Goforth Uninjured in Crash at Thunder Valley Madness

Dean Goforth thought he was on a good enough pass to possibly move back into the No. 1 qualifying spot in X-Treme Pro Stock  on Saturday at Bristol Dragway.

But disaster quickly struck and Goforth hit the wall twice during the final qualifying session at the X-DRL’s Thunder Valley Madness. The car suffered significant damage, but the good news was that Goforth escaped serious injury following the nasty collision.

After a strong start to the run, Goforth’s car immediately darted right and crashed into the wall. It bounced off the wall, moved back across the track and then collied hard with the left wall before his Jerry Haas Race Cars GXP came to a stop.

“I’ll be sore tomorrow. When I hit the (right) wall, I think my foot hit the throttle and that just shot it back,” Goforth said. “The car left good and was going straight. I was right in the middle of pulling second gear, and just that quick it got out of control.”

Goforth was out of the car quickly following the crash, and the X-DRL safety team was immediately on the scene to check on the multi-time X-Treme Pro Stock event winner. X-Treme Pro Stock driver Todd Hoerner was there to assist nearly the moment the car stopped as well.

“The safety guys were there almost as soon as it happened,” Goforth said. “They were there quick and did a great job. They were very professional.”

It was a tough blow for Goforth, who was the No. 1 qualifier for a brief period after running 4.085 on Friday before his son, Cary, slipped past him during Friday’s final qualifying session.

Kevin Bealko jumped to No. 2 with a 4.083 during Saturday’s final qualifier, but Dean Goforth was hoping for a chance to improve upon his best pass.

It appeared to be happening before the car got loose and crashed twice into the wall.

“I saw Kevin run that 4.083 and I thought maybe I could maybe get my spot back from Cary,” Goforth said. “If it hadn’t broke, it would have been a good run. It was the best-looking first gear we had all weekend.”

Despite the crash, Goforth is more than ready to get back behind the wheel. His new Jerry Haas Race Cars 2013 Camaro is currently in the paint shop and if all goes according to plan, Goforth will debut it at the X-DRL Bash at the Bayou, which takes place May 17-18 at No Problem Raceway.

“Hopefully it will be ready,” Goforth said.