Click here for Mending Mendy pics

It looked like it was going to be a good Funny Car final round at the 2008 LVMS Speed Spectacular; Mendy Fry was to face off against Nate Bugg. Mendy was low qualifier and running consistent 6.20’s in Gary Messenger’s “Future Flash” Dodge, and she was the odds-on favorite at every sportsbook in town! The “Lil Nate” team, however, were determined to give Mendy a run for the money and made ready to throw everything they had at their worthy opponent!

At the hit, Mendy shot out of the gate and appeared to be on her way to another great run, when suddenly the car made a hard right turn! A mechanical failure put oil under the right slick, and the left rear drove the car hard into the LVMS retaining wall!

Onlookers gasped in horror as the beautiful machine was dashed against the concrete barrier; the right front wheel ripping off and the body thrown into the air like a leaf! Yet, as lightening fast as it happened, it was nevertheless evident that Mendy had done all she could to keep the car from hitting the wall and then keeping it out of Nate’s way after it did. She had the wheels cranked hard left when she got out of shape, but there just wasn’t enough room to catch it. She then did a masterful job of keeping the damaged but still moving chassis to the side of the track and getting it stopped.

There was silence in the stands as the LVMS Fire & Safety crew got to the scene and then a deep sigh of relief when Mendy climbed out of the car!

Once the dust settled and Mendy and the all the “pieces” were back in the Messenger pit area, it was obvious that the incident could have been much, much worse!

Amazingly, Mendy had only a contusion on her right forearm, where it had slammed against the roll cage, and she held an ice pack to it as Donnie Couch and the crew assessed the damage. Apart from losing the right A-arm and smashing the exhaust header, the chassis appeared to be unhurt! And, at least to me, the body damage looked “repairable”!

The truth is, my involvement in the business of motorsports in fact began, some 41 years ago, at a fiberglass repair and paint shop in Bellflower, California. And, ironically, I got that job through my association with none other than my friend Gary Messenger!

Exactly how it came about is fodder for another story, so suffice it here to say that I was ready and willing to put my fiberglass skills back into action; I love the smell of polyester resin in the morning!

Working with fiberglass isn’t rocket science, in fact, once you know the basics, it’s fairly easy to master. The only downside is that it’s an extremely nasty, itchy job! But since that’s where I got started, jumping in to do the fiberglass repair on Gary’s body was for me like throwing Br’er Rabbit into the briar patch!

Within a week, Terri and I were driving to California (actually Terri “Toonces” does all the driving), and straight to Gary’s Chino race shop. The Future Flash crew had the damaged tin removed, and the body ready for repair.

The areas of major damage were pretty much confined to the front spoiler and the right rear corner of the body. With enthusiastic help from “Bondo Mondo” (the shop Maintenance Man), we were soon grinding away!

We “got er done” in just four days, thanks in big part to the fact that photo-journalist Darr Hawthorne had the presence of mind to collect and hang on to all the broken body pieces after the crash; some of which he had to retrieve from the LVMS Fire & Safety truck. Using masking tape, C-clamp, wood screw and ice cream stick technology, we were able to glass the pieces back in place; saving us a tremendous amount of time.

The Future Flash team congratulates Lil’ Nate for their win and especially thanks them for their concern and good sportsmanship. Terri and I want to thank Mike and Donna Basso for letting us stay at their beautiful home during our “Mending Mendy” vacation, and thank God the only mending necessary was to the replaceable and repairable parts and pieces!

Mendy Fry and the Future Flash will be back on track at Boise, August 7-10, 2008, for the 37th Annual Pepsi Nightfire Nationals!