Uninsured Drivers Racing At Own Risk

Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., capped his return to dirt late model racing last August with a victory in the Topless 100 at Batesville Motor Speedway. He added a couple more major victories in the closing months of the season, but his 2009 began with disaster.

In January, he returned to Tulsa for the Chili Bowl, the nation's top midget racing event where McCreadie had stunned a field of NASCAR and open-wheel drivers to win in 2006.

The last thing he remembers is leading a B-Main qualifier when his car began vibrating.

A problem in the rear axle of his midget car was the reason for vibration, and the crash that followed was spectacular. It immediately became You-Tube fodder, the images of his car bouncing and barrel-rolling over the catch fence at the indoor facility.

When McCreadie awoke, he had two problems: His back was broken, and he didn't have health insurance.

An estimated 25,000 drivers like McCreadie compete on more than 800 dirt racetracks in the United States, according to an Associated Press story last month. No one keeps count of how many have insurance, but people in the racing and insurance businesses say as many as 80 percent of drivers do not carry coverage.

A handful of Arkansans race on dirt professionally, most of whom will compete at the 17th annual Comp Cams Topless 100 this weekend at Batesville Motor Speedway. They all struggle with the financial burden of health insurance, which is a considerably higher cost because of their jobs.


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