{"id":2337,"date":"2012-03-10T19:00:15","date_gmt":"2012-03-11T00:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/inspiringathletes\/?p=2337"},"modified":"2012-03-12T11:17:16","modified_gmt":"2012-03-12T15:17:16","slug":"a-conversation-with-espns-nascar-broadcaster-dr-jerry-punch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/2012\/03\/a-conversation-with-espns-nascar-broadcaster-dr-jerry-punch.html","title":{"rendered":"A conversation with ESPN’s NASCAR broadcaster Dr. Jerry Punch"},"content":{"rendered":"

Click “Like” to share this with your friends!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jerry Punch doesn\u2019t just play a doctor on TV. He is one\u2014not one of those PhD types who earns the title by writing a thesis on an educational discipline of some sort. No, Punch is a bona fide doctor who spent years toiling in the intense environment of the emergency room while simultaneously pursuing a career in sports broadcasting. Punch is now closing in on 30 years with ESPN where he has mostly covered college football and NASCAR.<\/p>\n

In this sit-down interview with Punch, he talks about, among other things, how he wound up on two very different career paths, how stock car racing has evolved from a safety and medical perspective, how his faith has sustained him through difficult situations, and what he enjoys most about NASCAR:<\/p>\n

Chad Bonham: How did you end up being both an ER doctor and an ESPN broadcaster?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Dr. Jerry Punch addresses the media at the 2007 Daytona 500 (Photo courtesy of NASCARMedia.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dr. Jerry Punch: Growing up in the mountains of rural North Carolina, a lot of us from those small town areas had dreams that we were going to be a lawyer or a doctor or be a sportscaster and I sort of had all those\u2014the lawyer part no so much. That\u2019s where you have to have hope and faith. That\u2019s where it all started many years ago. You sit around and hope and pray that things work out. I was very blessed to have the opportunity to go to college and go to medical school. I grew up around race cars when I was a kid. I worked in race shops as a teenager, building race cars, building engines, working with some of the legendary drivers that ran years ago\u2014Tommy Houston, Harry Gant. I had an uncle\u2014actually, I called him my uncle\u2014named Bobby Isaac. We adopted him into our family. He wasn\u2019t really my uncle, but he was a NASCAR champion back in 1970. So I\u2019ve been around racing since I was a kid.<\/p>\n

When I went to medical school, I couldn\u2019t drive anymore on the short track. It was too risky that I\u2019d get hurt, but the local track promoter Ned Jarrett allowed me to come up there and work with him in the tower on Saturday nights and run the scoreboard and do stats. One night, Ned was gone and he didn\u2019t have an announcer. The announcer he had hired didn\u2019t show up. Ned was being inducted into the Hall of Fame at Darlington. His youngest son Dale comes running up the stairs to the tower yelling, \u201cWe\u2019ve got a packed house and nobody to announce!\u201d Dale was young and he was shy\u2014imagine that, as good as he is now on the air\u2014and he says, \u201cI\u2019m not announcing.\u201d So I picked up the microphone and did the show. Next thing you know, I\u2019m doing PA regularly and I\u2019m traveling with Ned some weekends to do radio broadcasts and Ned would get me on the radio. That\u2019s how it came about.<\/p>\n

So then I got out of medical school and became an ER doc. You\u2019ve got to have a strong faith to stand over a bed in a trauma situation or critical situation knowing that person may take their last breath in front of you. We\u2019ve had some situations at the racetrack where I\u2019ve been forced to be involved as a doctor to some of the drivers. I\u2019m very blessed that the outcomes so far have been very good.<\/p>\n

Bonham: I assume that Rusty Wallace is pretty happy that you\u2019re an ER doctor (read about that story HERE<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Punch: You don\u2019t think about what could have happened until later when you sit back and look at the details of what would have happened had we not been able to get an airway open for him. We feel very blessed. I always look back and tell Rusty that after that happened I had so many drivers like Dale Earnhardt who were friends with Rusty that said, \u201cYou saved Rusty\u2019s life. Why? Why would you do that?\u201d We\u2019d all laugh about it jokingly, just picking on Rusty. But we were fortunate that it happened that way.<\/p>\n

Bonham: From a medical perspective, how much safer is the sport and are you amazed that there weren\u2019t more deaths before many of these safety measures were added?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Dr. Jerry Punch interviews Dale Earnhardt Jr. at the 2010 Auto Club 500 (Photo courtesy of NASCARMedia.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Punch: You know the old saying, \u201cWhat you don\u2019t know won\u2019t hurt you.\u201d Back in those days, we didn\u2019t know how easy it was to get injured in these cars and what we could avoid. Of course, the speeds have crept up and the cars are different. But the whole sport has changed. This whole sport has evolved from the car itself to the safety parameters. The seat has been moved over. We have the head and shoulder supports now and the neck braces. We no longer have the lower extremity fractures and the pelvis and lower leg snapping because the support is there. We no longer have the serious rib injuries that we used to have. The Hans head-neck device keeps that area supported. We have the crush zone on the front of the car and the safer barriers. But aside from the physical parts of it, the drivers themselves are a different breed now. There\u2019s a focus on fitness\u2014staying fit, eating properly, getting rest. The sport has come a long way. Back in the day, the old saying was, \u201cThe tires are skinny, the drivers are fat.\u201d And now the tires are fat and the drivers are skinny. It\u2019s a different world here.<\/p>\n

