BROOKLYN, Mich. - Ernie Irvan will take the longest lap of his life around Michigan International Speedway later this summer, and he'll do so at a rather modest four miles an hour. A former champion at MIS, Irvan will walk the track where he once almost lost his life.
In August of 1994, Irvan was taking practice runs at the Irish Hills facility while preparing for a race. A crash in turn two left him critically injured, and only an emergency tracheotomy performed right on the track before Irvan was helicoptered to the hospital saved his life.
In a second accident at MIS in 1999, Irvan suffered another head injury that essentially ended his career. Today he crusades for the prevention of head and brain injuries through his Race 2 Safety foundation. On Aug. 17, Irvan hopes to lead upwards of 10,000 people on a walk around the track and past those sites where his life nearly ended.
"This is a very important cause, and one that I've obviously become involved with since it has had such an impact on my life," Irvan said. "I am blessed to be alive, and to be able to come back here to the scene of two pretty nasty crashes and raise money to prevent head and brain injuries."
Irvan will lead the walkers, who are asked for a $100 donation, around the track. So far Greg Biffle, who is leading the Nextel Cup points race as the circuit moves to MIS for Sunday's Batman Begins 400, and veteran Mark Martin have said they will join him. Irvan expects more drivers to participate, and said the walkers will be able to meet the drivers and get autographs as part of the fund-raiser that will benefit his foundation and the Brain Injury Association of Michigan. The primary push is to encourage children to wear proper helmets when bicycling and skateboarding.
Irvan trailed Dale Earnhardt Sr. by only 27 points at the time of the 1994 accident. He has no recollection of the horrific crash that required heroic measures to open his airway before he was transported to the hospital. There is a three-week period in his life of which he has no memory, and he plans to start a new MIS memory bank with the August walk for charity.
According to other drivers who were on the track at the time, Irvan blew a tire and hit the wall at more than 170 mph. After he was cut from the car, given the emergency tracheotomy and airlifted to St. Joseph's Hospital in Ann Arbor, Irvan was in grave condition with injuries to his lungs and brain. He was given little chance of survival.
He rallied, however, and about three weeks later was removed from the ventilator that had kept him breathing. Irvan went through an arduous rehabilitation process and eventually returned to racing, winning at MIS in 1997.
On Aug. 20, 1999, exactly five years after his near fatal accident there, Irvan crashed again at MIS in a practice session for the Busch Series race. He suffered head and lung injuries again, and fewer than two weeks later Irvan retired from driving race cars.
"I have no memory of the 1994 crash, or even the events of the day before that - none," Irvan said. "People asked me if I was afraid to come back here and race after that and I always said no, because you can't fear something that you have no memory of."
Irvan said he does remember playing Monopoly the night before the race with his engine builder, Doug Yates, but everything else is blank until three weeks later in the hospital.
"I remember I was cheating real bad at Monopoly, and winning just like I normally had done," Irvan said, "but I don't remember the next morning. I don't remember getting into the race car. I don't remember anything for the next 21 days. But I don't really need to remember all that stuff."
Irvan said he pushed himself to get back to racing, utilizing that same drive that made him one of NASCAR's most improbable heroes. As a high school kid in California, he had raced every weekend at Madera and Stockton, and even missed his high school graduation ceremony so he could take part in a race in Riverside. He left the state with about $700 in his pocket and stuffed everything he owned into a pickup truck and a homemade trailer, heading for North Carolina.
Intent on getting a start in Winston Cup, Ernie had to support himself with an array of odd jobs, including one that got him to the track - welding grandstand seats at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He also worked unloading Ken Schrader's moving van and fabricated race cars, while never missing the chance to talk or race his way closer to the big show.
In 1987, Irvan made his Winston Cup debut. He was a full-time driver two years later. He won his first pole and his first race in 1990, and was one of the best in the sport when that first crash at MIS detoured his life, but did not derail his dreams.
"When I was able to come back here and win in 1997, that had to be one of the most emotional days of my life," Irvan said on a recent visit to MIS, while fighting to maintain his composure. "We got out in front with 20 or 30 laps to go, and as we got closer to the checkered flag, I had tears pouring down my face. It's pretty tough to drive with tears in your eyes, but I wasn't crying because I was sad. I almost get tears now just thinking about it."
Irvan said he still considers himself very fortunate that he survived the 1994 crash, got back in the car and won again, and that he was able to retire when he did with a lot of life still ahead of him. He hopes his leisurely walk around the MIS two-mile oval preserves and protects the lives of many.
"My whole life took a 360-degree turn here at Michigan, but it's not over," Irvan said. "This is my next venture in life. Obviously it's not going to be the same as driving a race car, but it could be as honorable, I think. I want to work on building some new memories here."
Contact Matt Markey at:
mmarkey@theblade.com
or 419-724-6510.
First Published June 14, 2005, 11:31 a.m.
