In a world of Forces and Schumachers, big teams with well-known sponsors are often the crowd favorites and usually the predicted winners of any given race.

Because of these larger teams with their eye-catching logos and names, smaller teams with so-called journeymen drivers are seen as the underdog in most competitions.  And while these journeymen do not win every race, their dedication to the sport is just as great if not greater than that of their more illustrious fellow competitors.

In particular, Dale Creasy Jr., who currently drives the TekPak/Beaver Shredding Nitro Funny Car, is part of a small team, and yet, demonstrates an immense passion for drag racing in spite of experiencing a car malfunction that seriously injured both of his legs.

During a 2008 race at Castrol Raceway in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, the drivetrain in Creasy’s car failed and caused the transmission to break off of the clutch.

“People call it an accident, but [the car] never actually hit anything,” Creasy said. “When it first happened, I knew what was going on, [but] you can’t see because the helmet is on. When I stopped and they finally got my helmet off, I looked down and it was worse than I thought it was.”

While the problem was not crash related, Creasy’s injuries to both legs were nonetheless extensive, leaving him with a cast on his left leg and multiple fractures in his right leg.

Wounds of this magnitude would deter most people from ever setting foot on a track again. However, Creasy made the decision to get back in the driver’s seat from a hospital bed.

“If something scares you, you gotta at least try again, to make sure it didn’t run you out of there before you were ready,” Creasy said. “As soon as I got back in the car I knew that’s where I belonged.”

Having been in an accident himself, Graham Light, Senior Vice President of Racing Operations for NHRA, understands the desire to return to racing.

“I think, for a driver, they want to drive these race cars,” Light said. “It’s engrained in you, and with Dale Creasy, he got back in the seat of that car as soon as possible after his incident. It’s just the nature of what we are.”

Nevertheless, coming back from such injuries would present new difficulties to Creasy.

“We never plan on something going wrong,” Creasy said. “We’ve had to change a lot in the drivetrain, [but] we put the car back on the race track one race later and put John Lawson in it, and it started winning races again.”

The challenges Creasy faced when he returned to racing in 2009 had to do not only with his accident, but also his being part of a smaller team.

While money was one of the biggest obstacles Creasy had to deal with, he was determined to focus on what he had, rather than what he did not have.

“A lot of times, I thought ‘Oh my God, I gotta race this guy,’ [but] the only thing you can control is what you do,” he said. “Every once in a while, if we can keep the car consistent, we’ll win a round. You just hope for the best, and sometimes it happens.”

Since Creasy began driving funny cars in 1997, he has won two IHRA World Championships consecutively, in 2006 and 2007.

“I think it’s the challenge, that there’s a brass ring somewhere and that’s what you’re shooting for,” he said.  “When we were running IHRA, we won a couple world championships, and that’s what keeps you going, that’s what keeps the passion alive, knowing that there is a chance.”

Although Creasy’s zeal for drag racing is fueled by the challenge of the sport, he became involved in racing not for the thrill, but because of his family.

Creasy remembers accompanying his dad, Dale Creasy Sr., to the race track as a ten-year-old, and being given his nickname, “Peanut,” which has stuck with him his entire racing career.

“Dale comes from a generation of racers,” Light said. “His dad raced and still does on occasion, and I think he’s very passionate. I know for a fact he’d like to be out here on a more regular basis, with a big sponsor, and he would represent sponsors well, [because] he’s got that type of personality.”

Even though Creasy does not race every weekend, he competes as often as possible. His most recent race was the Kansas Nationals, May 23-26. Creasy’s best run was a 4.339, and he eventually lost to Courtney Force in the first round. The loss was just another day in the office for Creasy.

Whether he wins or loses, Creasy keeps racing simply because he believes in never giving up, and because he enjoys the challenges that come with driving.

“It’s almost hard to put into words, because it’s a lot of work for four seconds of fun,” he explained. “I just work with what we have, and it’s the challenge of, first of all, making the car run, then figuring out how to get it down the track as a driver. That’s the result of all your hard work, is to make it go down the track. I think that’s the best part.”

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