Long: Five months after near-fatal crash, team owner celebrates playoff appearance

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — As the laps wound down in Saturday’s Xfinity race at Kansas Speedway, a 61-year-old man stood atop his team’s pit box and slowly moved in circles, intently following Parker Kligerman around the 1.5-mile track.

A playoff spot was at stake for Scott Borchetta’s Big Machine Racing team. It would be quite an achievement for a team in only its third season.

Even more remarkable was that Borchetta was here to witness this.

Five months ago, he was competing in a Trans-Am race at Road Atlanta when his brakes failed. His car was in fourth gear at about 150 mph with no way to stop.

He tried to scrub speed, but it had rained earlier that day and his car skipped over the sand trap instead of being slowed.

“And then I was just mad,” he told NBC Sports of his final moments before crashing into the wall.

“Damn it. Here it comes.”

After seeing the damage to the car, NASCAR Hall of Famer Ray Evernham told Borchetta in the hospital: “I don’t know how you are here.”

He nearly wasn’t.

“The first 24 hours, especially, were really touch-and-go,” Borchetta said. “I got broken up pretty good.”

He then recites his “Evil Knievel list of injuries.”

Two broken ankles.

Two broken tibias.

Four cracked vertebra.

Five broken ribs.

A pelvis cracked in four places.

Internal injuries.

Borchetta remembers much about the accident and afterward.

He told safety workers his name when asked. He unbuckled his seat belts and undid his helmet. Borchetta also tapped a safety worker’s back to alert them that the saw they were using to cut him out of his mangled car was coming close to his foot.

“I remember being loaded in the ambulance,” he said. “I don’t recommend that. That’s not a fun ride.”

Borchetta wiggled his toes and fingers in the ambulance to make sure he had feeling in his extremities.

He was sent to a hospital in Gainesville, Georgia, spending seven days there.

When he saw his wife, Borchetta told her: “I love you, and I won’t be racing again … at least not those cars.”

His legs and feet weren’t repaired until he was flown to Nashville, Tennessee, where he lives. His doctor was recommended by Dr. Terry Trammell, the orthopedic surgeon who worked in IndyCar for decades and rebuilt drivers after severe crashes.

Borchetta notes that “everything is healed.” He continues to do physical therapy to rebuild strength.

“I just every day attack it,” Borchetta said of his recovery. “I’m still here, so there must be more for me to do.”

When he saw Dale Earnhardt Jr. before Saturday’s race, Borchetta noted that the first thing Earnhardt told him was: “Man, you look great.”

The only visible sign that Borchetta had such traumatic injuries is that his gait has slowed.

He jokes that “I’m like a pace car. I still look good. I’m just not fast.”

Although Borchetta could have just sat atop the pit box and watched the TV and scoring monitors in front of him, he stood to watch his driver throughout the final 25 laps Saturday — the third race he’s attended since his crash.

“I like to see every lap and just watch how the car is going through the corner and just where the traffic is,” Borchetta said. “It’s like watching your kids. You don’t want to miss anything.”

Highlights: Nemechek wins Xfinity race at Kansas

Watch extended highlights from the NASCAR Xfinity Series regular season finale at Kansas Speedway.

It’s hard to keep up with Borchetta. He’s the President/CEO and Founder of Big Machine Label Group and Big Machine Distilleries.

The first artist he signed was Taylor Swift. Borchetta later was a mentor on “American Idol” for two seasons, but his interest in racing goes deep. He won track championships at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway and was inducted into the track’s 2020 Hall of Fame class.

He started his Xfinity team in 2021 after deciding he was better off owning a team instead of just writing sponsor checks. The team struggled in its first season, scoring one top-10 finish with Jade Buford. He was replaced after eight races the following season.

A variety of drivers piloted Borchetta’s car that season. Tyler Reddick won at Texas in his second race with the team.

Borchetta decided that his driver for the 2023 season would be someone who had experience to help his young team.

So he picked a driver who hadn’t had a full-time NASCAR ride since 2013.

“It’s not the first time I’ve been called insane,” Borchetta said, laughing. “A lot of it is gut. My whole world is dealing with talent, whether it’s the music business or racing or anything else that we do.”

Borchetta saw Kligerman win the Truck race at Mid-Ohio and offered him a ride for the Talladega Xfinity race. Even after talking to other drivers, Borchetta went back to Kligerman.

“Parker had the hunger,” Borchetta said.

Borchetta signed Kligerman, announcing their pairing last October at Martinsville.

While they search for their first win together, they are in the playoffs after Kligerman finished fourth Saturday to secure the final spot.

In less than two months, Borchetta could be a champion.

“I think we’ve got to be realistic,” he said after a series of congratulations from competitors, including car owner Richard Childress. “We’ve got to take it one race at a time. Hey, even if we make the final four, it would be an extraordinary win. We all want to win.”

That Borchetta was at Kansas Speedway was a victory.

“For what he’s gone through, my goodness,” Kligerman said on pit road after being congratulated by his boss. “To see him here, hanging out with us on the pit box, walking around is an amazing sight. Just so grateful that he’s made such an amazing recovery, such a speedy recovery.

“I said on the radio after the race, ‘I think we’ve found our lucky charm.’ He’s going to have to come to every race for the next eight weeks.”