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O'Neal's rollover injuries keep him out of cockpit
By Joshua Joiner
DirtonDirt.com staff writer
Don O'Neal's rollover in Bulls Gap, Tenn. (mrmracing.net)
The rollover accident that ended Don O’Neal’s Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series title hopes will also cause the MasterSbilt Race Cars house car driver to miss the tour’s three-race Labor Day weekend and could potentially keep him from competing in Eldora Speedway’s Sept. 5-7 World 100.
O’Neal, the Martinsville, Ind., driver who missed his first Lucas Oil Series event in more than four years when he sat out the tour’s Aug. 24 race at Lawrenceburg (Ind.) Speedway, will remain sidelined for at least one more week while still recovering from injuries suffered Aug. 22 at Volunteer Speedway in Bulls Gap, Tenn.
“I was really upset missing Saturday’s race; then they tell me I’ve gotta miss at least three more, and it’s even tougher,” said O’Neal, who finished second in last year’s Lucas Oil championship standings. “If I’ve gotta miss at Eldora, I just don’t know what’d I do. I’m gonna do everything possible to make it.”
The 49-year-old O’Neal, who’s still chasing his first World 100 victory, will begin physical therapy Thursday to speed his recovery process. But doctors advised that he’ll likely have to sit out at least the next two weeks, which would include the World 100. While he’s going to do all that he can to return to racing in time for the first of Eldora’s three night’s of action on Sept. 5, O’Neal won’t risk further injury if the doctors tell him he’s not ready.
“They told me if I do everything he says with the therapy, there’s a chance they might clear me to race Thursday at Eldora,” O’Neal said. “But it’s just up in the air right now. I don’t want to do anything to jeopardize or to get hurt worse and I’m out for a year or two or forever.
“I’m still sore in spots, but I actually feel good enough to go race tonight. I feel like I could get back in it right now, but those doctors know better than us racers, so I’m gonna take the doctor’s advice.”
Although it caused heavy damage to O’Neal’s No. 71 race car, the rollover that left O’Neal injured didn’t appear to be particularly violent. O’Neal’s car only rolled once before coming to rest on its tires, but the angle the car’s roof hit the track, O’Neal said, was likely what caused the injury.
“When it first started to turn over, I thought 'No big deal, it’s just a slow roller,’ ” O’Neal said. “But I guess it just landed on the cage just right because before it even rolled back over on the tires, I knew I was hurt.
“It was just a weird deal. You can flip 10 times and walk away just fine from each of them, but this was just one of them deals where everything just hit the wrong way.”
The time out of the driver’s seat comes just as O’Neal and the MasterSbilt house car team were finally picking up some momentum following a disappointing start to the season. After scoring just his second victory of the year in Florence (Ky.) Speedway’s $50,000-to-win Sunoco North-South 100 on Aug. 10, O’Neal felt his team was back on track before the wreck at Volunteer just two weeks later.
“I really felt like, after the way we struggled all summer, we finally got stuff back going in the direction we wanted to go,” O’Neal said. “Everybody with MasterSbilt and the crew works all year and your racing this points deal, so it’s disappointing for everybody. To see it just throwed out the door, that’s really tough to swallow.”
The good news for O’Neal is there should still be plenty of racing left in the season when he’s cleared to return to the driver’s seat whether its in time for Eldora or not. Either way, he’ll look to bounce back and close the year out strong in the major events remaining on the schedule.
“I know I’ll be back before the Ralph Latham at Florence and the Jackson 100 at Brownstown,” O’Neal said. “I know I’ll be back for those races and we’ve got some other big races. We’ll be doing our best to just pick back up and win a few races before the year’s over.”
