CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- The start of the 2004-racing season stopped as quickly as it started for Corey Dripps Racing. A violent crash destroyed the car, but thankfully Dripps was able to walk away.

After putting the finishing touches on the new AFCO Racing/Real Racing Wheels no. 31 modified late Friday morning, CDR loaded up and headed to the Junction Motor Speedway in McCool Junction, Neb. It was the team's first United States Modified Touring Series event of the year.

Corey finished second in his heat race, but he did not earn enough passing points to advance to Friday night's A-Main. After a second in his B-Main, Dripps started eighteenth for that night's A-Main.

With the chassis changes the team made, they were confident that the car would fly on the topside. The car hooked up on the cushion and moved forward. By lap ten of the thirty-lap feature, Dripps had the car in fifth place. As he came out of turn two, Dripps began passing the fourth place car, and that's when everything came to sudden stop.

"I really don't know what happened," admitted Dripps. "It felt like I might have cut a right, front tire. The car darted toward the wall, and when I corrected it. I got tagged from the back. That's when the car started to climb the backstretch wall.

"After the car started to climb the wall, it was air, ground, air, ground, air, ground. The car came to a rest on its roof.

"On the first roll, I hit my head," remembered Dripps. "I pulled my legs up, grabbed my head, and waited for it to stop. It seemed like forever." Once the car came to a stop, Corey had trouble getting the safety belts off.

"I heard someone say that there was fueling leaking. I was out of there."

"The car is pretty much junk," said team owner/manager Rick Dripps. "About the only thing that we can save is the motor and 'tranny'. The wheels, tires, fuel cell, seat, rear end, and all the suspension parts are bent or broke."

"It was the worst modified wreck I've ever seen," one fan told the team after the race.

The car rolled somewhere between five and seven times. The force of the wreck ripped a rear bar from the back of the car that had a fifty-pound weight attached to it. That piece hit the back of the roll bar next to Dripps. Even the seat bolts were bent from the force of the impact.

"After the wreck the crew and I set down for a cold one and tried to reflect on what positive came from the evening," stated Corey Dripps. "It was a safe racecar. I was able to walk away. We were real happy with the chassis changes we had made over the winter, as the car was very fast. We then listed what changes we wanted to make on the new car."

Corey Dripps Racing will start building a new car this week. It will take CDR about two weeks to complete it. The plan is to return to action April 2-3 for the USMTS race at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa, Iowa.

"We're not down," stated Rick Dripps. "Disappointed, yes, but excited about how fast the car is. I know we'll be fast out of the box with the new car. With the changes Corey wants to make, we should even be better."

To stay up-to-date with Corey Dripps Racing, log onto the team's web site at www.RaceRPM.com/dripps.