The family of injured Top Fuel crewchief/driver Dom Lagana offered an update on Thursday evening, October 1, through social media.

“With the 2-month mark approaching, we’d like to provide another update to everyone on Dom. After the many surgeries and procedures, we are happy to report that Dom will soon be transferred to a step-down hospital here in Indianapolis. He has a very long road ahead of him, but we are finally over the first hurdle.

“Dom has made tremendous progress with his head injury. He is slowly getting weaned off his medication but he is awake and more himself every day. His burn injuries will take a while to completely heal but they are on a good path as well. The battle with pneumonia is still ongoing but has improved a lot over the last few weeks. Dom is finally off the ventilator and breathing great on his own.

"This next hospital will allow more time to heal and build back up Dom’s strength before he is ready for a tough rehabilitation facility.

"Although very hard on our family, the love & support we have received over these last couple months has helped us more than you know. Dom’s room is filled with pictures, cards & thoughtful gifts from not just friends & family but also many fans who have never even met us and still care so much. We appreciate you. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

"We are taking it day by day and continuing to trust in God and the wonderful doctors, nurses & staff.

"Please keep Dom in your prayers as he continues to fight.

 

8-14-2020

Bobby Lagana and family issued a statement through their Lagana Racing social media on Friday. 

"We have two words we would really like to say to everyone who will be reading this letter. It might take us a little to get there, but understand our hearts are pure but also our hearts are broken. We all understand how precious life is. We all have our family and we all have our friends.

"In our world of racing, our family and friends are one in the same. We live together while at the same time we compete with each other. We win together, we lose together but most important we help each other. Time and time again we have small and large tragic moments, some are on the track and some are off, some are at home and some are private.

"The synonymous part of all of these tragedies is how our racing world responds to them. Support from our racing family has been like no other support system in the world. We use the strongest of bolts and fasteners of all kinds to keep our race cars together. What’s stronger then any of that is our support for each other when we are hurting.

"It’s really hard to express in words the gratitude for all of the support shown for Dom. Dom is a perfect 10 when it comes to love, honor, being positive and most important his kindness to everyone. Dom is in the battle of his life right now and so many people have stepped up to help him. Each day there are improvements and each day there are new challenges. This will be the norm for awhile for Dom.

"We are here to support Dom and you all have proven that you want to be there to support him as well. We will do our best to keep our family and friends up to date on Doms continually changing condition. Right now he is in the right direction with the guidance of his doctors, nurses and the good Lord above. We have faith and we will rely on our faith to get through this whole situation.

"What we really want to say and we want to say it as loud and bold as possible is: THANK YOU. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. We love you all and we love Dom so much. Keep praying. THANK YOU. - Bobby, Sara, Marie & Laura

8-13-2020

While there have been no official updates regarding the medical condition of Lagana, Crampton and Sanders, Dom's older brother Bobby released a statement on behalf of his family.

“We would all like to take a moment to say thank you to all of Dom’s amazing supporters," Bobby said. "Growing up in a drag racing family has always showed us there is no stronger bond than family and friends who share this love for our sport. That sentiment has been proven time and time again, we are now seeing this bond with all of your support for Dom. Dom is an amazing, giving, selfless person. We all have faith he will make it through this and will continue to show the world how amazing of a person he is. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. Love you all and God Bless.”

A social media post has confirmed Sanders was released from the hospital. 

A GoFundMe page has been set up.

 

 

 

 

8-10-2020

Top Fuel Dragster pilot Dominick Lagana was injured in a late-night car accident in Hendricks County in Brownsburg, Ind. He suffered life-threatening injuries in the single-vehicle crash.

According to Hendricks County Sheriff’s County Office Captain Amanda Goings, at approximately 11:11 pm on Sunday night, Hendricks County Deputies responded to a single-vehicle accident at 100 East South of 56th St. near Brownsburg, Ind. The preliminary investigation indicates that the 1957 Chevy Wagon, also known as the “Sh*tbox of Doom,” which made an appearance at Drag Week in 2018, was traveling southbound on County Round 100E when it traveled off the west side of the roadway and struck a utility pole.

Lagana was the driver in the Wagon at the time of the crash, according to authorities. He suffered life-threatening injuries.

Richard Crampton and Jacob Sanders were transported to local Indianapolis hospitals. Both sustained non-life-threatening injuries.

The Sheriff’s Office crash reconstructionists are investigating the crash.. However, preliminarily, speed is believed to be a factor in the crash..

“It’s part of the total investigation,” Captain Goings said. “My understanding is that there was racing going on yesterday and that they might have been apart of it.”

The accident site is approximately two miles from Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis in Brownsburg, Ind. This past weekend, the Dodge NHRA Indy Nationals presented by Pennzoil took place at Lucas Oil Raceway.

“We don’t know where they were coming from when this accident happened,” Goings responded when asked where the car was coming from. “That, too, will be a part of the investigation. It’s still early in the investigation to tell where they were coming from, whether they left the track or left somewhere else. We just don’t know yet.”

There’s no time table on when the Sheriff’s Department investigation into the crash will be completed, Goings also said

“It’s not like TV, where it’s going to be all wrapped up in 45 minutes,” Goings said. “That’s why it’s TV and not the real world. Our investigation will depend. Obviously, you know these vehicles aren’t standard electronics, like a factor vehicle, that we normally do crash data retrieval on. Usually, there’s some software involved to get data from the vehicle. We often times conduct interviews and witnesses that come up after the fact. There’s not really a time to nail down an investigation on how long the investigation will take. One lead leads to another.” The “Sh*itbox of Doom” was the tow vehicle for Jonnie Lindberg’s Top Alcohol Funny Car this past weekend. Lindberg won the race in his return to the Alcohol ranks over D.J. Cox. Crampton was expected to take over Lindberg’s Alcohol Funny Car for the prestigious U.S. Nationals in several weeks. That could be up in the air now with his injuries from the crash.

Lagana was working this past weekend as a member of Torrence Racing on Billy Torrence’s Top Fuel operation. Lagana is also the driver for his family’s Top Fuel operation.

His brother Bobby is also a crew chief for Steve Torrence. For the second-time this season, Steve Torrence won a race on Sunday.

“We’re hoping for the best in these types of accidents,” Goings said.

Defending Top Fuel champion Steve Torrence posted to his social media on Monday afternoon saying, "We are asking everyone to please pray for my brother Dom Lagana. He and two others were in an awful car accident last night and is currently in critical condition. Please pray for healing as well as peace and comfort for our family."

CompetitionPlus.com will provide updates as they become available. Please join us in prayer for the Lagana Family, Torrence Racing as well for Richie and Jacob.