Chucks video from BG, added Dans last pass as well.

After watching Chucks video, I got to wondering if the tracks have thought about the new safety barriers instead of the concrete walls.

Thanks guys for all the kind words and prayers for me and my family.I'm doing ok just sore as hell!I HAVE WATCH THE VIDEO so many times today and it sends a BIG COOL chill down my back every time I watch it.

Yeah me too Chuck... Welcome back Big Dawg... Now get some rest...






Doug...

Chuck,

Glad to hear you're okay,i bet your family and friends were freaking out till they found out you were okay.I wish i lived close to you so i could help you out in any way,Later Mark.

Yes everyone was freaking out and a lot of tears were coming out from what I was told. That tells me what kind of family we have here on this board. Right now I'm having a real hard time sleeping cause I can get it out of my head what happened.I woke up last night about 5 times in a cold sweat. Not good! Sorry about my spelling but the pain meds are makeing me looply. I need to get with Damon to down load pictures of the car from today. so you guys can see just how bad it really was.Ok I'm goingtry too get some sleep on but I CAN'T get confurable in the bed so I guess I'LL TRY THE RECLINER. TALK to you guys later

Glad your OK Brother. If I can help in any way Chuck, Damon's got my #. I will take one of my Long weekends off and come down and do what ever. I'm not just saying this, give me a call.Can't wait to see the pic's

Here is the pics I have.

Glad to you here you made it home guys.

What a shame Hope you got some well deserved rest Chuck, just take er easy man

You too Dano. It'll work out guys. Even tho I've never met you guys personally you have my thoughts, prayers and moral support. If I can help in anyway just let me know.....

Man, I know the people who saw the water leaking from your car wacth in horror, knowing something was going to happen. Your car is in bad shape, but it looked like your saftey equipment did a good job. Get well soon!

Holy Cow...! I thought the car was caged up front...? Must've just been a back-halved car...? At any rate, it's a good thing it wasn't fierglass, as the steel frontend probably helped more than you know... From what I can see in the pics, it looks like only the front sub-frame was destroyed... I'm sure the floor behind the firewall is tweaked a little though, with that kind of impact... What I'm looking at is the possibility of only having to replace the front sub-frame and clip, and driver's side door... The rest "looks" like general body work... Again, glad you're OK Chuck... The good Lord was definitely lookin' out for ya...






Doug...

I couldn't bear to take any pictures of it... But the big guy is tough, and looked alright (for chuck) sunday morning.
You have my number if needed Chuck!

Ouch, those are some bad pictures.

The roof has a bit of a ripple at the C pillar, but not too bad. It looks like the firewall took a big tweeking though, the windshield is pretty screwed up and the front of the roof looks good. I would think if you got it on a frame rack they could pull the floor straight and like Doug said, front half the car. Then you get all that nice working room, no more shock towers!!!

I'm sure it will be a few days before you feel like even looking at it, you'll be back at it in no time!!

You built a very safe/strong car, and having your co-pilot helped a bunch too!!

Is the engine OK? Where was the water coming from?

Bill

What ever is needed Chuck, we will make it happen. I've got some parts and they are yours when you need them. God Bless you Brother.

Chuck's car is not worth fixing ..unless it's just something he HAS to do. The body is bent all over..it's alot worse than what the pics are showing. Time to get a chassis car. We'll have him going by spring

Chuck: I'm glad your OK, that was one bad looking crash in the video. It must have scared the heck out of you when the car turned suddenly toward the wall! As far as the car goes, it will take some work to put that Mustang back together. You could always buy Dan-O's Mustang and put your engine in it. That way Dan-O won't be able to 3peat at next years bash . You never know, it could be you standing there with the big check next year.
Gary

thank god your allright to bad about the reck......i feel bad for you.....thats a shame the track workers didnt catch the liquid......

Damn!!! Hard Luck Chuck strikes again! Glad you are alright. You can always build another car, but we can't build another "Tiny"!

Dan,

I agree i would start over that car would probably never drive and be the same if you rebuilt it.It probably has to have alot of structure damage the pictures aren't showing.Chuck,i was shaking my head looking at the pictures that car is really messed up and you're lucky you weren't hurt.

Later Mark.

What an up and down weekend emotionally... Thank god for safety equipment.

I was right behind Chuck going through my pre-race ritual; setting the line lock, pumping up the brakes and then I see track staff running like MAD and jumping on scooters. I look up and see smoke at the end of the track along with emergency flashers. I back out of the water box, shut off the engine and start unstrapping my gear when Derrick runs up to my car and yells "Damon, was that Chuck?" and I have no clue what's going on so my mind starts spinning and I hope it's someting minor.

We then discover it is Chuck and he has hit the wall. Can't be that bad I think to myself, maybe he just brushed the wall and he's fine however I soon discover it's MUCH worse. Derrick, Ben, the Chads (two friends named chad) and I walk up to the burnout box and find water from Chuck's car. Finally my mind registers what has just happened and I have to take a knee for a second. Then it hits me that Sue (Chuck's mom) must have witnessed the accident and I start worrying about her well being. I then run back to my car and someone (I don't know who) asks if I'm going to take my final round of qualifying and I say "FU$% No I'm not going down this track tonight". Saul and Ben back me up so I don't run over anyone, Chad lifts the flags and I race back to my trailer, on the way praying that it's not a big deal.

