Hit by race car, Cochran onlookers hurt
Teenage Dirt Late Model driver Parker Martin of Milledgeville, Ga., was among several people injured Saturday evening when a car left the racing surface and struck onlookers during preseason practice at his family’s Cochran (Ga.) Motor Speedway.
The 17-year-old Martin, who has been sidelined from competition since last fall following shoulder surgery, appeared to be among the most seriously injured of those involved in the incident that witnesses say happened outside turn one. He was alert and conscious but was airlifted to Cochran's Bleckley Memorial Hospital where he was admitted for treatment of multiple injuries.
Tests for a spinal injury were negative, which was “awesome news,” Parker’s mother, Joni, initially wrote in an update she posted on Facebook. Early Sunday morning she further updated his condition with news that X-rays on his legs and other body parts revealed no broken bones but he was being kept overnight for pain control and observation.
Parker’s father, Chris, who promotes the Cochran oval, was also shaken up in the accident but arrived at the hospital later to be examined. Joni wrote Sunday morning that Chris was waiting for doctors to scan the right side of his face, which was left swollen after the accident.
According to a morning post by Joni Martin, five other unidentified bystanders were hospitalized with injuries that weren’t life-threatening. She wrote that one woman suffered a broken foot, leg, elbow and knee and a swollen jaw; a boy with a broken arm was transferred to an Atlanta hospital to meet with a pediatric orthopedic and a girl received stitches for a cut on her head; a man sustained a broken leg and kneecap; and another man was released but will need further evaluation for knee injuries.
“My prayers go out to everyone that’s involved,” Joni Martin wrote. “Thanks to everyone that’s called texted and prayed. Special thanks to Michael and Brandi Davis for grabbing Chris and Parker (during the incident).”
Editor's note: Updated with additional information posted by Joni Martin.