American Racing News Vol 1, Issue 2 Issue 8 | 页面 34

At this time one year ago, Robert
Ballou was headed out west
preparing for the final events of
his historic 2015 season.
It was a magical season in which
the Rocklin, California driver
would tally 13 USAC AMSOIL
National Sprint Car feature
victories on his way to his first
USAC National title.
Fast-forward to exactly one year
later and the setting has
drastically changed for Robert. A
repeat dream season has been
anything but.
You won't see Robert's name
listed as a driver on this coming
weekend's "Oval Nationals" entry
list - an event in which he won
the first two nights of last
November. For Robert is
currently recovering from injuries
sustained on the opening night of
the "Louie Vermiel Classic" at
Calistoga (Calif.) Speedway.
Injuries that have sidelined him
from the racetrack as time ticks

away and his body endures the
healing process.
It was a crash that Robert was
lucky to survive; a crash he was
amazingly able to walk away
from, at first.
"It was just one of those deals,"
Robert said bluntly. "I was
running second and chasing the
leader. The lap before, I was
four-tenths of a second faster
and I felt like I was catching him.
Then, suddenly, I went into (turn)
one and it just dug in and I started
flipping. The fence held me in,
but I fell about 15 to 18 feet from
the sky onto the cage. There's not
a frame in the world that can hold
up to that. It was just a freak
accident. They said the left rear
shock gave out and may have
caused it."
The crash appeared serious to all
onlookers from those at the
racetrack to those watching on
the live stream. After several,
agonizing minutes, a sigh of relief