Thomas Burbage is racing in Saturday night’s Late Model Stock Car doubleheader at East Carolina Motor Speedway as he looks to protect his points lead, despite breaking his arm earlier this week in a dirt bike accident.
Burbage, who has five wins at East Carolina this season, has a 20 point lead over Wesley Johnson in the track’s championship standings. While his car showed speed in practice, Burbage’s main goal on Saturday night is to protect his points lead.
“I had an accident on Tuesday with a dirt bike,” Burbage told Race22.com on Saturday afternoon. “I had a guy collide into me. It was kind of a freak deal, he knocked me off my bike and I think I went to catch myself and ended up breaking my shoulder and the bone below and broke my left finger. So, my right arm is broke and my left finger is broke, my pinky. We’re just out here trying to survive. Try to get points and hopefully seal up this championship.”
While Burbage is walking around with his arm in a splint, he says he hasn’t been in much pain inside the racecar as he logs laps around the notoriously rough and tough 3/8-mile track in Robersonville, North Carolina.
“It’s actually, unbelievably, pretty comfortable in the car,” Burbage said. “The worst part is getting in and out of the car and the guys have been helping me through that. Actually, it’s painless so that’s a good start. We logged 10-12 laps on the track and we were pretty comfortable and pretty fast so I think we’ll be alright.”
Burbage’s main goal is to log two top-five finishes and keep Wesley Johnson and Jeff Shiflett behind him in points and then come back later this month ready to race at 100 percent.
“I think if we stay top-five finish, we would be okay,” Burbage remarked. “I have surgery on Monday so it’s about two weeks being from surgery from getting this splint off so if I can get through that surgery and get this splint off, I’ll be pretty good the rest of the season.”
Saturday night’s races at East Carolina Motor Speedway go green shortly after 7pm.
