FACELESS, NAMELESS HEROES SAFETY SAFARI IS RACE DRIVER'S BEST FRIEND IN A CAR CRASH.

Byline: Louis Brewster Staff Writer

POMONA - Randy Robbins understands that some competitors in the NHRA Powerade Drag Racing Series don't know his name, but recognize his face.

Certainly many of those who attend the Winternationals this weekend at Pomona Raceway also won't know him. But the chances are they'll probably see Robbins and his crew in action.

Robbins is part of the NHRA's Safety Safari, the sport's emergency-response team that has developed a national reputation for its work. The responsibilities of the eight full-time crew members range from rescuing drivers from burning cars to preparing the quarter-mile strip.

Track safety has become a hot issue in NASCAR. Stock car drivers have asked why the sanctioning body does not have a traveling safety crew modeled after the Safety Safari. NASCAR president Mike Helton addressed the issue before the season-opening Daytona 500.

``Our model has been, and is today, the best we feel; we have raised the standards and level of training,'' Helton said. ``We have more people whose expertise is coming from the trauma, paramedic or EMT world, not to participate in the those functions, but to police the standards of the safety crews used at each track.

``We think that works for us, and works well,'' Helton said. ``There is a lot to say for a familiar face for a driver to look up at, but I think there is more to say for a driver to be attended to by the best qualified person that they can have there.''

Throughout the years, NHRA drivers have become accustomed to faces that belong to men they know best by nickname: Double-R (Robbins) and Lefty (Jere Grice). Robbins and Grice have been among the first responders to spectacular accidents involving Top Fuel dragster drivers Brandon Bersntein, Gary Scelzi and John Smith, Larry Dixon and Tony Schumacher.

The Safety Safari also has been at the site of Pro Stock rollovers by Jason Line, Taylor Laster, Greg Anderson and Ron Krishner.

Bernstein has vivid memories of the Safety Safari following a tumbling crash in Englishtown, N.J., that fractured his back and knocked him out for the season.

``They were there so quick, I would say no more than five seconds, that they scared me,'' said Bernstein. ``I can't say enough about the Safety Safari. They were right there after the car stopped, I didn't expect it.

``It was tremendous, they asked me all the right questions,'' Bernstein said. ``They could have easily paralyzed me, but they did everything by the book.''

Scelzi has endured three major crashes in Top Fuel and ``a couple of pretty good fires'' in his Funny Car.

``They are the best in motor sports,'' Scelzi said. ``They'll risk their lives for us every minute. They're not watching until after everything settles down, they're on it right away.

Louis Brewster, [phone]

l-brewster(at)dailybulletin.com