NASCAR O'Reilly
BUSCH: Anthony Lazzaro Returns in December
HAMPTON, Ga. (Nov. 18, 1999) Anthony Lazzaro was back at a race track Thursday and the driver who will race in the NASCAR Busch Series Grand National Division in 2000 for Precision Preparation Inc. Motorsports could not have been wearing a wider ...
Edited: Apr 16, 2008, 12:40 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
HAMPTON, Ga. (Nov. 18, 1999) Anthony Lazzaro was back at a race track Thursday and the driver who will race in the NASCAR Busch Series Grand National Division in 2000 for Precision Preparation Inc. Motorsports could not have been wearing a wider smile if it had been painted on.
The 33-year-old South Carolina native was at Atlanta Motor Speedway Thursday taking in the sights at pole qualifying for Saturday's Georgia Boot 400 ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series race. Lazzaro was on his way home from an appearance for PPI's NASCAR Winston Cup Series sponsor, Tide.
If not for a mishap a month ago, Lazzaro might have been a contender for the pole award on the fast 1.54-mile speedway.
Lazzaro's run for the 2000 NASCAR Busch Series Raybestos Rookie of the Year Award hit a speed bump when the 1999 Kool/Toyota Atlantic Series champion broke his neck at Talladega Superspeedway in a crash late in the Winn-Dixie 300 on Oct. 16. Lazzaro, who was racing in his first superspeedway stock-car race, was running in the top-5 when the multi-car accident broke out with less than 10 laps to go.
He finished 17th in Ohio car owner Stan Hover's Ford despite missing the final eight laps of the race. Lazzaro competed in the ARCA event to gain superspeedway stock car experience prior to his NASCAR Busch Series debut in the No. 97 McDonald's Ford at Daytona International Speedway next February.
A PPI Motorsports spokesperson on Thursday said Lazzaro's recovery from a compression fracture of his thoracic T3 vertebra was "right on target."
"Anthony is doing well and, needless to say, he was fired up about being there," said PPI spokesperson Amy Riley. "He just had his second visit with Dr. (Terry) Trammell and he said he was right on target to get back in a race car by mid-December."
Dr. Trammell, a noted Indianapolis orthopedic surgeon who specializes in motorsports injuries, indicated at the time of the injury that it would take approximately six weeks for Lazzaro's injury to heal properly and Riley confirmed that diagnosis was proving accurate.
"He was in a brace but not anymore," she said. "He has begun a light daily physical therapy regimen designed to get him back in shape to get back in the car."
Riley said both the NASCAR Winston Cup Series Tide Ford team with driver Scott Pruett and Lazzaro's NASCAR Busch Series program were unsure where they would test in December. She said they were concerned about the ability to transfer accrued knowledge from facilities the teams would not actually race at due to NASCAR's "blackout" of pre-season testing until next season.
She did say that while Lazzaro lives close to AMS, he would probably maintain a low profile this weekend and planned to possibly visit the track on Saturday.
"I talked to Anthony today and he said he needs to take it easy," Riley said. "He has commitments at the gym Thursday and Friday, so he is staying right on schedule. The important thing right now is that he is 100 percent when he gets back in the car."
nascar.com
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article BUSCH: Homestead Race Notes
Next article BUSCH: Matt Kenseth, Jason Shuler set 2000 schedule
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Anthony Lazzaro
Scuderia Corsa perseveres for podium at Sebring
IMSA
IMSA
Sebring
Scuderia Corsa perseveres for podium at Sebring
Ferrari takes lead of North American Endurance Cup at Daytona
IMSA
IMSA
Daytona 24
Ferrari takes lead of North American Endurance Cup at Daytona
Front row for Ferrari at Daytona
IMSA
IMSA
Daytona 24
Front row for Ferrari at Daytona
Latest news
NASCAR explains why they penalized Zane Smith after latest clash with Carson Hocevar
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Phoenix II
3 h
NASCAR explains why they penalized Zane Smith after latest clash with Carson Hocevar
Porsche boss Laudenbach says he is "not happy" with how things were handled by IMSA in 2026
IMSA
IMSA IMSA 4 h
Porsche boss Laudenbach says he is "not happy" with how things were handled by IMSA in 2026
Five things to watch out for at the F1 United States GP
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
4 h
Five things to watch out for at the F1 United States GP
KTM sees MotoGP 2027 as a fresh start: “We never had the chance to build a new bike”
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP 5 h
KTM sees MotoGP 2027 as a fresh start: “We never had the chance to build a new bike”
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe