25 replies to this topic

[racinggeek]

In his report on Charlie Kimball's IndyCar win at Mid-Ohio on Speed TV's "Speed Center" Sunday night, Robin Miller just casually dropped at the end that 1960s USAC Sprint Car/Championship Car star Don Branson was a Type 1 diabetic, who, of course, kept it secret because USAC had a blanket ban on diabetics racing in its series. Anyone else ever know about this before? I'd never heard it (not that I'm any kind of insider, admittedly, but I'd like to think I know a bit of racing history), and the Great and Powerful Google has nothing on it, either. Did this come out after Branson's death (1966, sprint car crash with Dick Atkins, who also perished), or was it underground knowledge to a privileged few beforehand? Mr. Ferner, Mr. Thurman, any comments?

Thanks for the input.

[wildman]

I think it probably falls into the category of "underground knowledge," but if Miller said it, I wouldn't bet against it being true. I did find at least one previous mention of Branson's condition online, at the 2010 press conference announcing Ganassi's signing of Kimball: http://www.asapsport...ce.php?id=68055

[kayemod]

In his report on Charlie Kimball's IndyCar win at Mid-Ohio on Speed TV's "Speed Center" Sunday night, Robin Miller just casually dropped at the end that 1960s USAC Sprint Car/Championship Car star Don Branson was a Type 1 diabetic.

You may well be right, but if that's true, I'd have thought he'd have found it hard to hide the fact, Type 1 means injecting with insulin several times each day. In the UK, Type 1 diabetics have to inform DVLA (the licensing authorities), but the less serious Type 2 don't, at least not until they too start injecting, which sometimes happens as the problem progresses. Type 1s are liable to what's called 'hypos' when blood sugar levels fall, though with well controlled sufferers, that shouldn't be a problem. A hypo, being hypoglycaemic, means that sufferers feel cold and sweaty and their concentration suffers, in extreme cases they can suffer blackouts, but if Don Branson was affected in this way, I'd have thought he'd have found it a difficult thing to hide from everyone hwo might be concerned. Type 1 diabetics often contract the disease in childhood, so if Don was one of them, he must have hidden the fact for a very long time.

[Vitesse2]

There's a thread developing over at TrackForum on this, which gives a little more detail. Apparently Conor Daly is also type 1: http://www.trackforu...hlight=diabetic

[Sharman]

You may well be right, but if that's true, I'd have thought he'd have found it hard to hide the fact, Type 1 means injecting with insulin several times each day. In the UK, Type 1 diabetics have to inform DVLA (the licensing authorities), but the less serious Type 2 don't, at least not until they too start injecting, which sometimes happens as the problem progresses. Type 1s are liable to what's called 'hypos' when blood sugar levels fall, though with well controlled sufferers, that shouldn't be a problem. A hypo, being hypoglycaemic, means that sufferers feel cold and sweaty and their concentration suffers, in extreme cases they can suffer blackouts, but if Don Branson was affected in this way, I'd have thought he'd have found it a difficult thing to hide from everyone hwo might be concerned. Type 1 diabetics often contract the disease in childhood, so if Don was one of them, he must have hidden the fact for a very long time.

Rob
Type 2 diabetics can also go hypo, I just take my pills as prescribed but I just checked my level and have had bread & jam and a glass of milk as I knew that without the food I would go hypo at about 0200hrs. Happily it wakes me up but I have known Type 1 diabetics die because their hypo condition is sudden & total.

[racinggeek]

You may well be right, but if that's true, I'd have thought he'd have found it hard to hide the fact, Type 1 means injecting with insulin several times each day. In the UK, Type 1 diabetics have to inform DVLA (the licensing authorities), but the less serious Type 2 don't, at least not until they too start injecting, which sometimes happens as the problem progresses. Type 1s are liable to what's called 'hypos' when blood sugar levels fall, though with well controlled sufferers, that shouldn't be a problem. A hypo, being hypoglycaemic, means that sufferers feel cold and sweaty and their concentration suffers, in extreme cases they can suffer blackouts, but if Don Branson was affected in this way, I'd have thought he'd have found it a difficult thing to hide from everyone hwo might be concerned. Type 1 diabetics often contract the disease in childhood, so if Don was one of them, he must have hidden the fact for a very long time.

