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By Hank Dewald/Daily Herald Staff Writer

BRINKLEYVILLE, NC – Tim Totherow is a dirt track racer chasing the Brickdirt National Super Street Championship this weekend at Clary’s Speedway. Ordinarily, that would not be a surprising statement, but Totherow is no ordinary dirt tracker, he will be driving with a handicap.

Totherow, 41, has driven race cars since he was 18 years old, so he knows how to drive a dirt track race car. His driving career was unfortunately sidetracked in May of 2006, when a construction accident left him an incomplete paraplegic.

“Because my spinal cord wasn't severed, I have a good chance at regaining some use of my legs. I will never be able to return to construction, but with vocational retraining, I can hopefully return to another line of work,” Totherow explained.

During the intensive physical therapy that followed, he suffered another emotional blow when his father lost a long battle with cancer and died on Sept. 19 of that same year.

Losing his father, who had inspired and nurtured his love for racing, actually further inspired Totherow to work harder towards rehabilitation.

“Watching his ‘never give up’, ‘never complain’ attitude has inspired me to not only conquer my disability, but to do what he and my entire family have enjoyed for so long; race!” Totherow said.

He and his team will make the nine-hour “pull” from his home in Tennessee to Clary’s Speedway. Racers call the trip a “pull” because you are pulling a racecar trailer behind you the entire way.

While their goal is the same as all the other drivers coming to Clary’s this weekend — to win, Totherow is a realist. He knows some of the best drivers on the East Coast will be at Clary’s for the second annual Brickdirt National Super Street Championship.

With multiple heat wins this year, the team feels confident they have a good chance at making the race and maybe even a shot at a top five finish in The Brickdirt Nationals.

“We want to compare our Super Street program with the best in the country, to see how we stack up and what better place than Clary’s, because we know the heavy hitters will be there,” he said.

The winner of the event will be crowned the new Super Street National Champion. The Super Street class is a limited preparation class that often draws some of the best drivers because with the engine horsepower and chassis setup restrictions, racing expenses are much more reasonable than the more expensive Limited Late Model and Super Late Model classes.

Dirt track racing fans also like the class because other than the huge tires, the super street cars look more like the actual cars they drive every day on the road than any of the fiberglass-bodied, late-model dirt track cars.

Tim and the team invite everyone to stop by his paddock area and say hello. “We look forward to having a great time and eating some of those hot dogs at the cookout on Friday night, we’ve read so much about.”

Totherow was referring to the Carolina Packers Hot Dog Eating Contest that is part of the two-day event. He will not be competing in that one, he said with a laugh.

If you go: The gates open at 4 p.m. on Friday at Clary’s Speedway in Brinkleyville and racing starts at 7 p.m. Saturday, the pit gates open at noon, the grandstands at 3pm and the racing begins at 630 p.m.

THE BEST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED
By J.A. Ackley, Speedway Illustrated Magazine(this article appeared in the July 2008 issue and is reprinted here)
October 21, 2008

Jarvis Totherow describes his brother Tim’s life-changing incident as “the best thing that ever happened.” And Tim agrees: “I’m happier now than I have ever been.” Tim’s new and happier life includes a first career feature victory in a hobby stock at Boyd’s Speedway in Ringgold, Georgia, after three decades of trying.

What brought Tim to this better life?

A paralyzing fall off a ladder, a 10-week hospital stay, and over a year of intense therapy.
Forty-year-old Tim Totherow of Signal Mountain, Tennessee, started racing in a car owned by his father Herb when he was 18. He ran many Tennessee tracks during the 1980s and 1990s but victory lane eluded him. In 2000, he stopped racing when his father fell ill with cancer. One medical malady after another followed. Tim’s father went into remission, but suffered a heart attack. Then he broke his neck, hip, and arm in a car accident. Then the cancer returned.

Tim’s turn came next. On May 4, 2006, he fell off a ladder while working at his construction job. He knew right away he was in trouble.

“When I first fell I knew that I’d probably broken my back,” Totherow said. “I knew I was paralyzed... I had no feeling and no movement. I tried to remain still, although I was in a huge amount of pain. I never lost consciousness and I tried to remain calm.”
Totherow calmed himself and others by taking charge. He asked a coworker to call 911, then had him call Totherow’s home. Despite the gravity of his injury, he gave clear instructions. This is what he said: “One of my daughters will answer the phone; don’t tell them what’s happened. Have them go get their mother. When my wife gets on the phone, tell her what happened and what hospital they are taking me to.”

The doctors diagnosed Tim with an L1 burst fracture. To the doctors, that meant when Tim fell, the impact compressed the highest vertebra in the lumbar region and it exploded.

To Tim, it meant paraplegia for life.

“I was pretty upset about it,” Tim said. “But I didn’t ever let it really get me down because I knew there would be positive out of this. I have a strong Christian faith and things happen for a reason. The Lord would use this in order to strengthen me, strengthen my family, strengthen somebody around me.”

