Ray recovering from injury, makes racing plans
By Doug Goodman
RRSTAR.COM
Posted Jun 25, 2009 @ 12:52 PM

LOVES PARK, IL

Davey Ray usually spends summers battling other Midget car racers for trophies at Midwestern tracks.

This summer the Loves Park driver is battling physical pain and mental anguish.

Ray broke his knee cap in an accident that left another driver dead May 29 at the Knoxville (Iowa) Midget Nationals.

His focus during the recovery still has been racing.

“Quitting never crossed my mind,” he said. “From the time they told me six to eight weeks (to recover), I was determined to get back in the car as soon as I could.

“My desire to race right now is greater than the fear of hurting my leg again.”

The accident happened with two laps left in the King Doodlebug Classic when cars driven by Ray and Chad McDaniel collided.

McDaniel, 34, of Concordia, Kan., suffered head injuries and died at the same hospital where Ray was taken.

“That was kind of a tough time for me because he was next to me in a separate room, but I knew everything that was going on,” Ray, 30, said.

A couple of hours after his release from the hospital, Ray learned McDaniel had died.

McDaniel’s family and pit crew called Ray a few days later and said they accepted the accident as part of racing and had no hard feelings against him.

“They basically said Chad was doing what he loved to do,” said Ray, who also suffered a badly bruised tailbone.

Ray also has received much support from race-sanctioning body USAC, members of the racing community and area residents.

“It has been an overwhelming response I have gotten, and I appreciate that,” he said.

For now Ray continues to do daily therapy on the knee at his home.

“The pain now is the muscles and tendons being stretched back out and becoming limber. It still hurts quite a bit to bend my knee 90 degrees and bend it back out,” said Ray, who had not broken a bone in the first 13 years of his Midget racing career.

Overriding the pain of recovery is the thought of Ray racing in the Belleville (Kan.) Midget Nationals from July 30 to Aug. 1.

“I really would like to be ready for that,” he said.

Reporter Doug Goodman can be reached at 815-987-1386 or dgoodman@rrstar.com.

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