Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Woody Deatherage broke his back when he hit an unpadded concrete wall during an AMA Superbike race at Road Atlanta Sunday.

Deatherage didn’t discover the full extent of his injuries until he returned home to Cleveland, Ohio.

Deatherage crashed his Suzuki GSX-R1000 at the bottom of the esses section, in the turn four area, and hit an unprotected wall.

Returning a phone call to Roadracingworld.com from a hospital bed, Deatherage said “I hit a sealer strip just past the apex of turn four and lost the front. I tried to save it until I realized I was headed straight toward an unprotected barrier so I laid the bike down. The bike hit the barrier before I did and ricocheted back and landed on me. I then went into the barrier head first.

“There are three, three-inch cracks in the top of my Arai helmet,” continued Deatherage. “I know I hit the barrier because that’s what cracked my helmet. I was really surprised that there were no haybales to be seen. It’s totally ridiculous.”

Deatherage said he was worried about going to a local hospital and decided to wait until he was home to seek medical attention. Deatherage lay in his motorhome as his mechanic drove, and when the pair reached Cleveland, Deatherage went to the Cleveland Clinic where he was diagnosed with three fractured vertebrae. He is currently being fitted with a full-body cast and it remains to be seen if surgery will be required.

“I think my career is about over,” Deatherage said. “I’m not sure, but the bike’s destroyed, I’m not getting any younger, and three months in the body-cast, (it’s) not a good situation.”

Deatherage has been a consistent top-15 finisher in the AMA Superbike series for years and was 11th in 2002 points.

Steve Rapp crashed on Friday in the same area as Deatherage did, and while the impact with the bare wall destroyed Rapp’s Suzuki, Rapp himself bailed out early and did not reach the wall. Haybales and/or soft barriers were not deployed in the area after Rapp’s bike hit the wall.

Crashes into the wall where Deatherage and Rapp’s bike hit were not a common problem until a chicane was installed to keep riders farther away from the wall between turn two and the esses.

The new chicane changes the approach to the turn four area, raising speeds, and makes it easier for out-of-control motorcycles to hit the wall on the rider’s right after a front-end slide.

At post time, AMA Pro Road Racing Manager Ron Barrick had not returned a phone call seeking official comment.

Cards may be sent to Deatherage at 811 Sable Rd., Cleveland, OH 44119. His e-mail address is [email protected].