Totherow’s long road to recovery started with surgery. The doctors removed all the bone-fragment shrapnel in and about his spine. They fused six vertebrae with two stainless-steel rods and many screws. They also put a cuff around the burst L1 vertebra.
After surgery, Tim started therapy. “We [worked on] muscles in my upper body because I had to adapt my upper body for things I always used my lower body for, like maneuvering around,” he said. “Being in a manual wheel chair, I need to be able to push myself around and transfer myself from my chair to whatever.

“Then we worked on trying to activate other muscles. The more you try to use something, the faster it will try to regenerate growth of the damaged nerves.

“We also attempted electronic stimulation, where they put a unit on you to try to give a signal to the muscles to activate them with your thought process. Your body can redirect [signals] from different nerve endings and build a bypass around the damaged nerves.”

During this difficult time, Totherow had the itch to race, even if he didn’t know how serious that itch was.

“While in the hospital, my brothers were there [and I said], ‘You know I would love to drive a race car,’” Tim said. “Well, my brothers took me seriously. Theyworked on adapting a car for someone completely paralyzed. They brought me all this research they’d done. They showed me schematics of things they had designed to allow me to drive completely with my hands.

“At first I got kind of aggravated and upset. I felt they were pushing me into something that I didn’t think I could do. I was watching Speed Channel one day, and I saw Evan Evans, the [paralyzed] off-road racer. I watched him drive. And you know what? [I realized] that it was something I could do.”

Totherow's Triumph concludes with Part II: Getting Back On Track.

GETTING BACK TO THE TRACK
By J.A. Ackley, Speedway Illustrated Magazine
October 24, 2008

His doctor also gave Tim the OK to race. “I asked if there was any recreational activity that they wouldn’t want me to do,” Tim said. “They basically said no, [I] had healed completely. He told me, ‘You would know not to do it if it were something that would cause you discomfort, pain, or difficulty.’ He didn’t see any problem or have any concerns, other than a major accident that would [also] injure an able-bodied person.”

Tim’s older brother Mike had a hobby stock he was planning to race. But he gave up his seat to Tim. Both Mike and Jarvis have extensive racing experience and are former employees at Competition Cams. In addition, Jarvis was an engine tuner at Penske Racing South, owns an engine shop, and was a Nationwide and ARCA RE/MAX series crew chief, with a win at ARCA’s last event at Watkins Glen.

Tim has other sources of support as well. “My daughter, Shanoa – she’s 14 now, 13 at the time [of the accident] – had been one of my biggest helps because she helps me to be able to work on the car,” Tim said. “So any time my brothers are not able to be there, she’s there to help. Also, my nephew Zach has helped a great deal on the car. Then I have all the support of my family—my wife Shanda and my youngest daughter Mckenzie, who helps where she can.\

“It’s been a great experience for our family.”

Last October doctors classified Tim MMI (Maximum Medical Improvement), which means it’s unlikely he will see any further progress. From knees down he lacks muscle control. He has diminished feeling in his right leg and no feeling in his left. He has good quad strength and some hamstring and glute strength. He can walk with assistance, but it’s very taxing on his upper body so he still uses a scooter.

However, with some minor adaptations, he has returned to his beloved sport.

“We adapted the race car to where I swing my feet and get in off a little rascal electric scooter,” Tim said. “I drive with my right leg and I use a hand-control clutch. I don’t have the ankle articulation, so we worked on throttle control. We adjusted the linkage and carburetor, things like that, to allow me to feather the throttle.”

In his first race back he planned to “stay in the rear and out of trouble.” He accomplished that and earned a ninth-place finish. In his second race he felt more comfortable. When the dust settled at the 1/3-mile clay Boyd’s Speedway, Totherow had won his first career feature. He finished the season with two more podium finishes in six events.

It was an unlikely path to success.

“It seems like it’s easier this time,” Totherow said. “I have the help and support. I believe I’m a more mature driver. I think a lot more. I pay attention a lot more. I’m not overly aggressive, which was my problem before. I still have aggression, it’s just more controlled.”

During Totherow’s rehabilitation his father passed away. “The one thing I regret is we didn’t get the car together in time for my father to watch me race,” Totherow said. “I really would have liked for him to see that.”

Totherow’s ordeal provided him with a new perspective, and it’s led him to some motivational speaking opportunities. “I believe I can use my driving to inspire other people to follow their dreams and accomplish anything,” he said.

His advice for fellow paraplegics: “Don’t feel sorry for yourself. Work hard. Believe in yourself and your goals. If people are willing to help you, allow them to, because it means more to them than it does to you.

“Don’t be bitter. You have two types of people: the very bitter and those who realize there’s more to life than just being an able-bodied person. Everyone has difficulties. Some people can bear those difficulties easier than others. Just because a person doesn’t have the amount of disability I have, doesn’t mean their life is on par. You can take any part of your life and turn it into a positive. Look at the bright side.”

Tim Totherow’s bright side includes more motivational speaking, going back to school for his newest career path—accounting—and making a run for the Boyd’s Speedway hobby stock championship.