Good Times : Darrell Gwynn Is Still in a Wheelchair and Can’t Feed Himself, but Some Wonderful Things Have Happened to Him Lately

Difficult as it is to believe, Darrell Gwynn is all smiles these days.

The former drag racing champion is still wheelchair-bound, still unable to feed himself after losing part of his left arm and strength in his right side--constant reminders of a crash nearly three years ago in England that left him paralyzed from the chest down.

So why the smile?

“In the last two months, I’ve got a wife, a new sponsor for my race car, a new driver, a new crew and a new job,” Gwynn said Friday as he prepared to oversee Mike Dunn’s qualifying run for Sunday’s Chief Auto Parts Winternationals at the Pomona Fairplex. “My adrenaline has really been pumping the last couple of months.”

Gwynn, 31, was the most promising young drag racer in the country when his top-fuel car crashed during an exhibition April 15, 1990. Only a few days earlier, he had set a National Hot Rod Assn. elapsed-time record of 4.909 seconds for a quarter mile from a standing start at Baytown, Tex.

Friday, he talked of the changes in his life since last October, when the 1992 season ended at Pomona.

--New driver, Mike Dunn: “When Mike Brotherton quit shortly after we left Pomona last year, it left us without a driver. We talked with a number of people, but without a sponsor, we didn’t get anywhere until things began to mesh with Mike Dunn. He’d been out of a job most of the year after Jack Clark pulled out, so he was looking.”

Dunn, 36, grew up in La Mirada, the son of veteran driver Jim Dunn, but lives in Mt. Joy, Pa. He drove funny cars--winning 10 national championship events--from 1976 until last year, when he drove Clark’s top-fuel car in three races.

--New sponsor, La Victoria Foods: “We were two days from closing up the shop for good and sitting out the year when things fell into place. Mike Dunn’s people (Motorsports Marketing Inc.) had been in contact with Robert Tanklage (president of the company, which makes salsa), and when we came into the picture, we put the deal together.

”. . . Shortly after closing the deal with La Victoria, we added Meguiar’s polishes as an associate sponsor.”

--New job, crew chief: “Being the crew chief will give me a purpose for going to the races now. The last two years, I’ve been going just because. I never felt like I was a part of things. Even though I can’t work physically on the car, I feel if I put my mind to work, I can be of help.

“Ken Veney, who has been our crew chief, decided he needed time for other things. So, instead of hiring another crew chief, I decided to do it myself. I feel I can be successful in that role, just as I was as a driver. I’m thankful, though, that Ken will remain as a consultant. . . .

“And my dad (Jerry Gwynn), who was my crew chief when I was driving, is still around as team manager. Preparation is what is going to win us races this year, and a lot of thought has gone on between me and Mike on that. It’s so important that we have our act together when we roll through the gate.”

They had it together Thursday when Dunn qualified at 5.003 seconds and 259.74 m.p.h. It was Dunn’s first run in the car and the third-quickest in the first round. Dunn had not driven any type of race car since last March at Gainesville, Fla.

“We put the deal together so late, we didn’t have time for even one test run, but we worked all winter on it--even when we didn’t know whether or not we’d be racing,” Gwynn said. “It’s not like we started from scratch, but two months ago it didn’t seem like there was any light at the end of the tunnel.”

--New crew: “Over the winter, after losing our sponsor . . . the members of last year’s crew had to start looking out for themselves. They had families to think about, so most of them left for other jobs.

“Brian Vanetti was the youngest member--he’s 22--but he was the glue that held us together. He would have been the last one to go, but he didn’t want to. He finally gave me a deadline, Dec. 19. He said if we didn’t have something settled by then, he’d leave, too. I told myself that if Brian left, that would be the end. I would close up and sit out the year.

“We had two days left when we agreed to the deal with La Victoria. And, to tell the truth, that was after a two-week extension on his deadline. Now the bottom line is that, after putting the team together, we have to make it work.”

--The car: “It’s the car we ran last year, but over the winter we did a lot of work to simplify it. We worked every day with the idea that we would be racing, because we didn’t want to lose ground to the other guys. But the deal came about so late that we didn’t get the car painted until Wednesday, the night before Mike had to qualify.

“All the Gwynn fans will probably do a double-take when they see it. We’ve had the same aqua-blue paint scheme for a couple of years, but now it’s bright red and white.”

--The marriage, to Lisa Hurst, a former Orange Bowl queen: “It was a dream wedding. So many friends were there (in Miami), and we’d waited so long. We were engaged at the time of my accident and were going to get married Nov. 10, 1990. I’ll tell you, it was worth waiting for.

“Lisa will be at some races with me, but right now she is filling out applications for medical school. She is also working in research for the Miami Project (for the cure of paralysis).

“Thursday, I phoned her back home, and just as we were talking, the crew fired up the car. I said, ‘Hear that? That was my car.’ Before I could say anything else, she corrected me. ‘No it’s not, it’s our car,’ she said.”

--His condition: “Life is a day-to-day proposition for me. It gets worse, but it’s better, if you know what I mean. Each day, I (am frustrated about) things I can’t do for myself, things I once took for granted. But also each day, I find more ways to adapt.

“It’s such a big job just getting to the races. I have to have someone fly out with me everywhere I go, but as tough as it’s going to be to get to all of them, I know it will make life easier for me on the weekends. I’ll feel more a part of things this way. Like I said, my adrenaline is really on a high right now, getting ready for Sunday’s race.

“The thing I miss the most, outside of actually driving the car, is hanging around with the guys, helping drive the rig and things like that. Of course, now that I’m a married man, maybe I’d have to give that up anyway, but not being able to hang out is something I really miss.

“One nice thing about my office at the shop back home (in Davie, Fla.) is that I have a huge picture window that looks right down on the car. I can keep a close eye on things, and when I’m not feeling all that happy, I look down at my car--Lisa would say ‘our car’--and realize how fortunate I am that I’m still able to do what I love to do most--go drag racing.”