Photos courtesy of ARCA racing
Derrick Lancaster of Christiansburg was involved in a fiery crash this past weekend during a national ARCA race in Alabama.By Marty Gordon
NRVsports@ourvalley.org
Christiansburg racer Derrick Lancaster remains in an Alabama hospital after an accident this weekend at Talladega Super Speedway in Alabama.
The ARCA racer suffered second- and third-degree burns to his face and hands after his car caught fire following a bump with another racer.
Lancaster’s car caught fire after it hit the outside wall. He had been running in the top five for most of the second part of the race and had even led for four laps. The race was only his second after returning from a near-career ending accident two years ago at Kingsport Speedway.
On Saturday, Lancaster was able to pull the screen netting away from the driver’s side of the car as television cameras zoomed in to show the fiery stop on the in-field grass. For a moment, he stood beside the car before he was placed on a stretcher.
In a social media post, his wife said he was being flown to an Alabama burn center with the injuries to his hands, arms, and face. He was placed on a ventilator so doctors could determine if there was any damage to his lungs.
The date of August 9, 2020, at Kingsport was when Lancaster was rushed to a hospital after being involved in the most serious accident (up until this weekend), he had in 20-plus years of the sport. He had been pulled for a Late Model race car that had catapulted over another car and into the Turn 4 wall at Kingsport Speedway.
MRI results showed a hairline fracture at the base of Lancaster’s skull. It would not require surgery, but he was in a neck brace for three months and was advised by doctors not to race again. The doctor’s words were simple: “Mr. Lancaster, you may never be able to race again.”
That injury was very similar to one that killed NASCAR-great Dale Earnhardt.
But Lancaster, who has made over 100 starts between Motor Mile Speedway and Kingsport Speedway since 2008, was determined to work through rehab and see what those doctor’s words really meant for his time on the track.
“At first, I couldn’t move my neck, and yes, I was worried,” he said during an interview earlier this year sitting in his office at Total Car Care and Truck Service.
Lancaster admitted having some reservations but when the flag fell during the ARCA race in Daytona, he was all business. When the dust had cleared, he had led testing in the ARCA Menards Series at Daytona International Speedway.
The return to the track did not come without a lot of effort. “I did everything the doctor asked of me, wearing a neck brace for most of the past three months. I also had to get a written release from the doctor,” he said.
He had spent most of the past few months traveling back and forwards to the Johnson City doctor who first saw him after the accident. “I admit it was easy. It wasn’t easy on my family. It wasn’t easy for me.”
The time in between was very emotional, according to Lancaster, but in the back of his mind he always knew he wanted to be back in the seat of a race car again.
The Kingsport track accident was not his first incident. But it definitely was the most serious. “After I hit the wall, I looked down and my pants were on fire. The car was on fire. I told myself that would not be the way I would end it.”
“For the past three months, it has been hard for me to talk about the accident,” he said earlier this year.
Lancaster has been a frequent competitor in the Dirty Dozen Late Model series where all five of his Top 10 finishes came at Motor Mile Speedway, and he has run four ARCA races in the past four years.
