In the days leading up to the ADRL’s Safety-Kleen Dragpalooza V at Houston Raceway Park, Charles Carpenter spoke of wanting to experience deja vu of his breakthrough win in Houston in 2007.

Carpenter definitely felt deja vu, but unfortunately it was more reminiscent of one of the lowest points in his career, a devastating crash in 2004, instead of one of the highest points.

In the days leading up to the ADRL’s Safety-Kleen Dragpalooza V at Houston Raceway Park, Charles Carpenter spoke of wanting to experience deja vu of his breakthrough win in Houston in 2007.

Carpenter definitely felt deja vu, but unfortunately it was more reminiscent of one of the lowest points in his career, a devastating crash in 2004, instead of one of the highest points.

In his first round matchup with fellow veteran Ed Burnley, Carpenter’s iconic ’55 Chevy lost traction as the car washed out of the narrow Houston Raceway Park groove and became airborne as it darted back across the track. The car made a hard impact with the wall at 180 MPH after crossing the finish line ahead of Burnley and climbed the concrete barrier before miraculously returning to earth within the confines of the racing surface.

After seeing all the photos and video, including high-definition footage broadcasted nationally on the Versus Network, Carpenter considers himself fortunate, even though he walked away with a fractured vertebrae, cracked ribs, and the fact that the wreck nearly destroyed his new race car and severely damaged any hopes he had of a promising 2009 season.

“We were seeing photos and video on my son Mike’s iPhone before we even got back home to Charlotte,” said the 35-year veteran. “Of course at first you are sick because of what just happened to your pride and joy, not to mention any physical injuries. But after seeing the TV footage last weekend, I consider myself a lucky man. That wreck happened in the absolute best way it could have to minimize damage to both myself and to the car. I shudder to think what might have happened if it had gone over the wall and into the huge culvert that runs parallel to the track, or the scoreboard poles just beyond it. The guys at Terry Murphy Racecars built a really safe race car for me. It did its job along with the great safety equipment from Bell, R.J.S., Stroud, and HANS.”

Carpenter poured over photo after photo for weeks for a clue as to what caused the accident, but it wasn’t until the TV footage was available that he was able to determine the cause with any certainty.

“It just got out of the groove,” said Carpenter. “It got out of the groove, and in the heat of battle, I stayed with it like I have a million times. The track barely had any rubber down in the groove, so you can imagine what the conditions were outside of it. The car simply lost traction and the back end washed out and spun around like you would see a street car do. From there, I have no idea why it went airborne. My only guess is the car tried to start rolling over and the 35+ MPH wind gusts that were blowing down the track had something to do with it. The wind was about to blow my doors off back in the staging lanes right before we ran.”

Regardless of what caused the spectacular nature of the crash, the reality remains that a team that was already walking the thinnest of budget tightropes now faces an uphill battle to get back on the track.

Carpenter, still suffering the effects of injuries sustained in the wreck, has been unable to perform any physical labor and enlisted the help of a few friends to begin the rebuilding process. About a week after the wreck, fellow Pro Mod racer Rick Moore and crewman extraordinaire Luther Johnson made the drive from Greensboro to Charlotte to help Charles Carpenter Racing crew members Paul Albino and Mike Carpenter unload the car and strip it down to a rolling chassis and body.

From there, a professional assessment as to whether or not the car was a total loss or repairable needed to be made. The decision was made by Carpenter and Albino, in the sake of available resources, to haul the car two hours down the road to Alan Pittman Race Cars in Greenville, SC. After carefully examining the wrecked chassis, Pittman determined that the car was repairable.

“That was great news to hear,” Carpenter said. “Having to build a new car could have very well spelled the end for us, at least for the foreseeable future. We just simply couldn’t afford it. Luckily, Alan said he could fix the car, and I’ve got complete faith in him. He and his guys are a talented bunch, and he’s been doing this for a long time with a lot of success. They are already making incredible progress on the car, and Alan thinks he could have us ready in just a couple more weeks.”

“Unfortunately, the only thing slowing us down is funding,” Carpenter admitted. “We are going to be in a position where we have the car repaired and are pretty much back to where we were, but any and all funding we had allocated as an operating budget for 2009, as little as it was, will have gone into repairing the car. We’re doing everything we can to scrape together enough to pay for the repairs and ultimately get back to racing, but we’ve certainly got a tough road ahead of us.”

Carpenter has received an outpouring of support from the racing community and is humbled by all the concern.

“I probably took over 100 phone calls the Sunday after the wreck as we drove home, and they didn’t stop for weeks,” said Carpenter. “The support has been almost overwhelming. It’s a great feeling to know that after 35 years in this sport I guess I’ve made more friends than enemies. And that’s really what it’s all about. It’s all about the people; the fans, the racers, the staff, everyone. We go to the track to race and win, but I try to never do it at the cost of the friendships I’ve formed over all these years. Doing well and running fast is great, but to me it’s meaningless if everyone around you dislikes you.”

That mentality has helped to cement Carpenter as a “people’s champion” in Pro Modified. As such, he had only been home for a few days when unprecedented things began to happen. Handwritten letters from fans claiming Carpenter as their “hero” and a “working man’s inspiration” along with personal checks began arriving in his mailbox, and a donation fund was set up on Pro Modified website www.ProModZone.com for fans to donate to the repair cause via PayPal.

“Those types of things are really the most incredible and the most humbling,” Carpenter said. “I mean, here are fans, many of whom I haven’t even met, sending me personal checks and letters encouraging me to get back out there if I can. In these tough economic times, they are sending me their hard earned money in hopes that I can get back out there and do something that I love. It’s just incredible. We all take racing for granted sometimes and get caught up in our own little worlds, but something like that will really wake you up to the bigger picture. It’s not about world records; it’s about the people, and I can’t thank all of them enough.”

In addition to support from individuals, some of Carpenter’s longtime supporters and equipment manufacturers have chipped in what they can to help get the doorslammer pioneer back on the track. Those offering assistance include Doherty Motorsports, Total Induction Tuning Solutions, Santhuff Suspension Specialties, Custom Autosound, Hairy Glass, Pro Glass, TEK Headers, JAZ Products, Stroud Safety, Goodridge Hose & Fittings, Goodyear, MagnaFuel, Friction Unlimited, Lockwood Racing, Reed Robbins at East Coast Refinishing, Racepak, and VP Racing Fuels.

“Some of these companies have been with me forever and some new ones have come on board in the last couple years, but they have all been amazing supporters,” said Carpenter. “Every one of them is doing what they can, and ‘thank you’ simply doesn’t cover it. The grim reality is that we are still quite a ways off from where we need to be in order to get back to competing on the level I know we are capable of. Every little bit helps tremendously though.”

As of this writing, Carpenter looks to have his ’55 back at his Charlotte, NC shop in the coming weeks to begin the reassembly process. The auto repair center owner currently sits 5th in the Speedtech Battle for the Belts standings in Pro Nitrous, and a shot at that championship belt is still within the realm of possibility.

“Our goal is to be back for Memphis, but a lot of pieces will have to fall into place for us to make it back then, or to make it back out at all,” said Carpenter. “I’m still really sore right now, but I’m getting better each day and my doctor has cleared me to be able to drive by May. We’re certainly not giving up hope that a big break will come our way. My whole career has been based around hard work and never giving up, so that’s what we plan to do now more than ever.”

“I’m not ready to quit,” Carpenter continued. “We are running too well and having too much success out there to throw in the towel now.” 

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