One of the more interested spectators during the recently completed IHRA Torco Northern Nationals in Martin, Mich., was two-time IHRA Funny Car champion Dale Creasy, Jr., who was injured in a driveline explosion in July during the IHRA Rocky Mountain Nationals in Edmonton, Alb.

Creasy suffered serious injuries to his legs when a driveline failure exposed his legs to rotating metal parts which left him with broken bones and lacerations. He’s since underwent a pair of surgical procedures to repair the damage.

The upbeat Creasy has a long recovery procedure ahead, but his determination to return to driving has never been stronger.

Two-time IHRA Funny Car Champion visits drag strip for the first time since accident ...

One of the more interested spectators during the recently completed IHRA Torco Northern Nationals in Martin, Mich., was two-time IHRA Funny Car champion

Dale Creasy, Jr., who was injured in a driveline explosion in July during the IHRA Rocky Mountain Nationals in Edmonton, Alb.

Creasy suffered serious injuries to his legs when a driveline failure exposed his legs to rotating metal parts which left him with broken bones and lacerations. He’s since underwent a pair of surgical procedures to repair the damage.

The upbeat Creasy has a long recovery procedure ahead, but his determination to return to driving has never been stronger.

“I’m feeling good,” Creasy said. “From what went on four weeks ago to now, I’m feeling good. [My legs are] progressing nicely and I’m being patient. I’d like to be getting back to my race car but I have to take my time and heal up.”

Creasy has played the devastating accident over and over in his mind. The more he recollects, the more he draws conclusions as to what happened.

“I was awake the whole time,” Creasy said of the accident. “And when it [broken driveline part] hit me, I knew exactly what happened. I just was hoping it would stop because a lot of the time it’ll break loose and not turn anymore. It will just hit you that one time. This one kept hitting and all I could think of was don’t wreck your car and don’t go in the other lane. Just try to keep yourself as safe as possible. I remember everything until the hospital and then they put me out. That’s the last thing I remember.”

Creasy admitted the task of bringing the car to a stop brought forth excruciating pain which forced him to make a tough decision.

“I had to grab the brake and pull the parachutes,” Creasy recalled. “I grabbed the brake immediately when it started and it wasn’t stopping fast enough. I knew that if it stopped it would stop hurting me. So I had to let go of the brake and pull the parachutes and that was something I knew was going to hurt but I had to do it. I knew what was going on in the car the whole time, I knew where I was. I could feel everything and I could see where I was at.”

The flashbacks have enabled Creasy to make a reasonable determination as to what caused the parts failure.

“It appears that one of the couplers off the reverser broke and it started putting everything into a swing,” Creasy said. “It came loose and it started jamming around in there because the rear of the belt housing was still hooked up because it bent it. It appears that one of the couplers broke. They weren’t old. There was nothing wrong with them. Those are parts we keep an eye on but it’s just one of them things. It just broke.”

The only breakage to Creasy’s chassis was the cross-brace under his feet, the direct result of the broken part spinning around. Creasy was using a 2007 Murf McKinney chassis which was legal for IHRA competition but is no longer legal in the NHRA.

The car was fixed in time for this weekend’s event and veteran journeyman John Lawson was inserted as the substitute driver during Creasy’s convalescence.

Creasy is unsure of when the next step in his lengthy rehabilitation will begin. He said the time before he returns to walking could be upwards of nine months.
“As of right now we’re not sure because we have to go back Thursday and then there going to give me an idea of what I have to do,” Creasy said. “Right now they’re waiting on skin grafts to heal. My right leg, I’ve been moving it and exercising it a little bit. My left leg, I just have to let it sit until they tell me that it’s okay.”

The injury was a learning experience for Creasy as he’d avoided any broken bones to this point in his life.

“Right now it feels like a swollen sprained ankle,” Creasy explained. “I’ve had one of those before. Throughout the day, I have different levels of pain when I don’t have it up above my head. As far as the pain medication they’re giving me is working. I only take it when I need it. Things are moving along nicely.”

Creasy is bound and determined to keep his healing process ahead of schedule. He was still a patient in the Edmonton hospital when his thoughts were filled with concocting a plan to return to driving before the season’s end. This desire was inspired by the support of his wife and mother.

“During my whole time in the hospital and the last two weeks, if it wasn’t for my wife and my mom I wouldn’t have made it because I was going stir crazy,” admitted Creasy. “They took care of me the whole time and never left my side. We had to put John Lawson in (the car) just so I can see it go down the race track and get it ready for next year.”