jscott82

I hate to quote Dr Phil.... but... Do you want to be right, or do you want to be happy?

Play the game..... and just have fun...

Nowanker

Sometimes you gotta take a stand.
Change needs to be started somewhere.

LuigiVampa

The number of people who have reached out to me with similar stories about rogue decisions by the medical committee is upsetting.

Because the committee deals with driver's medical information the medical committee operates in secrecy. While this is understandable it also creates a situation where there is no accountability.

The information regarding sleep apnea that they want from me, as well as so many other drivers, is to my knowledge not required by any other race series. I've looked, and I have asked some people who would know, and PCA is the outlier.

Despite asking for over a month, I have never been advised of the PCA minimum standard requiring this additional medical information, nor even the specifics of the information the medical committee requires. Currently, the only answers I have received are "DOT truck driver standards" and "because we say so."

It will make me miserable not to race at the upcoming Lime Rock Park race, especially considering that I was going to race both my 991.1 and 911CUP. My company is also the trophy sponsor and I won't be able to compete for a trophy. That being said, I will be even more miserable if I submit to the tyranny of the medical committee.

I've asked the PCA president and PCA club race chair to intervene and at the very least grant me a waiver for the LRP race while they study this issue. I've also asked them to look at how to medical committee makes its decisions, and how those decisions deviate from other race series. If this is truly a member organization I am hoping I will be heard.

Nowanker

Perhaps they are also aware of Rennlist, and just how retarded they appear.
My hat is off to you for taking up the fight.

Veloce Raptor

Phuque 'em

ExMB

Anyway you can up up with something on the trophy using CPAP abbreviation: C....P....A....P...? To stick it to the man.

ProCoach

I'd love to see the Medical Committee put a hold on this until more information could be gathered or they could solicit input from the extraordinary depth of medical knowledge present within the Club.

Doesn't cost them anything and they can conduct a wider peer review of this specific issue.

The fact that NO other organization does this (require compliance with DOT license medical requirements, established for COMMERCIAL truck drivers) is way out of the norm and should influence this decision in a more reasonable way. If it does, going forward, then the license holder should be reinstated.

jscott82

aren't these folks volunteers???? They give thier time so we can all race safely...

Poor decision, ya, seems to be.... but i tend to cut them some slack... personally I'd rather see them err on this side of caution....

Veloce Raptor

Yes, they are volunteers. But this decision by them, and their justification of it, is truly moronic. It is totally indefensible.

nineball

mandatory pre-race naps coming soon?

Jas0nn

That sounds kinda awesome, not gonna lie ...

ProCoach

Ummm, some of us already do that, on the grid...

thebishman

It’s almost as if the ‘Medical Committee’ searched for any form of medical literature/standard so that they could state they’ve done their due diligence. Except the circumstances of a commercial truck driver driving for multiple hours in nearly a steady state condition of monotonous surroundings; noise; average speed, etc., is diametrically opposed to the inputs one is exposed to when running in a race car for 30-60 minutes when almost every few seconds there are multiple changes in the inputs you’re exposed to, and have to perform.

I am not disparaging the members of the committee but are any of them an actual Pulmonologist or Sleep Specialist, or are they Podiatrists or Chiropractors? What I mean is that you must use physicians who are intimately familiar with the subject at hand.

ProCoach

Agreed. As a former CDL holder, the regulatory environment for commercial drivers is over the top.

Logbooks tracking hours that must be produced upon demand at any time by law enforcement. Regs for drive time are significant: https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/regulation...ce-regulations

The DOT commercial driver physical exam is grueling (yet isn't required by any auto or bike racing sanctioning body, including PCA Club Racing).

It's not the same environment or objective, evaluating whether people are suitable for auto racing or commercial, interstate driving of a 40-ton truck.

sbelles

and massuses. Can't have people stressed out there