Well, I'm one, too. Yes, keeping blood sugars relatively under control, without big high/low swings, is the big issue, and while the highs cause the complications, the lows are a problem because of the loss of self-control (often similar to drunkenness) and potential for blacking out. And exercise brings down sugar levels; the more vigorous, the faster.

That said, Branson might have been able to handle it to a certain extent because he was largely a sprint car racer, with races often going 30-50 laps on half-mile tracks. Those presumably were an awful lot of work and exercise for him, but the shorter duration also meant that if his sugars were at a high-enough level before he started, he likely wouldn't go too low in the race. Muscling one of those roadsters around The Brickyard for 500 miles/four hours would be a whole 'nuther thing, though; I'd think Branson would've taken in a whole lot of carbohydrates on his pit stops during the 500. I'm speculating, of course, but I'm also looking at it through my experience. I also recall a TV piece on Kimball where he indicated he aims to keep his sugars around 250 during a race, which would be rather high in "normal" circumstances.

Also not sure what the level of treatment was back in those days. Today, for those who aren't yet on an insulin pump, four or five injections a day is pretty common, but when I was diagnosed (1976), I was on two shots a day and remained so for a good 15+ years.

I'm just very surprised to hear something that I'm not sure was common knowledge about a racer who's well-known, even legendary, to US racing history buffs. I certainly don't doubt Robin Miller.

[kayemod]

Rob
Type 2 diabetics can also go hypo...

Yes, you're absolutely right of course, I over-simplified things, but I don't think a well controlled non-injecting diabetic should have too much of a problem, though Type 1s which I'm guessing Don Branson was, are a different matter. Do we know if any current F1 racers are diabetic? Statistically, I'd have thought that was a distinct possibility.

[Michael Ferner]

All I "know" is that Branson was rumoured to use "mama's little helpers"... He certainly was a rather peculiar driver: extremely fast over a single lap, his qualifying prowess was legendary, but he tended to tire and drop off the pace in the longer races, meaning the 100-milers, although he did eventually overcome that problem (pills?) and even did well in the '500'. However, I've seen pictures of him after winning his first '100' at Langhorne, and to say that he looked knackered would be a mild understatement... he was barely alive!

Edited by Michael Ferner, 05 August 2013 - 22:28.

[kayemod]

...I've seen pictures of him after winning his first '100' at Langhorne, and to say that he looked knackered would be a mild understatement... he was barely alive!

You could say the same about Nigel Mansell, he had many problems, but I don't think diabetes was one of them. I remember Denny Hulme's comment after seeing him collapsed on the ground after the Monaco race when drama queen Mansell made such a fuss about Senna not moving over to wave him past. Nigel was just play acting of course, but Denny's comment was, "Has the man no self respect?" I wouldn't have expected Don Branson to do anything like that of course, he'd have done his best to hide any problem, especially if he was trying to hide health concerns from USAC and others.

Edited by kayemod, 07 August 2013 - 05:55.

[racinggeek]

Robin Miller adds a little bit of a follow-up online: http://auto-racing.s...ons-footsteps/.

[kayemod]

Robin Miller adds a little bit of a follow-up online: http://auto-racing.s...ons-footsteps/.

Interesting article, clearly no doubt that Don Branson was diabetic, and probably Type 1 at that, but to me the most surprising thing in the piece is that he managed to hide the fact from Mario Andretti, a man he'd have raced against most weekends, you'd have thought that Mario of all men would have had a better understanding of Don's strengths and weaknesses. The Charlie Kimball angle doesn't surprise me too much though, Steve Redgrave is a Type 1 diabetic, and he's overcome his condition to win five consecutive gold medals in Olympic rowing events, so it doesn't seem to have slowed him down at all, that shows how much understanding and treatment of diabetes has improved over the years since Don was racing.

