August 13 - Boise, ID - 4 PM - After an
extensive conversation with an obviously distressesed Brad Thompson,
it has been confirmed that his injuries were far more serious
that originally diagnosed. Following a five hour surgery last
night, Thompson left the operating room with titanium screws
and rods in his neck. His injuries include three minor fractures
in his lower back and another in one vertebrae in his middle
back. He has a fractured scapula, which is the large bone in
the shoulder. A fractured sternum, and four broken ribs.
The surgery was done to stabilize
the fracture in the 1 vertebrae in his neck. As for the other
fractures there will be no surgery, only good old fashion healing
time. He obviously has lots of stretched muscles and bruising
in his torso, but nothing that time won't heal.
He was told that it was nothing
short of a miracle that his spinal cord was not severed rendering
him a paraplegic or worse, a quadriplegic. He feels what saved
that fate was his neck collar, Hans devise and a very good Uyehara
race car. Make no mistake, this was a very nasty accident.
By Thompson's own admission,
there were no parts failures - period. He said the car was drifting
slightly to the right by the 900' mark and he was trying to steer
it back into the groove. However, he encountered tire shake and
lost his bearings for an instant. That fast the car "darted"
to the right and hit the wall sending it on a sharp angle slide
across the track where the rear of the cage impacted the wall.
Had it not been the final round he doubts if he would have hung
in that long.
When asked if he needed anything
he replied, "Yea, a new race car."
He expects to remain in Boise
for the next 6 to 7 days at:
Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical
Center
1055 No. Curtis Road
Boise, Idaho 83706
Main Phone: 208-367-2121
inquiries@sarmc.org
E-mail - Brad
Thompson
August 11 - Boise, ID - It was a day of
record runs, upsets and heart stopping drama as the 37th edition
of the Boise Nightfire Nationals concluded in the dark skies
of Idaho. In the semi finals of Top Fuel, Brad Thompson upset
Brett Harris with a superb 5.783 at 262.16 (track record) to
advance to the finals against the consistent 5.7 car of Jim Murphy.
Murphy had to replace an engine
so the final was delayed until 10:15 p.m. Thompson left first
and was leading until the 1000' mark when the car got loose and
impacted the right side guard wall very hard. The impact caused
the car to veer sharply across both lanes and crash into the
left wall as well. Murphy just got by Thompson when he came across
behind him and he was not involved. The rpm came up several times
and it was very difficult to determine exactly what happened.
Word came back that Thompson was awake but groggy when his was
still in the car. After he was extracted he complained about
some pain in his back, chest and arm. He was transported for
X-rays and a complete check up.
Round 1:
Rick White, San Diego CA, Hansen-Rodeck,
Right lane, (0.111) 5.822 235.04 def. Mark Malde, Windsor CA,
Stirling-Chevy, (0.071) 10.521 92.88
Brad Thompson, Visalia CA, Uyehara-Donovan,
Right lane, (0.160) 5.927 242.39 def. Scott Mason, Syracuse UT,
N&P-Chevy, NT-No Show
Mike Cross, Culver City CA, FED-BAE,
Left lane, (0.140) 6.436 215.15 def. Adam Sorokin, Glendale CA,
Uyehara-Rodeck, (0.043) DQ-Centerline
Brett Harris, Kaysville UT, N&P-Rodeck,
Right lane, (0.038) 5.899 248.00 def. Terry Cox, Clarkburg CA,
URC-Hemi, (0.139) 6.293 217.81
Jim Murphy, Santa Rosa CA, Stirling-Rodeck,
Right lane, (0.107) 5.788 255.53 def. Jerry Kumre Jr, Rohnert
Park CA, FED-Chrysler, (0.094) 11.537 75.50
Troy Green, Purcell OK, Stirling-Donovan,
Left lane, (0.093) 5.816 243.77 def. Jason Richey, Pleasanton
CA, Allen-Rodeck, (0.092) 6.078 242.26
Round 2:
B Harris, Left lane, (0.044)
5.847 257.51 def. R White, (0.137) 5.863 240.83
B Thompson, Right lane, (0.129)
6.105 203.80 def. M Cross, (0.131) 6.597 208.76
J Murphy, Right lane, (0.070)
5.768 258.39 def. T Green, (0.049) 5.887 245.36
Round 3:
B Thompson, Right lane, (0.040)
5.783 262.16 def. B Harris, (0.065) 5.824 260.19
J Murphy, Right lane, (1.479)
Took the green light.was unopposed
Round 4:
J Murphy, Left lane, (0.065)
5.991 233.94 def. B Thompson, (0.023) DQ-Disqualified
Low ET: Jim Murphy 5.768 seconds
Top Speed: Brad Thompson 262.16 MPH