Dale Creasy Jr. can relate to how NMCA Nostalgia Pro Street racer Barbara Nesbitt feels.

The two have never met but for Creasy he feels a bond after what transpired last Sunday during an NMCA event at zMax Dragway located on the grounds of Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, NC. Nesbitt was racing when the driveshaft in her Camaro broke, sending shrapnel into the cockpit and causing her severe internal and external injuries.

A first responder to Nesbitt’s car admitted her arm was wrapped around the driveshaft twice. However, to see her car sitting still on the track, there was no indication of the hell that had just transpired minutes early.

Creasy knows the feeling all too well.

In 2008, Creasy came to a stop on the track, after a transmission broke off of the bellhousing and beat his legs with the ferocity of a sledgehammer strike over and over. It wasn’t the shifter handle, it was the actual transmission striking him.

Just like in Nesbitt’s situation, those walking up on the car had no idea what had just happened. In fact, Creasy recalled, the safety crew was just about to hook his car up to the vehicle and tow him off of the track which would have resumed the sledgehammer beating.

Creasy couldn’t help but wonder if Nesbitt felt the same way he did sitting in the stalled car. Nesbitt reportedly had the presence of mind to kick her door out in an attempt to gain attention to her plight.

“You just want someone there,” admitted Creasy, who returned to racing in 2009 after a long rehabilitation process. “Whether they can help or not, you just want to see someone’s face so they will know what you are going through.”

Creasy was desperately trying to reach someone via his radio and was talking away, as he sat on the verge of shock. He later learned the wires had been torn out of his communication system.

“It pulled my right leg underneath the transmission,” Creasy recalled. “I really didn’t even know my right leg was hurt until I looked down. I knew the left leg had taken a beating but I didn’t know how bad it was. I was in a race. I was too busy concentrating on how I could fix the race car to get ready for the next round.”

Creasy conveyed one of his initial feelings after the accident was whether or not he’d be able to race again. His spirit was willing but the flesh was very weak.

“You have to listen to the doctors and I wasn’t really good at that,” Creasy admitted. “I started exercising before he told me to and that set me back. When it’s ready, it’s ready.”

The first prognosis was that his racing career would be on hold for years.

“And that was very disheartening,” Creasy said. “I just wondered from that point, what am I going to do now that I don’t have this. I wondered if I would be happy in a team ownership role. Then, as time passes, you head clears. Once you start healing, then you can focus.”

Creasy will be watching Nesbitt’s recovery but for now, he knows she’s in for a long, tough and challenging road to recovery.

“If I could speak to her, I’d tell her – keep your head up,” Creasy revealed. “It’s going to be hard when you’re laying there in the hospital and later at home, and you’re all alone – you’ll get all the calls and well wishes, that stuff is great. But, in the end you’re alone in this battle. Keep your head up. You will be surrounded by people who want to see you succeed.”

Though he has no contact information for Nesbitt, Creasy would love to talk to her and encourage her during the recovery process.

“I would love to,” Creasy said. “If I had a way to contact her, I’d gladly call. I would just love for her to know someone has gone through a similar situation and made it back.”