Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1383227
CN III ARCHIVES BY LARRY LAWRENCE P126 DANNY BOY D anny Ingram was good to go just six months after a devasting 1993 Memorial Day crash at the Springfield Mile that left him with grave injuries, including a head injury that nearly killed him. That was all in the past as Ingram made a remarkable recovery. For months, the 29-year-old AMA Grand National racer from Clermont, Indiana, was in rehab and then eventually back running, training and riding on his motocross bike. Racing was all Ingram knew, and he felt happy because he was soon to be back on a race bike. The only thing left to do was to get a sign-off from his doctor that he was back to full health and ready to race. The visit to the doctor that day would change Ingram's future. The news was not good. His brain had hemorrhaged in two places after his Springfield crash, and, although it was scarred over, any kind of impact could tear away the scars and Ingram could be permanently disabled or worse. "Dan, you've made a great recovery, and I'm sorry to tell you this, but if you go back to racing and have even a minor fall, it could be devastating," the doctor said. "I'm sorry, but I can't sign off to let you race." It took a few moments for the words to sink in. Dan's mom gave him a hug, but all Ingram could do was stare at the wall. "I was thinking to myself, 'I can't believe it's over,'" Ingram remembers. "I felt good; I still had a few lingering effects from the crash, but I thought those would go away. It was like I was in a bad dream, and I was hop- ing I'd wake up." But it wasn't a dream and one of the brightest young riders in AMA Grand National Champion- ship racing was out of the sport. Ingram grew up around racing. His father, Sam, was a journeyman racer who won tons of regional events around the Midwest. On the national level, Sam was running in the lead pack in fourth at the Daytona 200 on one of the new Honda 750cc fours in 1971, when the camchain tensioner broke. Sam even raced the Honda 750 on the dirt on a couple of mile ovals, and a photo of the bike in its flat-track configuration hangs in Danny's garage. Sam had a small motorcycle repair shop in Clermont, Indiana, on the far western outreaches of India- napolis. The family lived on one of the few farms that remained in the metro Indianapolis area and the Ingram's place was a hang- out of sorts for several genera- tions of riders from across the country who would gravitate to the Midwest for the summer flat- track season. They'd even clear out the big barn and have short-track races inside. "I remember Rex Beauchamp, [Bart] Markel, [Jay] Springsteen, Rick Hocking and all them guys would come down. My brother Danny Ingram circa 2010.