Four-year racing veteran, Dan Beauchamp, loses control and rolls his truck six times before coming to a stop upside down.
By Beth Jones
Thursday, July 09, 2009 at 4:10 p.m.
Read more: Local, Community
DELTA COUNTY -- The 34th annual Off-Road Races kicks off Friday in Bark River. The races this year are part of the Traxxas Off-Road Championship, or TORC series. And for one local driver, it's more than just another race...he's trying to pick up the pieces after a devastating crash less than a month ago.
Speeding around a corner at the Crandon International Off-Road Raceway at about 75 miles per hour, four-year racing veteran, Dan Beauchamp, lost control and rolled his truck six times before coming to a stop upside down.
"I was leading one of the most important races of my career, the stock truck cup race," explained Beauchamp. "And halfway through the race, a mechanical malfunction--a lower ball joint pulled out of the lower control arm. I was pretty much waiting for the truck to stop. I had enough time to realize the truck wasn't stopping."
For Beauchamp's mom, the sight of her son taking tumble after tumble was too much to handle.
"When I saw the front end of the truck lift, I knew something was going to happen," said Dan's mother, Karen Beauchamp. "I turned my back to it, couldn't look."
It turned out better than it looked. Beauchamp walked away with only minor injuries thanks to his safety equipment. He says the harness, which acts like a seat belt holding the body in place, along with this HANS device that's hooked onto the helmet, which holds both the neck and head in the proper position, are what ultimately saved his life.
"I think every mom of a racer says a little prayer before each race, and the main thing was to see him move and we all knew he was in good form when he threw his helmet about 20 feet in the air, we knew he was okay," Karen explained.
His self-built truck, on the other hand, wasn't so lucky. The accident ripped it to pieces, but with the help of local body shops, amazingly that same truck will be ready for the races this weekend.
Although it's Beauchamp's first time back on the track since the accident, he says he's ready to put the pedal to the metal.
"I'm going to have a new truck, we're fast, the truck hasn't seen second place yet and hopefully we'll it keep it out front," Beauchamp explained.
The track opens on Friday at 4 p.m. with practice races. The official races will run Saturday and Sunday, starting at 11 a.m.
