Cory Reed, the NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle racer who crashed into teammate Joey Gladstone during eliminations Sunday at the DeWalt Carolina Nationals at zMAX Dragway at Concord, N.C., is scheduled for surgery to repair a compound fracture of his left leg above the ankle, according to Gladstone.
“Just so everyone has an update . . . he did have a compound fracture in his left tib/fib [tibia and fibula] right above the ankle. Also, his shoulder is broken,” Gladstone posted on his Facebook page Sunday evening. “Tomorrow [Monday] a group of specialists are going to take a closer look at his leg and come up with the best game plan for surgery, which is scheduled for tomorrow [Monday]. He has no road rash. He is in a lot of pain, but he’s a warrior. He is in great spirits, all things considered.”
He was in the opposite lane for a second-round match-up against Reed and had just defeated Reed at a speed of 193.24 mph. Reed crossed the finish line at 192.47 mph, then his bike started drifting out of the groove. As they started to slow their bikes, Reed’s crashed into Gladstone’s, flipped around, and pitched Reed off and onto the track into a narrow wedge between the nose-down bike and the guard wall.
Gladstone said when he stopped his motorcycle and rushed back to the scene, Reed “was as usual being tough as nails and knew exactly what was broken. I stayed with him for a while til he told me to get out, get back and win this thing.”
He went on to race top qualifier and points leader Steve Johnson in the semifinal – and narrowly escaped another collision, as Johnson’s bike nearly went out of control, coming within inches of strike Gladstone. Angelle Sampey defeated Gladstone in the final round.
“A lot have reached out about today, and we appreciate everyone’s thought and prayers,” the race runner-up wrote. “Thanks again for the well wishes and prayers! I wish he could have seen everyone at the track that was concerned about him, because it was truly moving.”
Reed was the No. 11-seeded Countdown contender. Gladstone is ranked sixth, 101 points off Johnson’s lead but just six points out of the top five.
Susan Wade has lived in the Seattle area for 40 years, but motorsports is in the Indianapolis native’s DNA. She has emerged as one of the leading drag-racing writers with nearly 30 seasons at the racetrack, focusing on the human-interest angle. She was the first non-NASCAR recipient of the prestigious Russ Catlin Award and has covered the sport for the Chicago Tribune, Newark Star-Ledger, and Seattle Times. She has contributed to Autoweek as a freelance writer since 2016.
