Funny Car owner-drivers Dale Creasy and Dave Richards were shaken but uninjured Friday after they collided during the opening qualifying session of the Texas FallNationals at Texas Motorplex in Ennis, Tex.
Something evidently broke in Creasy’s Tek Pak Dodge Charger at about half-track on the 1,000-foot Ennis, Texas, course. He already was off the throttle when his car shot to the right across the center line in front of Richards’s Versatran Ford. The left front of Richards’ car struck the right rear of Creasy’s, sending them both across the track into the left wall.
Both drivers exited their cars on their own power and were checked out by trackside medical personnel.
Richards, clearly unnerved by the incident, said immediately afterward, “I’m all right. I’m just a little shook up. I’ve got a few bruises. That was a scary deal.”
CLICK HERE TO SEE OFFICIAL NHRA VIDEO OF THE INCIDENT
Later he told Competition Plus, “We’re a hundred percent done. The car’s destroyed. We don’t have a back-up car. And honestly, the way I’m feeling now, as sore as I am, I don’t know if I’d want to get in the car and feel comfortable just now. Like I said, when you first get out, I felt a 100-percent fine, but I can feel [it]—I know I’m going to be a hurting dog tomorrow. I’m getting sore by the minute.”
He said he was going to consult further with the on-site doctor.
Creasy, too, was rattled by the fact his ill-handling car caused the crash.
He told Competition Plus, “”It was going along and drifting the right. Then, all of a sudden, it was gone. Then it was banging and clanging. It was all my fault. I went across the center line. Maybe it’s time to retire.”
“I cannot say if something broke, but regardless, I always feel that I am in control of my car,” Creasy said. “If it does something like that, I feel like I didn’t do my job. It’s sad because we don’t have any money. All of our stuff is broken. Right now, all I can do is cry. Maybe it’s something I couldn’t have controlled. Right now, I am blaming me.
“I cannot say if something broke, but regardless, I always feel that I am in control of my car. If it does something like that, I feel like I didn’t do my job,” Creasy said. “It’s sad, because we don’t have any money. All of our stuff is broken. Right now, all I can do is cry. Maybe it’s something I couldn’t have controlled. Right now, I am blaming me.”
Richards said he “always feared that could happen. I always feared as I drive myself, I’m always fearful of getting into somebody’s lane. That’s the scariest thing I could ever imagine happening. I could see him blowing up and catching on fire, and that’s the stuff that doesn’t scare me. It’s when something like this happens, and I’m glad I’m okay. I hope Dale’s okay.
“All I remember really was just all of a sudden the car’s going down the track and boom—he’s right in front of me. And after that, it’s kind of a blur. I remember bouncing off the one wall and heading towards the other wall and getting on the brake. I had nothing, and I had no steering. And that’s when I was just along for the ride.”
Qualifying will continue Saturday. Eliminations are set for Sunday.
Contributing Editor
Susan Wade has lived in the Seattle area for 40 years, but motorsports is in the Indianapolis native’s DNA. She has emerged as one of the leading drag-racing writers with nearly 30 seasons at the racetrack, focusing on the human-interest angle. She was the first non-NASCAR recipient of the prestigious Russ Catlin Award and has covered the sport for the Chicago Tribune, Newark Star-Ledger, and Seattle Times. She has contributed to Autoweek as a freelance writer since 2016.