He remained in a coma for nearly two weeks and hospitalized for over three months.Īfter filing reports for their early morning press runs, local newspapers stunningly reported that he’d been killed. Later that night, a six-hour surgery saved his arm and stabilized his broken neck. Pulled from the wreckage unconscious, without a heartbeat and with one arm nearly severed, Johnny was miraculously saved by emergency efforts. 3 at Corona Raceway in Southern California nearly killed the driver and brought his career to a screeching halt. It was another peak in the 34-year-old’s career.īut a violent multi-car crash about five weeks later on Nov. In 1980, driving the top-tier DuWayne Starr-prepared Tognotti’s Auto World winged sprinter, Johnny won eight main events, including the first Gold Cup event at Chico, beating the regulars on the Outlaws tour. In ’78 and ’79, Johnny won World of Outlaw races at tracks across California, Illinois, Florida and Oklahoma during its first years as a series and finished 10th in ’79 Outlaw points behind champ Steve Kinser, Sammy Swindell, Rick Ferkel, Lee James, Doug Wolfgang, Dub May, Bobby Allen, Ron Shuman and Jack Hewitt. He also brought power steering to West Coast short track racing in about 1976.
He was also an innovator as he brought the first American sprint car to Australia to race in ’72. He raced USAC Champ dirt car events at the long-gone Sacramento Fairgrounds dirt mile in the late ’60s. He was one of the original competitors on the World of Outlaw circuit in the late 1970s and ’80 and battled for championships on the NARC (Northern Auto Racing Club) series in California.
With a glimmer in his eye, Johnny remembers his racing prime when he competed with the best of the best in open-wheel racing. On occasion Brenda helps trigger a memory for her husband with a question or keyword. Both in their 70s and retired, the married couple happily remembers key moments of Johnny’s career. The hall of fame racer on the “good old days” and enjoying life Interview + Photos: Saroyan Humphreyįeature | Johnny and Brenda Anderson are sitting at the kitchen table in their comfortable, well-appointed Carmichael, California, home talking about the good old days-the decades when Johnny was driving open-wheel race cars and stock cars, winning races and championships at tracks across California and the United States.
0 kommentar(er)
