Sat, 1 Oct 2005, 05:03 PM Densham is not Hurt in Brush with Wall

Courtesy of Gabrielle Stevenson

JOLIET, Ill. -- Gary Densham took a nasty turn into the wall Saturday at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing series event at Route 66 Raceway.

Densham was making the third qualifying pass of the weekend when his Racebricks Chevy Monte Carlo suffered a mechanical problem that drove the car into the retaining wall. Densham started in the right lane, but slammed into the wall in the left lane, barely missing Mike Ashley's Funny Car entry.

"Something in the steering obviously broke," Densham said. "The car just went left and there was nothing I could do to turn back. I tried, but nothing worked.

"Thank God the car in the other lane was out of the way by the time I had the problem." Densham was not injured in the incident.

"Are you kidding, my wife has slapped me harder than that," Densham joked.

"It was a pretty good hit, but I feel worse for the team. We are going to have to work real hard to make the fourth session. That was the new car body and everyone put a lot of effort into making sure it was ready to race."

Densham is currently 16th in the qualifying order for the Ameriquest NHRA Nationals. Densham ran a 4.842-second time at 319.98 mph on Friday. He has one more session before the final 16-car elimination field is set.

"We still have a little time to get this Racebricks car back in order and ready for the fourth round," Densham said. "We have to get out the back up car body and the backup chassis and get to work."

Final eliminations begin at 11 a.m. Sunday.

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