I park the car under the canopies and sprint to the scene of the accident. A rather large group of people have gathered at the fence adjacent to the carnage, including my wife, Sue and all of the BBF Band of Brothers. At this point I see the safety crew loading Chuck onto a board and I'm flooded with emotions beyond my control. I break down, can't deal with it and the worst scenario flashes through my head. Sue and Tracy are also openly weeping and console me, reasuring me that Chuck is OK. I still fear that I could lose one of my best friends.

I start replaying the previous days in my head, wondering if there was something else I could have done to prevent this from happening. Should I have taken an extra 5 minutes to look over the cars for issues? Maybe we should have investigated the waterpump seepage a little further? What could we have overlooked? Sue and Tracy tell me to hop the fence to check on Chuck. Why is everything happening so fast? What should I do? Who are all these people? So I hop the fence and sprint over to check on my teamate... (Why is he on that board) Trey and Tom (NMRA Staff) stop me and tell me that he's OK and it's just procedure that he must go to the hospital. (Why won't they let me see Chuck) Now I wonder if it is something serious?

One of the safety crew explains how to get to the hospital but I can't concentrate, my head is spinning. He helps me back across the fence, Bruce asks if I need someone to take car of the car, I stare at him and it just doesn't register, I can't speak....... What happens next? Who are all these pople?

Chad takes me back to the trailer, my head is still spinning... I sit down in Tracy's $40 chair and break down again. Tracy holds me and again says "Chuck is going to be OK" but how do we know for sure... What if he's NOT OK? Tracy gets her escape, Eddie, Sue and I hop in the car and we wait for the Ambulance to leave so we can follow him to the hospital... We wait and wait, it seems like forever. Here comes the back hoe with Chuck's car swinging from the bucket, a trophy for the racing gods, followed by young boys skipping and jumping, one looks at me, smiling and says "He hit the wall hard" and I just stare at him, like a deer in the headlights, again thinking the worst. Sue gets out of the car, crying "I have to see Chuck's car" but here comes the ambulance. We jump back in and head out. A golf cart is between us and the emergency vehicles. I tell Tracy to lay on the horn, she does and he promptly exits the return road....

We get to the hospital "Are you the Hager Family"? "Yes" we say. "I'm sorry but you have to enter the building from the front entrance because of the terrorists" or something to that nature. WTF! Later I find out that she is the one Chuck has been flirting with on the way to the hospital. She is cute So we drop off Eddie and Sue at the front Emergency entrance and park the car. When we get inside we notice all the people waiting and some are wearing masks. "Don't touch anything" Tracy says and I say "No kidding". "Are you the Hager Family" asks a gentleman". "Yes" Eddie says. "He's in Trauma 2 but only 2 visitors at a time". Eddie and Sue disappear behind two large doors. Tracy and I go outside for some fresh air. My phone blows up but I can't answer the phone, I can't talk...... About 10 minutes go by and I start making phone calls to update everyone. It seems like an eternity before we get an update and they allow one more visitor. I find my way to trauma 2, walk in and see Chuck sitting up and he looks normal... No broken limbs, no large gashes, no ugly bruises........... I grab Chuck's helmet and we all head out the door. Chuck says "Why were you crying" I give Chuck a BIG hug walking down the hallway and say "I though I just lost one of my best friends"..... Thank GOD for Safety equipment......... Thank GOD Chuck was wearing his neck brace......... Thank God Chuck's car has a window net........ Thank GOD Chuck's car has and anvil like roll cage....... Thank God Chuck is still alive....

Never underestimate the importance of safety equipment, it's there for a reason!

Thanks to all of my Band of Brothers for all the help, support and prayers. Many of you have asked "What can I do to help"? In the near future I'll post more information for all that want to help Chuck get his car fixed (Not likely) or get another roller. In the next few weeks we will layout a game plan and go from there. Today we unloaded the car from Ben's Trailer and shuffled it back into the shop where it rests between races. I had to wrap a chain around the front bumper, lift the front of the car with the bobcat while Ben pulled the trailer out from under the car. In the near future we will start cutting the drivetrain out of the car and see what we can salvage.

Chuck, his family, Tracy and I are overwhelmed with all the kindness that you guys have shown and we thank you.... Sorry for the long winded story but it's part of the healing process........ Ahhhhhhhh I feel better already.

Chuck is a blessed man to have friends like you guys there.

We are all thinking about him I'm sure.

This big extended family will get it done.

Bill

Damon,

Thanks for the up date of this past weekend from your view.I couldn't imagine being in your car and seeing Chucks wreck you had to be freaking out.I probably seemed like forever till you got your car parked and made it to where Chucks car was.I'll really think hard before taking my car to the race track again till i get a roll bar in it after seeing Chucks car.

Later Mark

Man this sucks, sorry to hear about the rough weekend for all involved.

Chuck, glad your OK. If the Mustang can be fixed that would be great because 69's & 70's are hard to find these days (and because they are my favorite year Mustangs). But if the damage is too extensive there's no reason to try & Band-aid a "beyond repair" bent car just because of sentimental reasons.

Fix it if you can safely, but replace it if you must.

Damnit Damon, I teared up just reading your account. It didn't hit me too hard at the track because I heard he was ok. Thanks for your always detailed write up.

Thanks for the play by play Damon.

After you guys assess the damage let us know what Chuck needs to get him another car going. I can scour around down here for what ever you guys might need.

just caught this, my Lord im glad your ok Chuck , sorry bout your ride, almost brings a tear to my eye`s to watch the vid, someone was watching over you , once again i glad your ok, hope to see ya at the 2010 Bash, did it trash everything? let us know if we need to beat these arkansas bushes fer parts or a car, , see ya HOSS!