TOPEKA, Kan. — Kenny Koretsky, a.k.a. “Captain Chaos,” emerged like a superhero from his violent crash in Saturday’s qualifying at the O’Reilly Summer Nationals at Topeka — unhurt and even using a bit of humor to describe the scary experience.
His new NitroFish/Indicom Electric Pontiac GXP got loose, went up on its two right-side tires, hit the wall at a frightening angle and so hard that it sliced the front end of the car up to the hood scoop, flipped over, slid across the track, smacked the opposite wall and left him upside down with shrapnel littering the racing surface.
“I hit the wall really hard,” Koretsky, 50, said before he left Sunday morning for his Richboro, Pa., home. “I really got a jolt. I’m still sore in my lower back, left leg and elbow. My lower back and left leg hurt right now, but I feel OK. I’m going to go home and see the chiropractor.”
The car went to Jerry Bickel’s shop and is expected to be ready for the mid-June Lucas Oil Nationals at Englishtown, N.J. Engine builder Sonny Leonard will fix the engine.
“I am upset that our new Pontiac GXP wrecked like this. It was just a freak thing. I got out towards the center line and tried to push the clutch in, and before I knew it, the thing just went haywire,” he explained. “I probably should’ve shut it off a little earlier. The car started shaking so quickly…and then I didn’t know what was going on. It flipped over so fast. When it flipped over, I was hanging in there like a monkey, and that wasn’t good because I’m claustrophobic. I’ve crashed before, but this was the first time it was my fault.”
He said later that he thought he might have hit an oil patch. Whatever the cause, Koretsky said he knew what protected him — the HANS device and helmet. “I am thankful I was wearing the HANS device, because that definitely prevented injuries to my neck and head,” he said, adding, “Hey, this is racin’, man.”
Because Koretsky was injured seriously in a two-car racing accident with Bruce Allen in 2005 at Dallas, some wonder if the Captain is considering ditching some of the chaos.
“I thought about being just a team owner. We’ll see — maybe we’ll let somebody else drive the car. We’ll see… but I still have the passion. I’m not ready to quit yet.”