Punch Added To Hall-Of-Fame Lineup

October 07, 2004

Officials with the Boys & Girls Club of Scott County announced this week that Dr. Jerry Punch will be a part of the Second Annual Scott County Hall of Fame induction ceremony, scheduled for October 18 at the National Guard Armory in Oneida.

Punch is a sports commentator for ESPN and is married to Joni Punch, whose parents reside in Scott County.

It had previously been announced by the club that Rusty Wallace would be a guest at this year's event. Wallace will be the event's guest speaker.

Dr. Punch began his professional career as an emergency room physician before his interest in sports headed him in a different direction. He began working with MRN Radio (Motor Racing Network) in 1979 and joined ESPN in 1984. Currently, Punch serves the sports network as a pit reporter for Nascar Nextel Cup events and as a sideline reporter for college football games. He also serves as ABC's broadcaster for the Indianapolis 500 each year.

Wallace, one of the most popular drivers on the Nascar Nextel Cup Circuit, and Punch are certainly no strangers to one another. In 1988, during a practice run at Bristol Motor Speedway, Wallace's car was involved in a serious crash that left his machine barrell-rolling down the back straightaway of the race track. Punch, who was covering the event for ESPN, was the first on the scene and revived Wallace, who was not breathing at the time.

Wallace went on to recover fully from his injuries and won the Nascar Winston Cup Championship the following season. Punch, meanwhile, was involved in a similar accident later that same year. During an ARCA race at Atlanta, driver Don Marmor was involved in an accident. Told Marmor was dead, Punch joined the rescue effort. Marmor was revived and survived the incident.

For ticket information, contact the Boys & Girls Club of Scott County at 286-9500.

news@ihoneida.com

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