RPW Exclusive: The Eastern States Weekend That CG Morey & LJ Lombardo Will Not Soon Forget

Column By: BOBBY CHALMERS / RPW – MIDDLETOWN, NY – Probably the scariest moment of Sunday at Orange County Fair Speedway was the accident during the Modified B-Main that involved CG Morey and LJ Lombardo which left both drivers with injuries that will need time to heal.

It all started on lap three when two cars go together heading into turn one. In turn, those two forced the #14 of Morey towards the turn one pit opening head-on. The violence of the impact spun his car around completely in midair and right into the side of the #35 of Lombardo. Morey then rolled his car over before coming to rest against the outside wall in turn one.

The sheer volatility of the impact with the inside wall is what made many in attendance cringe, with good reason. From that moment, Morey knew he was in trouble.

“As soon as I hit the wall, I felt a pop,” Morey said Monday afternoon from his hospital bed. “Good thing is that I was awake through the whole ordeal. This isn’t the best situation right now, and hitting that pit opening wasn’t either, but you can’t make everything perfect. We know this is a dangerous sport.”

The “pop” that CG is referring to is the T11 vertebrae in his back. While it won’t require surgery to repair, doctors are still cautious.

“The said I don’t need surgery but want to keep an eye on me right now,” he said. “They have me sitting up which is good and I should be walking soon. Was told this should heal on its own and as soon as I can walk they’ll let me go home.”

Good news. Monday afternoon, Morey was making his way back to his Vermont home.

To many that were at Middletown Sunday, it is still just amazing how fast the accident took place, including to Morey.

“I was going to the inside of Butch Tittle and he and (Rusty) Smith got together,” he said. “Both just pushed their way to the bottom and that’s where I was. It’s all just part of racing.”

The silver lining, if you can see one, with this accident, is that all safety aspects held up perfect for such a vicious crash.

“I can’t say enough about how good of a car Bicknell makes,” he said. “The cage held up perfect and kept me safe. The track crew only had to cut some of the bars so they could get me out easier with my injury. All of my safety equipment did its job. I got hurt simply because of the sudden stop and change in direction.”

Lombardo, on the other hand, was frustrated that he was even in the B-Main to begin with.

“We shouldn’t have been in that race to start with,” Lombardo said. “We just sucked on Friday. We need to rethink what we’re doing with our car…maybe go new but everything happens for a reason I guess.”

Being such a split-second decision, Lombardo really didn’t have much time to react when he saw everything unfolding in front of him.

“I started to turn to the right as soon as I saw CG heading toward the pit entrance,” he said. “It all happened so fast. There was nowhere I could go.”

As soon as Morey’s car made contact with LJ, it sent the #35 up the track and into the K3 of Danny Cronk. With such a violent impact, it stunned LJ, who still did everything he to qualify for the 200, even though he knew something was wrong.

“My back was hurting as soon as the impact happened,” he said. “However I didn’t realize it was my ribs that were broke. Adrenaline is a crazy thing but as soon as the B-Main was over, I needed help getting out of the car and I just knew something wasn’t right.”

After consulting with a doctor and going through tests, it was determined that LJ had two broken ribs and a bruised neck. Even through the pain, it took a ‘special visitor’ to get him to the doctors.

“My girlfriend Mikey (Albreada) came home from school in Italy to see me run Eastern States and put me right back in line,” he said with a laugh. “Sunday night, she realized my entire left side was all bruised and I just didn’t say anything to anyone. I’m not one to goes to the doctor, but she knew it had to be done.”

He knows it was a good thing he did so that he can make sure his injuries heal correctly.

“The back half of two ribs are broken,” he said. “I went to make sure nothing was touching my lungs because deep breaths normally cause a ton of pain with broken ribs.”

When Lombardo replays the accident in his mind, he believes he was just a victim of circumstances, and he doesn’t mean just the wreck itself.

“My honest opinion is that I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time,” he said. “When you put $2,000 on the line to win a B-Main, start 25 cars and qualify seven, there will always be serious wrecks. Believe me, I get it. They wanted the drivers to race for something but that was just out of hand.”

Now both drivers have wrecked racecars sitting in their shops that they have to evaluate and see what can be fixed. While Morey’s car is a write-off, it’s still too early to determine if Lombardo will fix his Teo chassis or look for something new.

“From what I have seen, the front clip is toast on it,” he said. “The frame is pushed so far in that it cracked the valve cover.”

Just a CG Morey stated, we all know auto racing is a dangerous sport. It’s something that we all wish we could do but only a handful get the opportunity to try and even fewer succeed at by grasping the checkered flag. The chances of injury will always be there but that doesn’t mean we don’t cringe every time we see a hard hit or a violent flip.

Each time, we pray the drivers get out uninjured but you just never know. Prayers to both CG and LJ for speedy recoveries and we can’t wait to see them back on track very soon.