Legendary Canadian drag racer Barry Paton was injured during a fluke starting line mishap at NHRA Las Vegas….

Paton was injured when his driver Tim Boychuk (from Edmonton) was staging the Paton Racing dragster during the very first qualifying session for the NHRA Toyota Nationals at the The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Friday.

Barry was knocked down while walking toward the staging beams when the car unexpectedly lurched forward. He appeared to be struck by the left rear tire and fell to the surface striking his head.

NHRA emergency medical personnel immediately attended to Paton at the scene and he was then taken to Medical University Center of Southern Nevada as a precaution.

Thankfully Barry was released later last Friday afternoon and was actually back at the race track later that evening.

According to Barry’s son Todd, “The nurses had enough of him by late Friday afternoon. He was beaten up pretty badly however – he ended up with a broken nose and wrist and a dozen or so stitches above his right eye and a mild concussion. He looked like he went a few rounds against Ronda Rousey!”

The incident caused the Paton Racing team to withdraw from the Las Vegas event.  They are however scheduled to enter Top Fuel competition for the season-ending NHRA Finals at Pomona in two weeks with Shawn Reed as the driver.  The team will also in fact be licensing Cameron Ferre in the car this Monday at Las Vegas.

Posted by: Bruce Biegler