Dr. Punch to the Rescue

With the return of ESPN to NASCAR this season, Dr. Jerry Punch returns to the broadcast booth. The "Dr." is not an honorary title - he's an actual medical doctor who also loves racing and broadcasting, and has used his medical skills a time or two:

Just because Dr. Jerry Punch decided to swap his stethoscope for a microphone doesn't mean the medical degree he earned at Wake Forest hasn't been useful over the years.

Twice while working races as an ESPN announcer Punch has been called on to aid seriously-injured drivers.

At Bristol he revived Rusty Wallace, who had stopped breathing, and once after an ARCA crash he administered lifesaving first aid to injured racer Don Marnor.

"I remember Dale Earnhardt coming over and asking if I was the guy who revived Rusty Wallace," Punch said during Nashville Superspeedway's media luncheon on Tuesday. "I said I was, and Earnhardt growled, 'Why?' "

Even the rubber chicken circuit can call on the doctor's skills:

And ESPN's Dr. Jerry Punch was addressing a Nashville Superspeedway media luncheon Tuesday at The Palm restaurant downtown when he was interrupted by a loud crash from the back of the room. Someone yelled "Is there a doctor in the house?"

Amid the laugher came a more serious shout: "We're not kidding! We need a doctor back here!"

Punch immediately rushed from the podium to the back of the room where Jenny Gill [Vince Gill's daughter], a Nashville Superspeedway intern, had fainted. Punch helped to revive the Middle Tennessee State graduate student. She was taken to a local care center for observation and soon recovered, according to Sean Dozier, the superspeedway's public relations director. Punch returned to the podium and resumed his speech.

Punch was the high point of the ESPN broadcast team (the others need some work).