Bonham: Tell me about your faith journey.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Roush-Fenway owner Jack Roush, speaks with Dr. Jerry Punch, during practice for the Sprint Cup 2008 Pepsi 500 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. (Photo by Jason Smith\/Getty Images for NASCAR)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Punch: I grew up in a Lutheran church. I\u2019ve been told that my great-great-great grandfather was a circuit-riding minister and he rode a horse or a mule across the hills of North Carolina and Tennessee. Back then you would preach every few weeks in a little country church. I was an altar boy growing up in the Lutheran church and when I got married to Joanie, she was Catholic, so went through a year-long program to understand the Catholic faith and I converted.<\/p>\n

My faith goes back to growing up in difficult times. God never gives you more than you can handle. There were nights in the emergency room when I\u2019m seeing terrible tragedies with families and children and things in mind that should never happen. I\u2019m feeling so helpless. I\u2019ve got to have someone that I can turn to in order to find peace. I\u2019ve got to be the strong one. I\u2019ve got to be strong for the nurses around me. I\u2019m in charge. I\u2019m the ER director. I\u2019m a chief-of-staff of this medical center. I sat atop a hospital once in Bunnell, Florida with our administrator and a National Guard pilot. There was fire burning around all four sides of our hospital. There were these big fires in Central Florida. There was fire within eight miles on one side and fire within 12 miles on another side. We\u2019re sitting there trying to make a decision whether to bring in the National Guard and evacuate all the patients or whether we stay there. You run a risk taking some of those people out of ICU. No one makes that decision but me. I\u2019m the chief of staff. I\u2019m making a decision that\u2019s going to impact a lot of lives. If you don\u2019t know how to turn to a higher power and you don\u2019t know how to find peace in prayer and ask for guidance, then, you really are lost.<\/p>\n

I remember one night in particular, I had done a Thursday night football game somewhere on the West Coast. I red eyed all night to get to Darlington on Friday and I hosted qualifying on ESPN. That night, I went to my hotel and I was exhausted. I hadn\u2019t been to sleep. I did notes on the plane all the way over. Now, I had to prepare to do what was then the Busch (Series) race the next day. I was sitting in my room with a cup of coffee and I\u2019m trying to stay away and it\u2019s like 9 o\u2019clock on Friday night. I called my wife and said, \u201cI don\u2019t know if I\u2019m going to make it. I\u2019m doing the best I can.\u201d And she said, \u201cLook, you just put what happens tomorrow in God\u2019s hands. Close your books. Close your notes. Put them away and go to bed. Just have faith that what needs to happen will happen.\u201d There was an incredible peace in that.<\/p>\n

Bonham: What are your thoughts on NASCAR\u2019s commitment to on-site ministry and public prayer before the race?<\/p>\n

Punch: I think it\u2019s wonderful. It\u2019s absolutely wonderful. It wasn\u2019t many years ago that many networks would go to commercial and not show the prayer and not play the anthem. But there is no more patriotic sport in terms of showing the loyalty and patriotism for this country than NASCAR. And this sport is very open about showing faith. The risks here are considerably higher. If you hang a curve ball up high, it\u2019s going to cost you a dot or two on your ERA. But in this sport, if you make a mistake up high, it can cost a lot. So NASCAR openly allows shows of faith, family and future.<\/p>\n

Bonham: And what are your thoughts on how the drivers often receive prayer from a chaplain right before they go out on the track?<\/p>\n

