Bristol Motor Speedway
Chadwick suffers back, neck injuries in accident
From staff and track reports
Kellen Chadwick
Up-and-coming Dirt Late Model driver and modified standout Kellen Chadwick of Oakley, Calif., suffered potentially career-ending neck and back injuries Friday at Central Arizona Raceway when his rolling modified was struck by another competitor in a fiery accident. Chadwick, 22, was airlifted from the Casa Grande, Ariz., track to a Phoenix hospital where he was fitted Saturday with a halo to immobilize his head and neck, said close friend and fellow driver Ryan McDaniel, who received telephoned reports from Chadwick's parents, Chad and Tina.
Chadwick, sedated because of severe pain, suffered two broken vertebrae in his neck and three more in his back, family members told McDaniel. Repairs will likely limit Chadwick's head movement, doctors told the family, and they gave him a slim chance of walking, McDaniel reported. Surgical repairs fusing vertebrae in Chadwick's neck and back won't come until swelling goes down in the coming days, said McDaniel, a racer who frequently traveled with Chadwick who was taking phone calls from Marysville, Calif.
"The doctors don't know how he didn't get killed, much less being able to walk to use his hands," McDaniel said.
Among other injuries, Chadwick was bleeding from the brain and suffered burns on his right arm and back, family members told McDaniel. Early Saturday morning, doctors worked to repair an artery to his brain cut in the accident. In the hours after the accident, Chadwick complained of neck pain and felt tingling in his arms, McDaniel reported.
Among those at the hospital Friday night with Chadwick was his grandfather, who everyone calls Papa Don, and crew members Jimmy and Tom, McDaniel said. Chadwick's mother and brother-in-law flew to Phoenix early Saturday while Chadwick's father remained in California.
The opening night feature of the Feb. 20-22 Veterans 100 at Central Arizona Raceway was cut to 20 laps after the 37-minute red flag to clean up the second-lap accident. The accident was triggered when Jeff Stafford's spin blocked the backstretch as high-speed traffic approached. Chadwick's modified made contact with the car of Jay Rosales and began flipping as the car of Bumper Jones struck the roof of Chadwick's upside-down car. Chadwick's machine came to rest on its wheels against the car of Marlyn Seidler. When Seidler backed away, fuel spilling onto the track ignited, causing a large fire amid the wreckage. Safety crews extinguished the flames and then extricated Chadwick.
Chadwick's biggest racing successes have come in modified action, but he won three Western Allstars Late Model Series features in a four-race stretch last season. While driving an Eric Jacobsen-fielded car in 2007, he made the starting fields for two major Late Model events in the eastern states, the Colossal 100 at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., and the Show-Me 100 at West Plains (Mo.) Motor Speedway. He recently competed in East Bay Raceway's Dart Winternationals, but didn't make any Late Model feature starts in the Florida Speedweeks events.
Fans can send messages to the family or make donations at www.kellenchadwick.com.
