RACER: Robin Miller on Pancho Carter
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- čas přidán 7. 03. 2015
- A few months after nearly losing his life in an Indy car, Duane "Pancho" Carter hobbled out to his sprint car and drove right back into the winner's circle to begin one of the great comeback stories in open wheel racing.
Already a two-time USAC sprint car champion and rookie of the year at Indianapolis, Carter was testing at Phoenix in November of 1977 when he crashed into the armco guardrail on the inside of the front straightaway. The impact crushed his pelvis and sciatic nerve in his right leg, in addition to rupturing his bladder and losing a huge amount of blood. Doctors said he probably wouldn't walk again, let alone drive a race car, but the second generation star was back in a sprinter at Indianapolis Raceway Park in April.
Using a special throttle device that allowed his leg muscles to operate the throttle, Carter captured the 40-lap feature and win on to claim the 1978 USAC dirt car title.
Although road racing was almost out of the question due to his injury, Carter was still a force on ovals in Indy cars -- winning the 1981 Michigan 500 and pole position at Indy in 1985.
He scored 42 sprint wins, 23 in midgets, five in dirt cars and the one Indy car triumph to rank ninth all-time in USAC's overall list.
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So many great people that raced 😊 your a great race fan and reporter ❤robin Miller is a winner .😊😊😊😊😊
AMEN ROBIN !
Yep !
Pancho was one tough driver !
It honestly hurt me to watch him walk, but not only could he walk,
( albeit with one hell of a limp )
But the man would strap himself in a race car, and you would never know he had been injured so terribly !
He's just one tough man, and one of my heroes to this day !
Thanks again for your features Robin !
THEY WERE ALL GIANTS IN OPEN WHEEL RACING. NOBODY. TODAY COULD RUN WITH THESE GREATS. NOBODY. GOD BLESS THEM ALL.
Thanks Robin... Great stuff
More please!!!!
Great video. Thanks
seen pancho at winchester on that sat.(on his 2nd race after his bad crash )remember he won nite before at I.R.P in a sprint car..they had to pick him up to help him get in is car..got his autograph and pictures of the race that he won.Also on july 4 usac had the independance 100 at salem in 1977.he won 1st midget 50 laper.....hopped in his sprint won 1st sprint 50 lapper....hopped back in his midget won 2nd 50 lapper......hopped back in his sprint and lead all but last ten laps when tom biglow passed him for win..still have the program....P>S. all the races i have seen in my lifetime.he did one of two best sprint moves on dirt.It was usac race at the action track in t.h. he started on the outside of the 3rd row. we was sitting in the infield .AT THE DROP OF THE GREEN TO START FEATURE HE HAD THE LEAD COMING OUT OF THE 2 TURN HE NEVER LOOKED BACK>>>
Was phenomenal used to see him at Du Quion lLLINOIS (magic mile ) circa 82 dominated
Saw him road race at Riverside in 82 at the air cal 500. He was awesome on dirt.
Great Driver used to see him at Du Quoin ILL. early 80s he drove a white car I agree never saw anybody dominate on those outdoor USAC mile tracks some of best racing ever seen old offenhauser engines could hear miles away at my grandmothers house across the cornfields in the Midwest heat
Pancho was my favorite Driver when my Dad took me to Eldora in the late 70's.
Pancho was one of the best.The reason why Penske wouldn't sign him in those days,was because he wanted his drivers to stick to Indy cars (see Gary Bettenhausen).Dan Gurney was more understanding.
Penske wanted his drivers to stay in whatever type of car they were racing for him. Gary Bettenhausen is a good example of that, and so is the man who replaced him with his NASCAR team after he got hurt, Bobby Allison. Allison first drove for Penske at the ran and tragedy-marred 1973 Indianapolis 500, but by 1974, he was struggling in NASCAR, but after Bettenhausen got hurt, Penske's AMC Matador needed a driver, and Roger already knew Allison from their experience at Indy in 1973, so they struck a deal to put Allison in Penske's Matador, and they won four times together, not including a Daytona qualifying race in 1975 that they won. But things got a bit tougher in '76 when they switched to Mercury, but when Allison was injured in a modified race late in 1976, Penske fired him and then left the sport a year later to focus on IndyCar racing, and except for a short 2-race stint in 1980, would not return to NASCAR until 1991.
i am from speedway indiana a d went to school with duane pancho carter and johnny parsons.....very nice guy
I heard that Pancho & Johnny were half-brothers.....was that true?
Randy Dubin yes.
Pancho's half-brother is Johnny Parsons,Jr.
Saw Pancho at MIS once in the paddock...he had an awful limp, wearing some ratty clothes and getting into the worst looking beat-up camper. I just felt so bad for him. A short distance from him were the big-name drivers, big-name teams, and their posh motorhomes and hospitality spreads. Such a contrast.
Robin needs to write a book!!!!!!!! He knows everything because he lived it.
Always liked pancho just from his time at the speedway I got a great picture I took of him at indy he was sitting a golf cart on a practice day on pit road & just as I snap the picture he turn & looked right in to the shot
I went to high school with Panch. Marina High School in Huntington Beach.
He did have a charming way about him. Great and wicked sense of humor in that at times, it was a bit off the wall but a lovable guy.
He was competitive. He was on wrestling team and participated in a lot of sports.
His car, that he bought brand new in 68, which was a blue RoadRunner, was the bomb! He took his girlfriend at the time, Diane and I out for a hair raising test drive down Goldenwest Street in Huntington Beach. It wasn't a through street back then slight hills because of the old oil fields. IT WAS AN "E" TICKET RIDE!
He is tough, competitive, and most of all admired by those of us back here in California who shared his friendship.
Take care, dear friend. Have thought of you often.
Didn't know all that. Just know Mother always paid attention to him during the Radio broadcast listening days of the 500. Lyod Ruby as well. Post divoiice days? Either had the hots for or felt sorry for!😕
Pancho or Steve Kinser should have been the next Foyt.
Pancho was the only person to ever drive a race car that knew how to use a semicolon.
; How's that?
@@timford3599
I don’t get it ! Or should it be ? Maybe#
Great stuff ! Robin is the best....the rest of racer.....well ....errrrrr.....they banned me because I think miatas are a girls car
Boomer Po Don't hate, bro.
You're correct the "Girl's Car" thing started with the Mazda RX7. The Corvette was the Man's Car!