Punch: The (Motor Racing Outreach) people go car to car. It\u2019s done very subtly on Sunday morning. The MRO ministers will be out on the grid and they\u2019ll go car to car and they\u2019ll bow with a short little brief prayer by the window. Dale Earnhardt and Teresa were always there. Darrell Waltrip and Stevie always received prayer. There are groups here today that want a quick, \u201cLord thank you for this day and bless us and let us come home safely.\u201d So I think this sport is not afraid to step up and say, \u201cWe are proud of who we are.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Click “Like” to share this with your friends! Jerry Punch doesn\u2019t just play a doctor on TV. He is one\u2014not one of those PhD types who earns the title by writing a thesis on an educational discipline of some sort. No, Punch is a bona fide doctor who spent years toiling in the intense environment…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":418,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[382,388,5],"tags":[970,201,966,972,23,729,139,973,198,401,10,971,968,974,207,969],"class_list":["post-2337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-qa","category-racing","category-sports-features","tag-bobby-isaac","tag-dale-earnhardt","tag-dale-jarrett","tag-darlington","tag-darrell-waltrip","tag-dr-jerry-punch","tag-espn","tag-harry-gant","tag-motor-racing-outreach","tag-mro","tag-nascar","tag-ned-jarrett","tag-rusty-wallace","tag-stevie-waltrip","tag-teresa-earnhardt","tag-tommy-houston"],"yoast_head":"\nA conversation with ESPN's NASCAR broadcaster Dr. Jerry Punch - Inspiring Athletes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/2012\/03\/a-conversation-with-espns-nascar-broadcaster-dr-jerry-punch.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A conversation with ESPN's NASCAR broadcaster Dr. Jerry Punch - Inspiring Athletes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Click “Like” to share this with your friends! Jerry Punch doesn\u2019t just play a doctor on TV. He is one\u2014not one of those PhD types who earns the title by writing a thesis on an educational discipline of some sort. No, Punch is a bona fide doctor who spent years toiling in the intense environment…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/2012\/03\/a-conversation-with-espns-nascar-broadcaster-dr-jerry-punch.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Inspiring Athletes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-03-11T00:00:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-03-12T15:17:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/inspiringathletes\/files\/2012\/03\/Jerry-Punch-Daytona-February-2007-200x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Chad Bonham\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A conversation with ESPN's NASCAR broadcaster Dr. Jerry Punch - Inspiring Athletes","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/2012\/03\/a-conversation-with-espns-nascar-broadcaster-dr-jerry-punch.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A conversation with ESPN's NASCAR broadcaster Dr. Jerry Punch - Inspiring Athletes","og_description":"Click “Like” to share this with your friends! Jerry Punch doesn\u2019t just play a doctor on TV. He is one\u2014not one of those PhD types who earns the title by writing a thesis on an educational discipline of some sort. No, Punch is a bona fide doctor who spent years toiling in the intense environment…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/2012\/03\/a-conversation-with-espns-nascar-broadcaster-dr-jerry-punch.html","og_site_name":"Inspiring Athletes","article_published_time":"2012-03-11T00:00:15+00:00","article_modified_time":"2012-03-12T15:17:16+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/inspiringathletes\/files\/2012\/03\/Jerry-Punch-Daytona-February-2007-200x300.jpg"}],"author":"Chad Bonham","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/2012\/03\/a-conversation-with-espns-nascar-broadcaster-dr-jerry-punch.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/2012\/03\/a-conversation-with-espns-nascar-broadcaster-dr-jerry-punch.html","name":"A conversation with ESPN's NASCAR broadcaster Dr. Jerry Punch - Inspiring Athletes","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/2012\/03\/a-conversation-with-espns-nascar-broadcaster-dr-jerry-punch.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/2012\/03\/a-conversation-with-espns-nascar-broadcaster-dr-jerry-punch.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/inspiringathletes\/files\/2012\/03\/Jerry-Punch-Daytona-February-2007-200x300.jpg","datePublished":"2012-03-11T00:00:15+00:00","dateModified":"2012-03-12T15:17:16+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/#\/schema\/person\/95c3e9443bb9bfa81645d8daef1193c1"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/2012\/03\/a-conversation-with-espns-nascar-broadcaster-dr-jerry-punch.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/2012\/03\/a-conversation-with-espns-nascar-broadcaster-dr-jerry-punch.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/2012\/03\/a-conversation-with-espns-nascar-broadcaster-dr-jerry-punch.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/inspiringathletes\/files\/2012\/03\/Jerry-Punch-Daytona-February-2007-200x300.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/inspiringathletes\/files\/2012\/03\/Jerry-Punch-Daytona-February-2007-200x300.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/2012\/03\/a-conversation-with-espns-nascar-broadcaster-dr-jerry-punch.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A conversation with ESPN’s NASCAR broadcaster Dr. Jerry Punch"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/","name":"Inspiring Athletes","description":"Beliefnet Voices - Chad Bonham","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/#\/schema\/person\/95c3e9443bb9bfa81645d8daef1193c1","name":"Chad Bonham","description":"Chad has been working in mass media for over 20 years. Chad\u2019s professional journey began at the University of Tulsa where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (1993) while working extensively in athletic media relations and serving as a sports editor for The Collegian. Since then, he has written extensively for such publications as Relevant, CCM, Christian Retailing, New Man, Charisma, Today\u2019s Christian, Ministries Today, Breakaway, Brio, Sports Spectrum, Christian Single, Faith & Friends, Sharing the Victory and Gospel Today. He has authored, co-authored or ghost written and edited 13 books including Life in the Fairway (New Leaf Press), Glory of the Games (Cross Training), Wrestling with God (River Oak), Spiritual Journeys (Relevant) and the four-part Fellowship of Christian Athletes Core Value Series; Excellence, Teamwork, Serving and Integrity (Regal Books). Chad is currently working on five new books including Sooner Legacy, Husker Legacy and Lessons From Sooner Football (Cross Training) as well as The Faith of Stock Car Racing (Judson Press). When he's not writing, Chad lends his efforts to various independent television and film projects. He was the coordinating producer for Choosing Life (2010) and Life Happens (2011). Chad is currently serving as producer on a forthcoming documentary about Super Bowl champion Brian Kinchen. Chad and his wife Amy live in Broken Arrow, Okla., with sons Lance (September 2003), Cole (February 2008) and Quinn (February 2011).","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/author\/cbonham"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2337","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/418"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2337"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2337\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2362,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2337\/revisions\/2362"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}