Race commentator thankful he's alive

By CHRISTINA SOBRAN
Staff Writer

Copyright © 2006 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.

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FAIRFIELD -- His jaw is wired shut and he's missing some teeth, but nearly two months after he was crushed by a stock car, television racing commentator Johnny Crawford is out of the hospital.

"I feel good that I'm alive," Crawford, 38, of Fairfield said Monday, three days after his release from Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor. "It could have been worse."

Supporters have planned a spaghetti benefit dinner for Friday evening at the Skowhegan-Madison Elks Lodge to assist Crawford with his medical bills.

The anchor and producer of the cable-TV show "Mainely Motorsports" said he plans to return to work within three or four weeks.

"I've still got my jaws wired," he said. "And I never had a cavity in my life, but now I'm missing four of my real teeth. ... My jaw's still a little swollen."

Crawford spent seven weeks in the hospital. He said he doesn't remember the April 30 crash in which he was nearly killed at Unity Raceway. At the time, he was filming the PASS Outlaw 106 race, standing near his camera and tripod behind a 12-foot-high fence. Crawford, his girlfriend, Kim Cameron, and friend Kami Maheu were in a section designated as a non-spectator area.

Thirteen laps into the 106-lap race, at the first turn of the track, the car driven by Chris Staples of Brunswick struck that of driver Mark Dodge of Anson, causing Dodge's car to slam into a 10-foot embankment, soar through the air and smash through the fence, landing on top of Crawford and knocking down the two women. Crawford was pinned face-down beneath the car. The two women were injured, but not critically.

On the other side of the raceway, Crawford's television co-host, Mark Thomas, saw just a big brown cloud. First responders told him not to get his hopes up that his colleague would survive, he said.

"The whole thing happened behind a dust cloud from my vantage point," said Thomas, who has been filling in as host of "Mainely Motorsports" since the incident. "The people on the scene at first said it didn't look good. There wasn't much optimism on site."

Crawford said he doesn't remember several days following the accident, when doctors kept him in an induced coma.

"On May 8th I remember waking up and seeing my mother and Dick," he said, referring to his stepfather, who he said is like a father to him.

Physically, he is improving, but the medicines make him tired, he said. He looks forward to going back to work, and said he's not afraid to go back to Unity Raceway.

"I don't have fear of going back, but in a spot where I'll hopefully feel much safer," he said.

Mike Lange, a former auto racing columnist who is helping organize Friday's benefit, said it is a way for the racing community to help one of their own get back on his feet.

"He has just been very good for the sport as a promoter," Lange said. "In that sort of situation, insurance doesn't cover everything and you still have a stack of bills left over."

For Crawford's part, he said he wants to thank everyone for the support he's received.

"I can't thank all the people enough," he said. "I must have received three or four thousand e-mails. ... It's been a long recovery; it's not been easy."

Christina Sobran -- 861-9253

csobran@centralmaine.com