Junction Motor Speedway
Concussion's aftereffects keep Stovall out of seat
By Robert Holman
DirtonDirt.com weekend editor
Jesse Stovall climbed out after a wreck last month. (photosbyboyd.smugmug.com)
Jesse Stovall walked away from a vicious rollover accident while practicing for the Silver Dollar Nationals back on July 20. Apparently uninjured from the wreck that left his Black Diamond Chassis a mangled mess, Stovall went ahead and competed in the weekend’s race. Taking a Lucas Oil Midwest LateModel Racing Association series provisional to start the crown jewel event, Stovall eventually finished last in the 33-car field.
Three weeks after the crunching wreck, the Galena, Mo., driver has decided to temporarily climb out of the cockpit because of lingering effects of an apparent concussion suffered in the accident at I-80. Stovall competed in an MLRA-sanctioned race Friday night at Junction Motor Speedway in McCool Junction, Neb., but decided to sit out of Saturday’s event.
“I just don’t feel right. I don’t know what it is and I don’t understand it,” Stovall said via telephone Sunday afternoon. “Day to day stuff, you can pretty much do all that, but when it comes to driving 100 mph into a corner, I don’t think it’s real safe for me or for anybody else. It’s just the side effect from a concussion. It could get worse before it gets better.
“I need to rest more than I do. But when your bank account is affected like that, it’s hard to do that. You know, Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s (concussion) took eight months to heal. I hope mine don’t take that much.”
Stovall said that he still felt a bit off kilter when he came home from the Silver Dollar Nationals. At the prodding of his wife, he went for a checkup. From there he went to the hospital, where doctors performed a handful of tests.
“There were a couple times there after we got home that I got lightheaded and my wife told me that I had to go to the doctor,” Stovall said. “We went to the (urgent care) clinic. They sent me for tests, a CAT scan or whatever it’s called. They put me in that tube. If it doesn’t start getting better soon, I might go to a specialist. I don’t know what the answer is. It makes me mad. My reaction times are not the same as they once was and I don’t know when that all snaps (back) and you say, ‘I’m good now.’ ”
It’s been a little more than three weeks since his wreck. Still the symptoms remain. He felt better as he prepared to head to Junction Motor Speedway for the MLRA doubleheader, but was still uncertain if he was 100 percent. Despite his solid performance in the weekend opener — he was running fifth until a flat tire on lap 20 took him out of contention — Stovall knew things weren’t just right.
“It’s just hard to explain it. It’s really frustrating,” Stovall said. “I kinda had a feeling going (to McCool Junction) that I wasn’t ready. I mean, it’s not like I can’t drive the ---- out of that car. I had fast time and won my heat and was (battling) for the lead in the feature. But I felt like I was just one step behind on everything I was doing and that’s just not me. I’m up on the wheel, thinking ahead, not thinking about what I should have done.”
Stovall has no timetable for an immediate return. Lucas Oil MLRA officials said the series regulars voted to offer Stovall hardship points for the time missed and that the series “wishes him the best in his continued recovery.” For now it’s just a waiting game.
“I’ve been really lethargic,” Stovall said. “It’s just a hungover feeling … just drowsy, foggy, lethargic. I’ve had a little bit of a headache at times, a little stomachache at a time, a little dizzy at times. They said it could take two weeks or it could take two months.
“I just got to rest and let it heal. There a lot more things in life than a race car. I just have to relax a little bit more. I don’t know about you, but sitting in a dark room with no TV and no phone and just sitting there, good luck.”
