1987 Budweiser Indiana Governor's Cup
Steve Reynolds remains unconscious at hospital
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Driver Steve Reynolds remained unconscious and in critical condition this morning with a fractured skull and other injuries received when his hydroplane crashed during the Madison Regatta, a hospital spokesman said.
Reynolds was taken to Methodist Hospital after his hydroplane crashed Sunday on the Ohio River.
Hospital spokesman David Reddick said nurses reported no overnight change change in Reynolds’ condition. He is in the hospital’s Neuro Critical Care Unit, Reddick said.
"He has several injuries and there really hasn’t been any change since he arrived here," Reddick said.
Reynolds was injured when his hydroplane became airborne, overturned and crashed upside down. He was taken unconscious from the capsule of his wrecked boat and transported by ambulance to a Madison hospital and then by helicopter to Methodist.
Before leaving Madison, Reynolds was breathing and his vital signs were stable, said Dr. Richard Swanson of the Unlimited Racing Commission’s medical staff.
Reynolds, 39, Kirkland, Wash., finished second in his first preliminary heat, won his second heat and was leading the third heat when his Cellular One hydroplane lifted off the water on the backstretch of the first lap.
The boat turned over again on the water, scattering parts of the craft over the river. The capsule, however, was undamaged.
"We were able to extricate him from the capsule. It was intact," said Swanson. "He was unconscious from the time we took him out of the capsule to the time we put him in the ambulance.
"He suffered a broken left arm. That’s definite," Swanson said. "The extent of the other injuries is unclear, but obviously, by being unconscious, its serious."
The race was halted after the crash, and before it could be restarted, an approaching rainstorm forced cancellation of the third and championship heats.
Jim Kropfeld in the Miss Budweiser, which won its two preliminary heats, was declared the winner. Based on points, Reynolds finished second overall.
"The accident took everything off the whole afternoon," Kropfeld said. "Things like this happen. It's not a normal thing, tut in, the back of our minds, we realize it can happen."
(Reprinted from the Seymour (Indiana) Tribune, July 6, 1987)