CHARLES CARPENTER
have caused the blocked artery that led to the stroke . It wasn ’ t caused by a clot that could move or cause another stroke , but by 100 % blockage that formed over time . The legendary Pro Mod driver has suffered a couple major crashes during the course of his career , and one of those incidents may have created a silently ticking time bomb .
“ It may have been from the wreck I had at the Houston ADRL race [ in 2009 ],” Carpenter says . “ That was a pretty violent crash . But they don ’ t know for sure . They don ’ t have a way to test it to be sure , but they think it is some kind of neck issue , damage in my carotid artery somewhere . These cars are harsh , but I can ’ t think of anything I ’ d done recently that would cause it .”
Despite the major health event , Carpenter is determined to make a complete recovery to the point that he can return to competition in his nitrous-fed ’ 68 Camaro . In just a handful of appearances in 2020 , Carpenter was racing sideby-side with the full-time , top-tier nitrous Pro Modified teams in the PDRA ’ s Pro Nitrous class . He was recording career-best numbers in the 3.70-second range with his 908ci engine , often out-qualifying drivers with 959ci powerplants .
“ The racing is my biggest goal to get back out there ,” Carpenter says . “ That ’ s been my whole life since I was a kid . I want to get back to it again . I feel like I will be able to . It ’ s going to take a lot of work . I just want to get back to where we were .”
The next step on Carpenter ’ s road to recovery is more physical therapy . He ’ s also working through some newfound back pain .
“ I ’ ve had some back injuries show up that I didn ’ t even know I had ,” Carpenter says . “ In my lower back I ’ ve got some herniated discs and I have a lot of back pain . It ’ s
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