Back in the driver’s seat
July 01, 2008 - 10:00 AM
by Trevor Pyle
by Trevor Pyle
Enumclaw’s Henry Van Dam has been a familiar face the past several years at Skagit Speedway.
As far as talent is concerned, the competitive season of the 26-year-old driver is not surprising. But it is considering the adversity he elbowed aside to get there.
Van Dam broke his back and neck in a horrific crash during Memorial Day weekend last season and ended up in a halo unit, unsure if he’d ever race again.
Now he’s back, and although he’s concentrating on racing at Elma this season— with only a pair of appearances at Skagit — he still remembers the support he got from fans and other members of the racing community in Skagit and elsewhere.
Van Dam, born and raised in Enumclaw, started racing in 2002.
He became a familiar presence in Skagit Speedway’s Sportsman Sprints division, and also ran well at other tracks.
He won his first race at Elma in 2005 and took a Northern Sprint Tour feature event in 2006.
Van Dam became known for impressive comebacks, in one instance storming from 20th to fourth.
“I’ve never been a good qualifier. It’s made me have to pass people,” he said. “We’ve gotten good at coming from the back and getting decent finishes.”
At a race in Lebanon, Ore., last season, an accident sent Van Dam’s car over the track’s four-foot wall. The car landed on its tires, but with such force Van Dam broke three vertebrae — two in his back and one in his neck.
The injuries were so severe that Van Dam was left a half-inch shorter than he was before the accident.
Though he was in intensive care for three days, doctors were able to immobilize him in order to let the vertebrae heal.
They soon determined that he would recover well, but would have to spend 10 weeks in a halo brace and flack jacket.
The halo is a device secured to the skill with pins, preventing movement of the neck. The jacket served a similar purpose for his back.
While halo devices are useful in allowing injuries to heal, they can also be bulky and uncomfortable — a fact Van Dam quickly learned.
“It was weeks before I could start sleeping more than two hours,” he said. “The thing I remember most was being so hot. During the summer it, was so hot you immediately start itching and sweating. After the first few weeks, the pain was bearable. ... But heat — that was the real thing to deal with. You had to make sure you stayed cool, drank enough water. Otherwise you’d be worn out about halfway through the day.”
While Van Dam was uncomfortable, he was buoyed by the support of the racing community. He received cards, money and visits.
“The racing community was huge. It was overwhelming,” Van Dam said. “I heard from a lot of people I didn’t know, people I hadn’t heard from (before). It was an awesome feeling to know you have so much support. That was big — to see how much racing is really a family.”
Van Dam said that early in his recovery he grappled with — and accepted — thoughts that he may not race again.
Once he learned his recovery would be complete, those thoughts evaporated.
“It didn’t take long to talk myself back into it,” he said.
When he returned, his first race was in Elma.
“Coming back, I was worried we’d be slow, that I’d lost my edge to go fast. But it all came back quick,” he said.
Van Dam finished third. (He nonchalantly said of the race, “We ran with no brakes, so that was kind of a hindrance.”)
He continued the strong driving. With four top-five finishes in five races this season, he was the points leader going into last weekend.
Van Dam drove in one weekly feature this season at Skagit Speedway and competed at Dirt Cup. He hopes to compete in the World of Outlaws event at Skagit Speedway on Aug. 29-30.
Even if he doesn’t make it back to Skagit Speedway this season, Van Dam will likely remember how the fans at Skagit —and other racing fans in the state — helped him while he was injured.
He said he was impressed how foes on the track can help each other in times of need.
“You always want to beat your competition, but I was amazed at how everyone comes together as a family,” he said.
Trevor Pyle can be reached at 360-416-2156 or by e-mail at
