Long Road To Recovery: Danny Knoll Jr. Remains Hospitalized From Spring Sizzler Crash April 27 At Stafford 

Nearly a month after a hard wreck during qualifying for the NAPA Spring Sizzler at Stafford Speedway, veteran Modified racing Danny Knoll Jr. remains hospitalized and recovering from injuries and further complications resulting from the crash. 

“I hit hard enough that I literally looked down and I thought I was dead,” Knoll told RaceDayCT Friday. 

The 61-year old Knoll is currently hospitalized at ECMC Hospital in Buffalo, N.Y. Knoll, who is from Amherst, N.Y., spent about a week at St. Francis Hospital in Hartford after the crash before being transferred closer to home in Buffalo. 

“Everybody up at Stafford has been nice,” Knoll said. “People that have reached out to me have been fantastic. Sometimes you don’t realize how many people actually give a shit about you until you’re in a bad way. I’ve had lots of sheet time to think about it.” 

Knoll was involved in a multi-car wreck coming off of turn four with eight laps remaining in the last chance qualifier heat on April 27 at Stafford. Knoll was in a group at the rear of the pack running tightly through turn four.

As Knoll was coming off of turn four, Jeffrey Battle spun to the inside of the track in front of Knoll. As Knoll went under Battle, Battle’s spinning car drove into the side of Knoll’s car, hooking Knoll’s car nearly head-on into the frontstretch wall. 

Knoll’s car rode the frontstrech wall past the start/finish line before spinning to the infield grass and coming to a halt. 

“It hurt so bad,” Knoll said. “I got one initial hit, it hurt super bad and then a freaking one that hurt just as much. I got my helmet off and I looked down to make sure I wasn’t missing anything because I just didn’t know you could hurt that bad. … I didn’t put the window net down because I knew I wasn’t right.” 

Safety crews at the track removed the roof of Knoll’s car and used a backboard to remove him from the car. 

“So after I got in the wreck they asked me [which hospital] I wanted to go to and I don’t live in Connecticut and I had no clue,” Knoll said. “I said just take me to the closest hospital. So they took me to some place that was pretty close to a Dunkin’ drive-thru and they figured out they couldn’t handle me. So they gave me some relief and I took another ride to [St. Francis Hospital]. So I got in there and they said I had a shattered disc and a broken vertebra. 

“The sensitivity initially after I wrecked, they would put a gown on me and literally I would want to jump out of my skin. It was that sensitive from the pounding from the injuries.”

After surgeries on his back, Knoll said he was walking with the support of a walker within two days.

“I was going up and down stairs with that thing,” Knoll said. “Thought things were going to be OK.” 

After about a week in recovery at St. Francis, Knoll was transferred to ECMC Hospital in Buffalo. 

“My family was coming down trying to spend time with me, but we’re six hours away,” Knoll said. “… So, we finally got a transfer to ECMC Hospital in Buffalo, which is a big trauma center. And that’s a fight because we still don’t know who is going to pay the $11,000 bill to get me here.” 

But complications from surgeries to treat the initial injuries set Knoll’s recovery far back. 

“So they got me [to Buffalo] and somewhere along the way I got a fever and some kind of infection and they had to actually go into the repair site and do what’s called a clean out,” Knoll said. “That was a hard left turn on the road to recovery. It’s been pretty tough. They hook up a thing they call a wound vac [a device that uses localized negative pressure to promote wound healing]. It’s basically like Dracula sucking on your back 24/7. You can’t sleep. I couldn’t lay on my side, couldn’t lay on my back. I had to lay on my back, but every time you move, you’re literally laying on this incision that goes to your spine.” 

Knoll said doctors are optimistic that he’ll be able to leave the hospital in about week or so and continue rehabilitation at home. 

“The infection was a big thing,” Knoll said. “I think I might have been out of the hospital now if that might not have been the case. It’s been a bit of a struggle. You get a bit of atrophy when you’re just laying in bed there. You’ve got to try to get yourself up and down. It’s been pretty brutal. … I’ve been doing [physical therapy] and [occupational therapy]. With my range of motion, I haven’t noticed too many limits yet. Just so much pain.”

Knoll is not sure if driving race cars is something he will look to returning to doing after recovery. 

“It’s unfortunate because I really wanted to get into that show,” Knoll said. “I was trying to run some bucket list races this year. I have a Super Late Model too. Was planning on going to Berlin Raceway [in Marne, Michigan] with that thing. I think my career has had a sudden change. I’m sure if get healed up I can wheel again, it’s just a matter of, do you take the chance and put your family through that? I don’t know if I can do that. … But I don’t really have any hobbies. I’m not a fishing guy or anything like that. Race cars have pretty much been it for me. My dad raced, I’m a second generation racer. It’s all I know. Big turning point here.”