'The Farmer’ returns to plow the strip at Cordova

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By S.A. Thornbloom | Friday, August 25, 2006 6:48 AM CDT | () comments

S.A. Thornbloom/QUAD-CITY TIMES Arnie “The Farmer” Beswick suffered burns on more than 60 percent of his body in an accident in 2003.

CORDOVA, Ill. — Arnie Beswick is known as “The Farmer,” not for the way he plows the fields around his home in Morrison, Ill., but for the way he has plowed down dragstrips for almost 50 years.

For most of those years, he has reaped a successful career that led him to the hall of fame. But there was one fateful day three years ago.

“I didn’t have any help with me, and I let a volunteer out of the crowd do some work for me on my car. Unfortunately, he forgot to hook up a line, and I paid for it big-time,” said the 76-year-old who nearly burned to death in a fiery crash on a track in Wentz-ville, Mo., on Aug. 3, 2003.

“The car ran fine the entire length of the track. But when I pulled the parachute, there’s a normal backfire, and there must have been a collection of the nitrous gases that was caught by the parachute that caused this huge explosion. I knew I had to get out of there, but I also knew I had to slow down the car. I applied the brakes the way I’d normally apply them, which now I know I should have panicked and should have got on the brakes a lot harder,” he said.

“It was a mistake I made, because I could have got out of the car earlier instead of trying to let the car slow down like normal. As the car was slowing down, there was another explosion as big as one of those bombs you find around the world today and then I was on fire.”

Beswick was burned over 65 percent of his body. He finally was extinguished by the track’s rescue crew and was immediately taken to a local hospital before being transferred to St. John’s Mercy Hospital in St. Louis. There, he was induced into a coma for six weeks in order for his burns to be treated and for the healing process to begin.

He was burned on his lower legs, had third-degree burns on his hands and suffered severe burns to his nose and mouth.

“When I woke up from the coma I told ‘Get me out here, I needed to get to the World Series.’ Little had I realized that the World Series was over already,” Beswick said Thursday at a news conference for the 53rd O’Reilly Auto Parts World Series of Drag Racing where Beswick returns for the first time to race in his Tameless Tiger nitro-fueled 1964 Pontiac GTO today. Amazingly, the car is the one Beswick was in when he had his accident in 2003.

“We rebuilt it and cleaned it up. We put on a new body, dash, rollbar, and floorboard and had to replace most of the wiring. We also had to retool the engine,” Beswick said.

“I have no fear getting back in that car and no fear of going fast. Naturally, my family would like to see me stay away from it permanently. But I love the racing world and I love the racing people involved in it. I love to race fast cars and I’m not afraid of the speed.”

For race fans that have live in and have grown up in the Quad-Cities, Beswick is a legend and since his accident he hasn’t taken that title or its responsibility lightly.

“I appreciate the fans so much more now. I enjoy people and enjoy talking to them. I enjoy signing autographs and giving them any souvenir I can,” Beswick said.

Today Beswick gets around without any assistance. From a distance, he looks like any other driver bouncing around his car. Up close, there are the scars on his hands and face to remind him and his fans of the dangers of his sport.

“It hasn’t been really tough. I’ve been up and getting around pretty well for a year. My hands are little bit handicapped and I can’t do any fine work on the engine of the car, but there’s no problems driving,” he said.

“I want to show the people I know at the racetrack that I still have the desire to race and still can go fast against the best. I may not beat all of them, but I’ll get some of them.”

And at no time is “The Farmer” ever thinking of retiring to the farm.

Contact the sports desk at (563) 383-2285 or sports@qctimes.com.

IF YOU GO ...

Gates open — 8 a.m. today; 7 a.m. Saturday.

Time trials — 8:30 a.m. Sunday

Admission — Today $20 today; $35 Saturday for adults. Children 6-12 are $5.

Contact — (309) 654-2110 or cordovadrag.com