By Brad Brickel
Wed, May 26, 2010
Forest Hill, MD - Please keep Douglas Horne in your thoughts this week. A member of TeamRAACE, a top competitor with the NHRA's Pro-Stock Motorcycle Division and a former Pro-Fuel Champion with the AHDRA crashed at over 220 MPH on Sunday May 23rd while competing in the Top Fuel Nitro division of The All Harley Drag Racing Association.
Numidia Dragway in Numidia, PA home to the first ever Screamin' Eagle Performance Parts Liberty Nitro Nationals Presented by Vreeland's Harley-Davidson started out great for Doug as he set a new speed record for the organization with a second round qualifying pass of 237.84 MPH - WOW!!!
Doug won his first round match up with a .059 reaction time and a 6.678 second pass at 215.44 MPH. In the second round, Doug threw down a .180 reaction time with a blistering 6.547 second pass at a staggering 226.47 MPH that was when everything went wrong for the Aberdeen, MD pilot.
According to Doug's father and crew chief Steve Horne: "Just after crossing the finish line Doug normally has a few feet to let the bike settle down, but after witnessing John Breckinridge's crash in round one, he wanted to get on the brakes quickly. Somehow in his eagerness to get on the brakes his hand slipped, getting blown off the brake and handle bar which made him go down on the throttle. With the quick lurch of the added fuel, the bike jerked, pulled his throttle hand off the bars and just lifted him off the back of the bike. Doug's a tough kid - he actually stood up on the track after he stopped rolling. The paramedics quickly got him back to the ground to access his injuries. At the scene - his thumb was definitely broken at the wrist, he got really bad road rash on the same hand and wrist. I am happy to say that as of this afternoon (Tuesday) he is out of surgery - they put three pins in there where the thumb meets the wrist. His shoulder was banged up pretty good - separated and they will probably operate on that next week. But thankfully after cat scans, MRI's, etcÂ… he has no other major injuries except for road rash. He said today on the way to surgery that he's not even sore!"
When asked how the bike fared, Steve said: "Well, we haven't really gone over it yet. We got home from the hospital in PA very early on Monday morning. We took him to the hospital in Baltimore where they ran numerous tests and had him back there today for his first surgery, but the bike was hurt badly. His bike went up over the hill at the end of the drag way, down another 700 feet of asphalt, through the sand trap, through the fence at the end of the grounds, and landed in the neighbors' field. For Doug - probably the worst thing that could have happened was that his purple and yellow RAACE Foundation/Simpson helmet is done, he loved that helmet! Good thing as he walked away without a concussion or any other type of head injury."
Doug will be out of action for the next several weeks while his injuries heal. If you would like to send him well wishes - cards etcÂ… they can be sent to the family business: Horne Concrete Construction Llc, 905 Old Philadelphia Road, Aberdeen, MD 21001-4024.
Doug was also faring well in Pro-Fuel competition with The RAACE Foundation bike when the accident occurred. He was heading towards the finals in that division too. Everyone at The RAACE Foundation would like to thank Doug for the tremendous work that he does to keep kids safe and The Horne family for making The Race Against Abuse of Children Everywhere a priority for them and their racing program. Get well soon Doug, we all are very happy that you'll be up and racing soon. Images courtesy of www.competitionplus.com a leader in on-line drag racing news and information.