[Marticelli]

...Steve Redgrave is a Type 1 diabetic, and he's overcome his condition to win five consecutive gold medals in Olympic rowing events, so it doesn't seem to have slowed him down at all....

Er well actually Steve Redgrave wasn't a diabetic when he won the first four golds, and he became Type 1 when training for the Sydney Olympics where he won his fifth, and he retired soon afterwards as no doubt he found the rigours of training rather harder to cope with as a diabetic than as a normally healthy guy.

I had to give up racing vintage bikes when I was diagnosed Type 1 at the age of 24, as medicals had only recently been introduced as a requirement for race licences in the UK (that was in 1975, long after Branson raced). I spent two years seconded to the Australian government in 1993 and 1994 and returned to vintage bike racing on a borrowed methanol-burning Rudge as the Australian rules didn't preclude diabetics from racing provided they were otherwise healthy. More recently I managed to get a National B UK race licence to race the Targa Florio SCAT in VSCC speed events, as the RACMSA are surprisingly supportive of those with such conditions being allowed to race, which I found very encouraging.

Final point is that its only recently that Type 1 diabetics have used multiple injections to control blood sugar. In the 60s and 70s, we existed typically on two or three injections per day, not before every meal, so it would have been easier to conceal, unless one had a bad hypo which would have taken a lot of explaining!! There were no digital blood sugar test meters then either, only urine sugar testing occasionally.

Marticelli

[Collombin]

Was Howdy Wilcox the sequel kicked out of the 1933 500 because he was a diabetic or because they thought he was an epileptic?

[kayemod]

Er well actually Steve Redgrave wasn't a diabetic when he won the first four golds, and he became Type 1 when training for the Sydney Olympics where he won his fifth, and he retired soon afterwards as no doubt he found the rigours of training rather harder to cope with as a diabetic than as a normally healthy guy.

Not entirely true, he was diagnosed with diabetes while training for the Sidney games, but you don't develop the disease overnight. He had other, probably related health problems before that, ulcerative colitis to name but one. From what I've read, I think your description of diabetes control in Don Branson's time is absolutely correct, it would have been a big problem for him, and surely a lot of people must have known and said or done nothing about it. He was such a big box office draw, USAC probably weren't looking for any excuse to ban him.

[Marticelli]

Not entirely true, he was diagnosed with diabetes while training for the Sidney games, but you don't develop the disease overnight.

We are into semantics now. However according to Diabetes UK's website, Sir Steve Redgrave (Diabetes UK's Hon Vice President) is actually a Type 2 diabetic, although I was sure he had been diagnosed Type 1 - he's certainly on insulin.

Whatever type of diabetes he has, I very much doubt if Steve was undiagnosed for much time as his metabolism was being micro-managed in the course of his training, and bear in mind the Olympics are held every four years so the chances of him being even mildly diabetic on any of the four previous games are absolute zero I am afraid. To his credit however, he accepted the offer of being involved with Diabetes UK so his high profile could help other sufferers, like Sir Harry Secombe had before him.

Marticelli

[Jim Thurman]

Was Howdy Wilcox the sequel kicked out of the 1933 500 because he was a diabetic or because they thought he was an epileptic?

Diabetic.

I'm late here, but all I'd heard/know is pretty much summed up that Branson was diabetic. I don't know any more details other than the rumors/speculation.

[Collombin]

Diabetic.

That's what I thought until I read something from a respected historian claiming that the doctor who examined Wilcox mistakenly thought he was prone to epileptic fits, and banned him for that reason.

[Michael Ferner]

The way I understand it, Wilcox was apparently a diabetic, perhaps even without knowing it. The problem, however, only arose when he was partaking in a little "after-work" party at the (then) famous Tom's Diner, located between the track and Gasoline Alley. Remember, 1933 was the year of the repeal of the Volstead act, and there was light beer on sale at the Speedway for the first time since before the war. Wilcox was a young man, and it is very conceivable that he had never have drunk alcoholic beverages before... in any event, he collapsed, and someone called the track physician, who declared him "unfit to drive". Whether there was further diagnosis connected to this statement I don't know, and there's reason to doubt it; in any case it's immaterial - the doctor saw a potential hazard in his condition, and he reacted accordingly.

