Best of ’18: Watch Conway Witten’s Incredible Comp Eliminator Crash From Topeka 1993


Best of ’18: Watch Conway Witten’s Incredible Comp Eliminator Crash From Topeka 1993

While we have been telling you about some of the crazy things that happened at Topeka in 1993 because of the fact that the NHRA tour is racing there this weekend, there’s one story that’s perhaps the most incredible of all. That’s the tale of Conway Witten, the well known and respected super stock and competition eliminator racers who suffered one of the scariest looking incidents in the history of the class during that same weekend. Driving his lightweight, high revving, and very powerful econo-dragster, Witten launched off the starting line in the finals against Jeff Krug who was in the blue street roadster.

The car laid down a little off the hit and then moved to the left with the power coming back on. It then got into the center of the track and turned over, entering into the most violent series of snap-rolls we have ever seen a dragster get into, period. The initial crash is bad enough to be scary but the snap rolls are horrifying and rightfully so because those are the situations and circumstances that get human beings hurt…and Conway got hurt.

The man did not walk away from this one but his story is amazing. He was all but gone to the world as the NHRA Safety Safari was cutting him out of his car and it took some amazingly heroic medical efforts to get him to the hospital where he could really be worked on. Witten spent the next 10 weeks in the hospital and then the 12 weeks after that in rehab getting his physical attributes functioning again. There is one thing that never came back and that’s the ability to speak. Witten can walk, he can write, he can hear, but he cannot speak, an injury stemming from the violence of the wreck, of course.

Normally we specialize only in videos like this where guys walk away. The fact is that Witten did not but his story of survival and recovery is certainly BangShift worthy. Crazy stuff.

Press play below to see one of the scariest dragster crashes ever – Conway made it


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2 thoughts on “Best of ’18: Watch Conway Witten’s Incredible Comp Eliminator Crash From Topeka 1993

  1. David Dinneen

    I was there that day and that video was shot my my friend Don. We used to see Conway at Indy some but I haven’t been to Indy since we quit racing in 2003. You didn’t mention that Jeff Krug lost his life at the Bakersfield Divisional ’97. Two great competitors.
    Bent

  2. Bob Unkefer

    To this day I can watch that run in my mind….. one of my first times announcing Comp in the early years of my NHRA announcing career. I knew it was horrific has it unfolded in front of me. Having never announced an ‘incident” on the track, I deferred to Dave MaC and Bob Frey for their guidance. Bob stepped in and literally walked through the “how to” on announcing such an incident. Do remember there being a lot of silence in the tower while Conway was attended to, and I could tell from the radio chatter that things weren’t good.
    A LOT of prayers were answered that day.
    Conway was able to pull through and we have chatted on-line many times over the years.
    A day at the races that will forever stay with me.

    Bob Unkefer

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