Schnabel Has Neck Surgery

Cycle News Staff | June 7, 2012

Flat tracker JR Schnabel underwent surgery recently after suffering a broken neck in the Springfield TT. He now faces a three-to-four month recovery time.

“I had to have surgery on my neck,” Schnabel wrote in an e-mail to Cycle News. “I broke the C6 vertebra pretty good. They had to go in the front and back and pin and plate both sides. The doctor is telling me a full recovery in three to four months. The bummer is I had a good team put together and it was showing Saturday night when we started off qualifying well. Time will tell if I race at the National level again. I love racing, but with the family I have some bigger priorities now. It’s too early to say with this neck brace still on.”

Schnabel, a three-time winner of the Springfield TT, was involved in a collision off the jump in a heat race.