I don't know of any AAA or USAC rulings against diabetics taking part in racing. I fear it's another myth!

[Collombin]

Thanks Michael and Jim.

[Lemnpiper]

The way I understand it, Wilcox was apparently a diabetic, perhaps even without knowing it. The problem, however, only arose when he was partaking in a little "after-work" party at the (then) famous Tom's Diner, located between the track and Gasoline Alley. Remember, 1933 was the year of the repeal of the Volstead act, and there was light beer on sale at the Speedway for the first time since before the war. Wilcox was a young man, and it is very conceivable that he had never have drunk alcoholic beverages before... in any event, he collapsed, and someone called the track physician, who declared him "unfit to drive". Whether there was further diagnosis connected to this statement I don't know, and there's reason to doubt it; in any case it's immaterial - the doctor saw a potential hazard in his condition, and he reacted accordingly.

I don't know of any AAA or USAC rulings against diabetics taking part in racing. I fear it's another myth!

Michael the 21th amendment which repealed the Volstead act (18th amendment) wasnt ratified by the 36th state (utah) until Dec 5 1933,so the Volstead act was still law when the 1933 Indy 500 was run. That's not to say some illegal booze wasnt available in indy that week , but i would tend to think Wilcox was not the only one who would have run afoul of bad liquor if it was there.

[Michael Ferner]

Not "illegal booze", but "3.2 Beer" (as it was called back then), officially sold at the Speedway's sole (?) concessionaire!

[Dcmkt4]

Not "illegal booze", but "3.2 Beer" (as it was called back then), officially sold at the Speedway's sole (?) concessionaire!

[Dcmkt4]

Hi guys I stumbled upon this yesterday while doing some research on my grandfather Don Branson. I too saw Robins story in my grandfather having diabetes. I have been researching this since this story came forward. I have spoke with my parents and many others that were very close to my grandpa. No one in my family knew of the diabetes condition. I will almost be impossible for us to actually find out if gramps had diabetes. I have been bombarded with emails asking if I thought the diabetes contributed to his fatal accident in 1966 at ascot park that also took the life if Dick Atkins. This is completely not true he was hit just below the right eye with a rock or some other piece of debris that knocked him unconscious causing him to go into turn one wall.

[racinggeek]

I don't know of any AAA or USAC rulings against diabetics taking part in racing. I fear it's another myth!

 

Michael, I definitely remember reading a story back in the 1980s in Open Wheel magazine profiling a young sprint car driver -- I wanna say Brad Marvel? -- who wanted to race nonwinged sprints but couldn't go to USAC because it wouldn't allow diabetics.

[racinggeek]

Ask Google and ye shall receive -- By Mike O'Leary from the Nat'l. Speed Sport News archives, http://www.nationals...rvel-s-miracle/.

 

The pertinent quote from the story: "Ask what the highlights of (Marvel's) career were and he may recall racing at Ascot Park with the California Racing Ass’n. He might explain his long battle with USAC to allow him to race." The above-mentioned Open Wheel story noted he was racing CRA because he couldn't race USAC.

[B Squared]

Hi guys I stumbled upon this yesterday while doing some research on my grandfather Don Branson. I too saw Robins story in my grandfather having diabetes. I have been researching this since this story came forward. I have spoke with my parents and many others that were very close to my grandpa. No one in my family knew of the diabetes condition. I will almost be impossible for us to actually find out if gramps had diabetes. I have been bombarded with emails asking if I thought the diabetes contributed to his fatal accident in 1966 at ascot park that also took the life if Dick Atkins. This is completely not true he was hit just below the right eye with a rock or some other piece of debris that knocked him unconscious causing him to go into turn one wall.

Welcome to TNF. The following photo of your grandfather was taken at Phoenix in November 1962. The race was the Bobby Ball Memorial, Don Branson qualified 13th and finished 8th in the Leader Card Watson-Offy with Jud Phillips as the chief mechanic. Good luck with your research.

 

John Isom photo, used with permission