Marysville CA. Hal Smedley loves car racing, but he simply refuses to be confined to his lounger on the weekend, watching NASCAR races on television.

Smedley vows to get back to the local race track this season,

but he won’t be returning to Marysville Raceway Park on Saturday nights in the same capacity as he has the last four years - as a race official.

A horrifying accident during sprint car qualifying on Sept. 3 left Smedley with a shattered left hip, a broken right leg and a broken ankle.

Smedley, 65, of West Sacramento, was working between turns three and four when sprinter Kevin Lovell of Yuba City slowed and pulled into the infield, the car’s steering gave way and the car suddenly jerked to the left and ran into Smedley, pinning him against tractor tires that encircle the base of a light pole.

“The accident is exactly what it was, an accident,” Smedley said. “I felt sorrier for the driver of the sprint car that hit me than I did for myself. I remember laying on the ground, looking up while he was sitting in the race car and remember looking into his eyes and seeing the tears building in his eyes. ... When they put me in the ambulance, I told someone to go find Kevin at his truck and trailer and let him know that is racing.”

Smedley said he remembers turning his head and taking his eyes off Lovell’s car before looking back over his shoulder and seeing the car barreling toward him.

“He probably wasn’t 25 or 30 feet from me, but when you’re going 40 miles an hour, it don’t take long to cover that distance,” he said. “If the steering was not broke, I wouldn’t have got hurt. I saw the left front wheel going away from me and if the left front bit in the ground, it would have shot away from me. But I didn’t know the steering was broke.”

“I’ve seen a lot of people hurt in racing over the years, and I just happen to be one of them this time,” he added.

Smedley said he is progressing slowly and can use a walker to get around inside his house. He said doctors are projecting that he may be able to use a cane to help his mobility in a couple of months.

“I’ve talked to my wife and I’d like to go to Marysville to the track a couple two or three times, but it all depends on the progress of my rehab,” he said. “When I get to where I can walk with a cane, I’ll be back to the track to watch some races. I don’t think it’s something you can just shut off.”

And there’s also that horrible thought of being confined indoors to watch races.

“I hate to think the rest of my life I’ll have to sit in front of a TV and watch NASCAR,” Smedley said.

Smedley got involved in racing in the mid-1960s, working as a mechanic on midget cars. He continued his weekend hobby over the next 40 years, switching to a variety of cars.

As much as he loved being around race cars and race tracks, Smedley said he never once thought about getting behind the wheel.

“I was always a mechanic and never had a desire (to race),” he said. “People that drive race cars are crazy.”

Smedley said even though he never got behind the wheel, he still felt an adrenaline rush on race day.

“I remember watching a car go around the track on Saturday nights and the sweat would run off the palm of my hands because that’s the car I’d been working on,” he said.

A NASCAR team wanted Smedley to join up as a mechanic in the 1970s, but he said he turned down the offer because he was getting married the next year.

“You’re a vagabond ... I don’t think that’s the life for married people, “ he said about the traveling life of a NASCAR crew member. “It takes a very special breed of husband and wife to make that work.”
Smedley’s spirits are high despite the tragic accident and he said there are a lot of racing friends he would like to see again.

“There are a lot of people involved in racing that you meet on Saturday night, but you don’t know them when walking down the street,” he said.

“Unless I go to the race track on Saturday nights, I won’t see them. If I can get around the pits and get into the pits, I’m going there to say ‘hi’ and say ‘good luck’ and enjoy some racing.”
Appeal-Democrat reporter Justin Miller can be reached at 749-4796. You may e-mail him at jmiller@appealdemocrat.com