well.. Hard Card turn workers went away in 2002, so this is NOT something you can lay at PG's feet.

[Flatspot]

Originally posted by Dov
This tells me that OWRS doesn't really care about it's drivers.

OK maybe I'm really thick, but give me a little more Dov. How do you see this issue as a statement that OWRS doesn't care about it's drivers. Are you convinced that Trammell and Olvey are the only people capable of doing the job properly?

[indycool]

Flatspot, I guess we just read that quote differently and your interprettaion of it could be as right as mine. I just took it to mean they were going to lower his pay from a retainer basis to just use him on weekends, not acknowledging all the off-site work that goes into it.

And I'll answer because I agree with Dov's position. These doctors have built, along with others, a sound, pioneering operation. They were the FIRST to establish an over-the-road safety team and Dr. Olvey's word "comprehensive" says it all.

Now, sure, other trauma doctors are qualified. But background, experience and knowledge, study, knowledge of the cars and drivers, reputation and confidence among competitors and their families, their leadership being established at all these facilities, the issue of experience that have led to procedures being developed. These are things that are quality subjective things, not quantifiable by having an M.D. behind their names or the size of the check that gets written.

I'm very skeptical about The Three Amigos anyway. Everyone talks about how they're gazillionaires and Gentilozzi said just before the bankruptcy hearing "we'll do whatever it takes." They've pictured and portrayed themselves as the big dogs on the corner. Yet everything they've done has been on the cheap. They give short shrift to issues that come up rather than handling them.

Blowing things off is one thing, but blowing off a safety team of the reknown of this one cuts to the quick. By my count, Olvey and Trammell went through 11 different CART managements or CEOs, apparently struck a quiet bargain with each one and grew the data, procedures, innovations and the like necessary for racing safety to progress and meet new challenges.

Apparently this management is the first to misplace its priorities, priorities that were clearly established by Penske and Patrick when they made them such in 1979.