On Saturday, during the third round of qualifying, Hot Street racer and friend-to-all, Nick Bacalis, was involved in an absolutely terrifying accident at KCIR's top end. With no brakes and traveling between 80 and 100 mph, Nick went straight off the end of the dragstrip, crashing through woods and into a river beyond the shutdown area, where his car began to sink quickly. Had it not been for the quick and selfless actions of Chris "Noodles" Hemmeter, who jumped into the water and pulled Nick from the wreckage, the tragedy could have been fatal. Miraculously, Nick suffered only a broken finger, several bruises, and some soreness. While the Dan Parker chassis held firm and was a major contributor to Nick's walking away from this accident, the '87 Mustang GT around that 'cage unfortunately was damaged beyond any chance of repair.
We didn't ask Noodles if he felt like a hero after his actions. We didn't need to. He is a hero in our book. Nick's dad, Matt Bacalis, said he is grateful for the selfless and courageous efforts of Chris Hemmeter, and also asked that we thank Dave Hopper and Andy Schmidt for their quick actions in the rescue of his son.
Despite being understandably shaken, both racers were gracious enough to grant us exclusive interviews shortly after the accident and rescue. Here, in their own words, are accounts of what happened:
"I hit the brakes, I had no brakes, and I pulled the parachute. I tried to scrub speed off after I pulled the 'chute by swerving the car back and forth, but it wouldn't slow down. At the end of the grass there's a cliff going into the water. I hit the water, unbuckled, tried to kick open the doors but the doors, wouldn't open, so I was kickin' one door and then Noodles was able to open one door as I was kicking it, and he saved my life 'cause I was drowning.
I was doing at least a hundred (mph). It's a 15- to 20-foot cliff, and I almost made it to the other side [of the river]. When it hit [the opposite riverbank], the front nose hit and it just slid down into the water and turned sideways. I almost jumped it all the way over to the other side of the river. It landed and just stayed on its four tires and started sinking. The hood was thrown about 40 feet away from the car and the parachute was tangled in a tree. All you could see was the top of the car. By the time he pulled me out there was no more."
"I was folding my 'chute and I didn't believe that the car had gone by, it had to be going at least 80 mph. I heard him crackling through the woods . . . and then I stood there and realized that it really happened, so I started running into the woods and ripping all my gear off. Once I ran in there, about 20 feet in there's a 5-foot ditch. I fell down, but I looked ahead to try and see where the car was, like straight ahead, but it wasn't there, so I got up and started running more, and the next thing you know, I'm flying down an 18-foot mudslide. When I first got into the water I could hear him yelling, 'Help, help,' and I was freaking out 'cause I don't know CPR or anything. I actually thought he was gonna be busted up 'cause the car was hauling when it went by.
"By the time I got back up and ran through the water, there was only like 6 or 7 inches of car visible. Well, I'm thinking that the car had stopped sinking, so I started swimming through the mud and when I got to it there were about 2 to 4 inches sticking out of the water. Once I got to the door I just wailed on it and it just flew right open and water rushed in. I think there was something, possibly part of the [Funny Car] rollcage that was holding him 'cause he was kind of turned around in there, but once I put my arm inside the car and he realized what was going on, he grabbed me and we went out. Then we just lay on the back of the car, got his helmet off and water out, and waited for help getting out of there."