By Krissy Stock  To understand the passion and determination Todd Shafer has for racing, we need to go back to the race when he almost lost his life. It was the ARCA race at Michigan International Speedway on June 9, 2001. Todd was running well and moving to the front of the field. His daughter Abigail was in the stands to watch her dad race. As excited as she was that day to see her dad race, it unfortunately turned tragic.  A third of the race was in the books when a main oil line fitting broke under stress. As oil spilled on to Todd’s tires, his spotter Ryan Frizzell was yelling “your on fire, your on fire”. Coming into turn one, with tires covered in oil the car went straight and Todd slammed into the wall at an estimated speed of 189 mph per NASCAR. The impact shoved the right front tire back into the cockpit by the gearshift and through the firewall. With that hit, his seat belt latch came unbuckled one notch.  Thankfully, Todd was wearing a Hans Device which he would find out later helped save his life. As the car came down across the track in a ball of flames, his gloves melted to the steering wheel. He inhaled flames, which burned his lungs, chin and neck. He hit the inside wall around 130mph and on impact the second latch on his seat belt came undone. That forced him into the steering wheel, dash, windshield and A-post. It also broke 3 vertebrae in his lower back. The track officials pulled him from the car and life-flighted him to University of Michigan hospital. The track officials covered the car and forbade anyone from taking pictures. That is a sign that they were not even sure Todd would make it.  At the hospital the ER would discover the seriousness of his injuries. In total he broke 3 vertebrae in his lower back, all his ribs on the left side were broken, collapsed lung, broken left ankle, major concussion, burns to lungs and face, and a small fracture in the neck. With temporary paralysis to his lower body, the doctors told his family that he was very lucky to be alive. As the old saying goes it wasn’t his time. The doctors did state that he should never race again and if he did race, the next accident would be the last. Todd’s good friend and competitor, Kerry Earnhardt, who had just lost his father in a racing accident, told the team that if they needed anything to call. He also mentioned that Todd’s car looked 10 times worse then his father’s car.  With all this going on Todd started on the road to recovery. He stayed at the hospital for 2 months and with therapy was able to go from a wheel chair to a walker. Even after he was able to go home, he still had to make the journey to Michigan for 10 months of therapy. During this down time, Todd could only think of one thing. To get back in a racecar. Many people called him crazy but while still wearing a small back brace he climbed into his race car to qualify for the ARCA race at Daytona the following Feb, 2002. With help from 2 of his pit crew, Todd was able to climb into his car and face whatever fears he may have had. That road hasn’t been easy but one thing is for sure, Todd Shafer has even more passion and determination to race then ever before. Taking the desire of racing that he feels so strongly about, has pushed him into running in the NASCAR Busch Series. To know he almost didn’t make it out of that car alive and still wanting to race again shows raw guts and that he is a fighter with a never give up attitude!