AMA Hall of Famer and two-time AMA Grand National Champion Gary Nixon suffered a heart attack Friday, July 29 and is currently in the intensive care unit (ICU) of St. Joseph Medical Center in Baltimore, Maryland awaiting heart bypass surgery. “He got back from [the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix at] Laguna Seca and he had a breathing problem, a chest pain problem and went into the hospital,” Mike Sponseller, a friend of Nixon’s for nearly 40 years, told Roadracingworld.com Wednesday, after speaking to Nixon’s wife Mary during a visit to the hospital Tuesday, August 2. “While he was in there he had a heart attack. Apparently his heart quit, and they had to restart it. “Friday night he had the heart attack, and Saturday morning they put two stents in his arteries. One [artery] was 100% blocked and one was 80% blocked. But his blood pressure is so low they cannot take him in [to surgery] for a bypass. They’re trying to get his blood pressure up.” Roadracingworld.com was unable to reach Nixon directly Wednesday morning.