Jay Springsteen Recovering Nicely

Henny Ray Abrams | July 25, 2006
Legendary dirt tracker Jay Springsteen is recovering nicely from injuries suffered in a Saturday night dirt track incident, his wife said on Tuesday morning.

In a phone call from Ohio, Judy Springsteen said her husband was flirting with the nurses in front of her and cracking jokes with his doctors, both of which sees as positive signs that he’s getting back to his usual self.

The Bartel’s Harley-Davidson / SuperTrapp / Rock Springs rider continues to recover in Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, Ohio where he was taken after suffering multiple injuries during his heat race in Saturday night’s Greenville, Ohio AMA Ford Quality Checked Flat Track Championship half-mile. The three-time Grand National Champion suffered multiple thoracic fractures and left rib fractures. Doctors inserted three pins and a rod into the top of his one damaged vertebrae and a pin below it. Judy Springsteen said he has very little memory of the accident.

Before he went into surgery, he jokingly asked his doctors, “Are you going to put American or metric in my body?”

Judy Springsteen reports that he’s in good spirits and that “he’s doing well, he wants to get up,” and that he’s waiting for his body cast, also known as a ‘turtle.’ He’ll have to wear the body cast for two months and the total recovery time will be about six months, she said, which means his race season is over.

“The next time you’ll see him is at the Daytona road race tracks,” she said.

His release from the hospital will depend on how easily he can move around with the body cast. Once he’s comfortable, he’ll be transported back to his home in Lapeer, Michigan.

The best way to reach Springsteen is by e-mail, juspringsteen@yahoo.com.

Cards and letters can be sent to the following addresses, but Judy Springsteen requested that no one try to reach him by phone while he recovers.

Jay Springsteen

c/o Miami Valley Hospital

1 Wyoming Street

Dayton, Ohio 45409

Jay Springsteen

3774 South Shore Drive

Lapeer, Michigan 48446

Henny Ray Abrams | Contributing Editor

Abrams is the longest-serving contributor at Cycle News. Over the course of his 35-some years of writing and shooting photos, he’s covered events from MotoGP to the Motocross World Championship - and everything in between.