Gary Densham was more in fear for his life on Sunday morning if he didn’t do the right thing. Never mind the day before, when his Funny Car skimmed across the sand at the end of the Pomona Fairplex strip at well over 200 miles per hour at the Circle K NHRA Winternationals and slammed into the catch net. 

Densham destroyed his Grant Downing-built Funny Car became entangled in the catch net, and destroyed both the body and the chassis. He was uninjured in the mishap. 

The experience was mild compared to the hell he could have caught. 

“Not doing the right thing on Valentine’s Day would have been bad for me,” said Densham, who has been married 35 years to JoAnne.

On Sunday morning, Densham escaped the race track and returned with a bouquet of red roses. It was a way better safety net than the one he’d impacted less than 24 hours earlier.  Marital bliss firmly in check, Densham refocused his attention on a less appealing situation. 

Densham looked at his mangled racecar; the tubing twisted more than a pretzel sold at the concession stand less than 20 yards from his pit space. 

Just like a salty pretzel, the racecar left Densham with a bad case of heartburn. The pain was so overwhelming the evening before, Densham proclaimed on the new FoxSports1 broadcast he’d likely had enough of the low-buck nitro racing lifestyle and was ready to throw in the towel.  

Who could blame him? In one fell swoop he’d performed the equivalent of throwing $100,000 in a burning trash can and watched it turn to ash. 

In the midst of financial ruin, Densham admitted he lost his mind for a brief moment. 

“Not a chance am I quitting, I must have been on drugs to make a statement like that,” Densham said with a laugh. 

The challenges of fielding an underfunded team for the last two seasons have admittedly weighed on Densham. He’s spent many sleepless nights second-guessing his decision to battle the heavily fortified armies of nitro armed only with a slingshot and three stones. 

And, as Densham said, when he’s not battling the Forces, Schumachers, or the Kalittas, he’s arguing with an NHRA tech department he believes has a one-size fits all kind of mentality at times. 

“The stuff they try to do to get the big team’s attention, sometimes buries us little teams,” said Densham, alluding to an experience over a proposed rule regarding intake manifolds last season. 

The NHRA had determined a manifold change was needed for safety reasons related to Top Fuel, and what was good for the goose was good for the gander. Funny Car would be required to adhere. 

“I had run two intakes for 11 years, never had one failure,” Densham explained. “I tried to blow them up but never could. I asked them if this was an issue in Top Fuel, why were they talking to me? I wasn’t running a dragster or the manifold in question. But I was forced to change if I was going to comply. I tried to argue what they were trying to make me switch to was worse than mine.”

Densham said he argued unsuccessfully the new unit would eventually blow the dash out of a Funny Car eventually. He acquiesced and spent the $20K, and converted, only to have one month before the rule became mandatory, a Funny Car exploded the unit and blew out the dash. 

The NHRA, Densham said, reverted to the previous rule, forcing him to spend $20,000 he didn’t have to comply. 

“What can you do?” Densham asked. “I always thought I had a small chance of winning but in the last few years, it’s gotten smaller and smaller.” 

Densham contemplated retirement then, but considering he’d raced for four decades and faced a mountain of challenges, wasn’t going to let his career end on that note. 

Then came the Pomona incident last week, and the belief his time had come.

No sooner had Densham returned to the pits than friends and fellow racers lined up, donating money and resources to help the low-buck hero return to racing, even if Pomona was done for him. Then a slick-talking truck driver he’d first met in the mid-1970s on the jet bridge of a Hawaiian airport en route to Australia pushed the effort over the top. 

Not only did John Force donate a used chassis but also a spare body to ensure Densham had a better chance to retire on his own terms. 

“After all of this that has happened I am more invigorated than ever,” Densham said proudly. “The outpouring of support and concern has been enough to bring a tear to my eye. It’s unbelievable. People coming by and donating $20, $30 and more. My wife called me to come in the house, and read the nearly 3,000 Facebook posts of support the first day. And then I realized why I fell in love with the sport to begin with.”

Densham said there’s a strong likelihood he and his team will race in the upcoming Las Vegas NHRA event in April.