Not all the memories of our NHRA program are great ones.

Our failure to qualify at Englishtown in 2004 is clearly etched in my mind.  It was a cold bad weekend all around.  It was then that I learned of Don Schumacher’s plan to replace Wes Cerney with Alan Johnson.

Most of the 2003 season was one long nightmare.  We just couldn’t seem to catch a break or put the gremlins in a box and shift them off.

Then there was the day I learned that Alan Johnson was going to leave.  Or even worse the day the crew told me they were leaving.

But no memory will haunt me more than Tony’s accident in Memphis.  That week may well have been the start of that long streak of bad luck that ended in Chicago with Alan Johnson’s first win as the U.S. Army crew chief.

Tony and his wife Cara were at Fort Knox for greening early in the week of the Memphis race.  The Sarge was test driving a motorcoach so that he could stay at the track vice a hotel.   This would reduce his travel time and give him an opportunity to rest.

The greening ended around noon.   Tony, Cara and I headed to the Shoney’s located in Radcliff, KY for lunch.  We had a leisurely lunch enjoying our conversation and establishing our relationship. 

When Tony started to leave the hydraulics in the bus was not working.  We called a local RV dealer, but he couldn’t get there for several hours.  So, Tony, Cara and I continued to try to fix the problem ourselves while continuing to chat about all sorts of subjects.

When the mechanic I arrived and head home to get ready for a family trip to the Smoky Mountains.   A couple of hours later Tony called to say he was on his way to Memphis, about 6 hours away.

It was a great weekend in Gatlinburg for my wife, son, daughter and I.  A trip in October had become sort of a family tradition following the death of my father in September 1996.  It was a place he had taken me as a kid.  And that first October without him, we were able to find some peace and comfort atop Klingman’s Dome.

But all that would change as soon as I got home and checked the answering machine. The counter indicated that there were six messages.  The first four were from my step mother saying she needed me to call her immediately.  The fourth was from my boss at the time, Colonel Kevin Kelley telling me Tony had been in a serious accident.  The sixth was my step-mother telling me my aunt had died the day before.

After checking on my step-mother, I turned on the TV to try to see the news.  Colonel Kelley had called to say Tony was in a Memphis hospital and while he was in bad shape, he was going to survive.  But as soon as I saw the footage of the accident, I broke into tears.

The back wing had broken off launching the car over the wall.  There was the car breaking into what looked to be hundreds of pieces.  But what was most frightening was seeing the roll cage with Tony in it just barely missing a huge tree at the end of the track.

Tony would eventually be sent to a hospital in Indianapolis and then home.  A badly broken leg, broken teeth and dislocated fingers---but he was alive.

Two weeks later, Tony felt he wanted to drive.  We were in the middle of a championship chase and the Sarge did not want to sit on the sidelines.  I called him to see if he was sure he was up to it.  I don’t think anyone could have talked him out of it.

I hadn’t planned to go to the Houston race, but when Tony said he was going to drive.  My boss and I agreed I needed to be there for moral support.

As soon as I saw him, I knew he was out of his mind.  He looked like hell.  His eyes were blood shot, his fingers not exactly straight and his leg was still in a cast.  But he couldn’t be dissuaded.

A member of the crew lifted Tony into the dragster and he headed to the starting line.  The burnout was a bit of an adventure.   Tony had a tough time griping the brake and then getting it backed up.  He realized then he was not able to take the car down the track.

Anxious to prove he wasn’t afraid to drive and to show he was every bit as tough as the Soldiers he represented; Tony had given it a good try.   He left Houston and went home to heal before returning to drive in the season wrap up at Pomona.

It was a long time before I could watch video of that accident.  I thank God I was not present when it occurred.  In a short time, Tony and I had become friends.  Seeing how close he had come to being killed haunted me for a long time.  Even now, it is difficult to watch.

A couple of years later, Tony would crash again at Memphis.  While the car was destroyed, the Sarge was unhurt and although the car was destroyed, we came back to win the race in the back-up car.