Steve Millen & Johnny O'Connell serious accident at Watkins Glen (June 27, 1993) ALL ANGLES & PICS
All Racing Legends
2017-12-04
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It was on 27th June, 1993 at Watkins Glen where Steve Millen, having already won the previous year's overall championship, found himself again in the IMSA GTS Nissan 300ZX - leading the IMSA GTS points standings, well on his way to another title. The car was running beautifully. 37 laps down, past the halfway mark. He and teammate Johnny O'Connell, in the #76 300ZX, were first and second.
At the fast, hilly left-hander in the middle of The Esses, Millen calmly pulled out to pass a slower car the Argo JM19 of Brent O'Neill, which was being lapped. O'Neill suddenly veered into Millen's way. Millen spun lazily down the course. He found himself perpendicular on the track, with little harm done although O'Neill's once-sleek Argo now had a nose like that of a hippopotamus's. He was now in the middle of the track. He backed up some more, to get in the right direction. Entering The Esses, Johnny O'Connell approached 150 miles per hour over the blind crest. O'Connell's 300ZX hit Millen's car in the back. Millen went into a violent spin "like the end of a bullwhip," he later described, hitting O'Neill's car, spraying parts across the track, a sickening noise ensuing. Johnny's car, now on fire, devoid of any bodywork in front of the A-pillar, slid uselessly into the right-side wall. A rush of cars tiptoed gingerly around the wreckage. Johnny O'Connell, stumbling out of his car, was nearly run over by Jay Kjoller's Porsche 911, he leapt over the guardrail and collapsed onto the grass in a heap. O'Neill, too, climbed out of his car and stumbled off.
It took rescuers nearly an hour to extricate Millen from the wrecked race car, to cut him free, they used the "Jaws of Life" on the 300ZX's cockpit. The impact, and the ride to the hospital, remain blanks in Millen's mind. He had fractured his skull in two places; he had broken his jaw, five ribs and his upper arm, and damaged an ear drum and his facial nerves. He couldn't smile or shut his eyes. His jaw was wired shut. For six weeks, he consumed food from a straw. Two months after the accident, doctors grafted a piece of bone from his hip to his humerus, holding it in place with a titanium plate and eight screws.
"I might not be racing if it weren't for what he did with my arm," Millen said of his orthopedic surgeon.
A month after the operation, nearly four months after Watkins Glen, Millen arrived outside Phoenix, Arizona. He was still weak from his injuries. He still had no control over his facial muscles, disconcertingly, he couldn't stop his left eye from weeping. "I couldn't smile," he reflected to the Los Angeles Times, months after the dream season of 1994. "I couldn't close my eyes to try to sleep at night. It was a traumatic thing for my nerves. I was really worried for a long time that I would never race again." But he insisted on testing with Nissan, with the slight hope of rejoining the 1993 season.
The Nissan team had finished the season running only Johnny O'Connell's car, out of respect to Millen. O'Connell had placed first at Laguna Seca and third at Portland, before ultimately coming in second at Phoenix that October. Millen tested for Phoenix anyway - at the speeds he was able to reach, it was enough to convince an outsider that there had never been an accident. That year, Tommy Kendall won the IMSA GTS Driver's Championship with the Roush Racing Mustang. But Millen looked for all intents and purposes to be ready for 1994, whether his body was broken or not.
At the fast, hilly left-hander in the middle of The Esses, Millen calmly pulled out to pass a slower car the Argo JM19 of Brent O'Neill, which was being lapped. O'Neill suddenly veered into Millen's way. Millen spun lazily down the course. He found himself perpendicular on the track, with little harm done although O'Neill's once-sleek Argo now had a nose like that of a hippopotamus's. He was now in the middle of the track. He backed up some more, to get in the right direction. Entering The Esses, Johnny O'Connell approached 150 miles per hour over the blind crest. O'Connell's 300ZX hit Millen's car in the back. Millen went into a violent spin "like the end of a bullwhip," he later described, hitting O'Neill's car, spraying parts across the track, a sickening noise ensuing. Johnny's car, now on fire, devoid of any bodywork in front of the A-pillar, slid uselessly into the right-side wall. A rush of cars tiptoed gingerly around the wreckage. Johnny O'Connell, stumbling out of his car, was nearly run over by Jay Kjoller's Porsche 911, he leapt over the guardrail and collapsed onto the grass in a heap. O'Neill, too, climbed out of his car and stumbled off.
It took rescuers nearly an hour to extricate Millen from the wrecked race car, to cut him free, they used the "Jaws of Life" on the 300ZX's cockpit. The impact, and the ride to the hospital, remain blanks in Millen's mind. He had fractured his skull in two places; he had broken his jaw, five ribs and his upper arm, and damaged an ear drum and his facial nerves. He couldn't smile or shut his eyes. His jaw was wired shut. For six weeks, he consumed food from a straw. Two months after the accident, doctors grafted a piece of bone from his hip to his humerus, holding it in place with a titanium plate and eight screws.
"I might not be racing if it weren't for what he did with my arm," Millen said of his orthopedic surgeon.
A month after the operation, nearly four months after Watkins Glen, Millen arrived outside Phoenix, Arizona. He was still weak from his injuries. He still had no control over his facial muscles, disconcertingly, he couldn't stop his left eye from weeping. "I couldn't smile," he reflected to the Los Angeles Times, months after the dream season of 1994. "I couldn't close my eyes to try to sleep at night. It was a traumatic thing for my nerves. I was really worried for a long time that I would never race again." But he insisted on testing with Nissan, with the slight hope of rejoining the 1993 season.
The Nissan team had finished the season running only Johnny O'Connell's car, out of respect to Millen. O'Connell had placed first at Laguna Seca and third at Portland, before ultimately coming in second at Phoenix that October. Millen tested for Phoenix anyway - at the speeds he was able to reach, it was enough to convince an outsider that there had never been an accident. That year, Tommy Kendall won the IMSA GTS Driver's Championship with the Roush Racing Mustang. But Millen looked for all intents and purposes to be ready for 1994, whether his body was broken or not.
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