Five years after he nearly died at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Stan Fox came back to say goodbye.
With two laps around the track in a pacecar Thursday, he made his retirement official.
``It's good to do,'' the Janesville native said afterward. ``To run around the racetrack, wave to everybody and say goodbye, it was a great thing to do.''
Fox's career essentially ended May 28, 1995, with a six-car crash on the first lap of the Indy 500. The car was sheared virtually in half, and he was sent hurtling into the Turn 1 wall with his legs dangling unprotected in front of him.
He sustained a severe head injury and was in a coma for five days, finally regaining consciousness June 2. By July, he was out of the hospital and at an Indianapolis rehab center.
A month later -- 10 weeks after the crash -- he walked out and headed home to Janesville for outpatient therapy.
``I started from scratch,'' he said. ``I started like a 4-year-old. I had to learn everything.''
One thing he didn't have to relearn was his love for racing. Fox, now 47, started racing in 1972. A longtime standout midget car driver, he made eight starts at Indianapolis in nine years. There was nothing he wanted more than to climb back in a car and race around the speedway.
But it wasn't meant to be.
``He came to realize he's not going to drive,'' said friend Jack Kerwin. ``This is closure for him here at Indianapolis. It was important for him to do it. He's got a higher calling in life.''
Last year, Fox and Kerwin began ``Friends of the Fox,'' a head-injury support group. The group works with care facilities nationwide, taking people with head injuries to see races, including the Indy 500.
This month, ``Friends of the Fox'' brought more than 300 people to the speedway to meet drivers and tour the track.
One was Pat Ireland, who was shot twice in his head during the deadly rampage at Columbine High School in April 1999. He escaped from the school by tumbling out of a library window and into the arms of the police, a rescue caught on live television.
Ireland, who still suffers some paralysis on his right side, and his father, John, arrived Tuesday night, and Fox has been showing them around the track and introducing them to drivers. After one short trip through the garage area Thursday, Pat's white racing helmet was covered with signatures including those of 1998 winner Eddie Cheever and 1996 champion Buddy Lazier.
Pat also was in the car when Fox took his retirement lap.
``It's wonderful for them to be able to get kids or anybody else out and enjoy a bit of life,'' said John Ireland, Pat's father. ``It shows they do survive, they do go on.''
For Fox, though, the horrific crash is never far away. While he doesn't remember it, fans tell him repeatedly how glad they are to see him back at the track.
And when he signs autographs, most fans bring a picture of the crash. While it might seem a little gruesome to watch Fox sign a photo with his legs dangling from the car, Fox doesn't mind. He even adds ``Ooops!'' to most of the photos.
