Sprint-car driver takes long ride back to track
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Two years ago, an accident at Skagit Speedway nearly cost Junell his right leg - and his life. But the Key Peninsula sprint-car driver is nearly recovered, and he plans to qualify for the 30-lap Doug James Memorial race that will precede the NASCAR Raybestos Brakes Northwest Series season-opener.
Junell has had four months of hospitalization, 18 surgeries and two years of physical therapy since the May 2, 1998, wreck. He remembers the details of that night, because they are his reminders that he can conquer any hardship.
Junell was in third place, coming full-throttle out of Turn 4 and heading for the start of the white-flag lap when a rookie driver with a disabled car accidentally stabbed the gas pedal instead of the brake. The rookie caught Junell's 410 sprinter, triggering a series of flips that turned the hard-charging 35-year-old's life upside down.
Safety crews worked 45 frantic minutes to extract Junell from his car, a 1,425-pound mangle of metal.
Junell's shoulder throbbed.
A bone protruded from his right leg, and he could feel it burning.
But no one understood the severity of Junell's injuries because his firesuit had retained the blood. The torque tube, the driveshaft tube, had bored through his calf, ripping muscles and tendons and shattering the tibia and fibula.
Junell had lost about 80 percent of his blood by the time he reached the ambulance. The EMT began to panic. That, Junell said, "is when I started getting worried I was going to die."
After a nightmarish hospital stint, he switched to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. There he underwent seven operations in 12 days and started to heal properly. He was bedridden at home for four more months, then graduated to a wheelchair and walker for another four.
Junell endured.
"I'm real strong-willed," he said. "I know you have to keep fighting. My kids helped me, and my family, racing people and my employees. Racing people gave me $10,000."
It was a testament to the way Junell has given of himself.
Most drivers leave the track immediately after a race. Junell lingers and lets children stop by to chat and climb into the seat of his yellow-and-black No. 77D sprint car. One of those youngsters inspired him to return to racing.
He was a spectator at Skagit Speedway one night, still aching and assessing his future. He figured he'd retire. He had three children to support and two Pierce County automotive-maintenance shops to operate.
"One of the kids came up to me and told me, `I really love you. I have your autograph and pictures, and I hope you race again soon,' " Junell said. "It kind of got to my heart. I have a real soft spot for kids.
"If I can maybe keep them from gangs or off drugs, I'll do it. If I can make a difference, I'd better do it. I want to save the world, but I can't. But I can set good examples."
He also has set high goals.
"I'm feeling good. I'm ready to rock and roll," he said.
He has regained most of the 30 pounds he lost, but he hasn't resumed his fitness routine.
"I expect my stamina to be low at first," he said, still aiming for a top-five finish Saturday. "I have so much drive. I'll make it work."
Looking at all that Dean Junell has accomplished, few would doubt him.
Note
Del Worsham's Funny Car win Sunday in the National Hot Rod Association's O'Reilly Nationals at Houston was his first since the '99 Northwest Nationals at Seattle International Raceway. It was the first win of his career as top qualifier.
And it came against John Force in the quickest side-by-side Funny Car final in the sport's history. Worsham, in his Pontiac Firebird, ran a 4.852-second elapsed time (311.63 mph) to Force's 4.859/303.63 in his Ford Mustang.
"I don't think anyone within 15,000 miles is having a better day than me," Worsham said.
That might have been the only mistake he made all weekend.
There at the Baytown, Texas, track was Mike Dunn, who recorded the fastest speed in NHRA history during Friday qualifying with a run of 331.61 mph. Dunn earned his first Top Fuel victory for Gwynn/Steinbrenner Racing, also as No. 1 qualifier.