LITTLE ROCK — Last November, Tony Bruce Jr. of Liberal, Kan., was in victory lane at Little Rock’s I-30 Speedway, celebrating his second consecutive victory in the Short Track Nationals.
At the same time, Bryant’s Lewis Jenkins Jr. was in a Little Rock hospital, surrounded by worried friends and family members.
Both Bruce and Jenkins will be back at I-30 beginningtonight for the 23rd edition of the Comp Cams Short Track Nationals. While Bruce will carry good memories from last year, Jenkins will have none.
For Jenkins, that is fine.
“I don’t remember none of it,” Jenkins said with a laugh. “That’s OK by me. Bad night.”
Jenkins was injured in a wild, five-car crash on the front stretch as the field took the green flag for a lastchance qualifier.
The sprint cars driven by Garry Bell of Cordova, Tenn., Brandon Moseley of Doyline, La., and Anthony Nicholson of Bartlett, Tenn., each flipped. Jenkins, starting further back in the field, stayed upright, but he suffered a worst fate.
“I slid sidesways to keep from hitting Bell in the [roll] cage,” said Jenkins, who has watched video of the crash. “But Nicholson came flipping over and he hit me in the cage.”
Nicholson’s front-axle assembly struck Jenkins inside his car, gashing his right shoulder severely and giving him a serious concussion.
It took emergency personnel more than 45 minutes to cut a groggy Jenkins from his car before he was transported to Baptist Medical Center.
“I didn’t know where I was for most of the time I was in the hospital,” he said. “They tell me every few minutes I would say, ‘What happened? What am I doing here?’ ”
Jenkins spent 16 days in the hospital, undergoing surgery and a skin graft to repair his shoulder.
He credited his Butlerbilt seat with minimizing his injuries.
“My seat saved me, no doubt about it,” he said. “It’s one of those fully-enclosed seats, surrounding your head and shoulders with 4 inches of that impact absorbing foam. If I hadn’t have had that, things would have been worse. TheLord blessed me.”
It took the entire off-season and most of this season for Jenkins to completely recover. He worked with his son, Nic, and his mini-sprint racing, and watched his daughter, Peyton, play softball. Peyton helped lead Bryant High School to the Class 7A state championship and was named the MVP of the 7A state tournament.
“I had plenty of things to keep me busy,” he said.
Jenkins returned to the track for a Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series event at I-30 on Aug. 28. He didn’t qualify for the feature that night, but has raced in two features since, finishing eighth on Sept. 4, and second on Sept. 25.
This weekend, while Jenkins will attempt to qualify for the Short Track Nationals feature, thirteen-year-old Nic, who advanced to the full-sized sprinters late in the season, will try to reach his first feature.
Jenkins’ best STN finish was sixth in 2004. He won a preliminary feature in 2005 and was running third before suffering a flat tire.
For a weekend racer competing against the record 126 entries for the event - many of whom are professional sprint racers who rank among the best in the world - Jenkins said simply making the feature field would be a huge accomplishment.
“The stars of the sport are going to be here,” said Jenkins, who has won five I-30 track championships. “You’re running against guys who race 100 nights a year when you’re running, maybe, 20 times a year. They can look at a track and have a setup in mind right away. That’s a huge advantage.
“But the stars can align and it be your night. It wouldn’t be the first time.”
Short Track Nationals WHAT 23rd annual Comp Cams Short Track Nationals sprint car event WHERE I-30 Speedway, Little Rock WHEN Tonight, Friday night and Saturday night. Gates open at 5 p.m. and racing starts at 7:30 p.m. each day.
PURSE More than $100,000 for the weekend, including $15,000 to win and $2,300 to start for Saturday’s main event CHALLENGE If the polesitter or the No. 2 starter for the main event accepts the Comp Cams Gambler’s Challenge, he or she will start 10th and earn $20,000 with a victory.
TICKETS Grandstand admission: Tonight and Friday is $15 for adults and $2 for children aged 6-12; Saturday night is $25 for adults, $5 for children aged 6-12. Pit passes are $30 tonight and Friday, $35 Saturday.
TV All three nights will be taped and later broadcast on Versus: Tonight (Dec. 5 at 5 p.m.); Friday (Dec. 11 at 5 p.m.); Saturday (Dec. 12 at 5 p.m.).
Sports, Pages 24 on 10/28/2010