Two wheels or four. International or Grassroots. Asphalt or Dirt. Fire is something no racer wants to see. Local Ohio racer DJ Foos unfortunately experienced fire’s wrath on April 14th, 2023 at Attica Raceway Park during an All Star Circuit of Champions event. Foos did not return to action until August 12th, losing most of his 2023 season as he recovered from second and third degree burns on his legs. 

It was just the fourth hotlaps session of the season at Attica Raceway Park in Attica, Ohio as the now defunct All Star Circuit of Champions were in town for the Spring Nationals. DJ Foos and the Burmeister Racing #16 were on track for the first time together for the 2023 season when DJ noticed something was amiss on his car. 

“We put a new fuel tank on, and I had thought initially that fuel wasn’t getting to the pickup because I could hear the noise of a misfire, so I just raced it and tried to figure it out. As time went by, I got wet and knew I had a nozzle line off. But I just raced it, and buried the car through the bottom of turns one and two after the checkered flag like I normally do, and coming off turn two – I was on fire,” said Foos. 

Foos, the 2019 Attica 410 champion, darted off the track to head towards the pits to get help, but that was still a straightaway’s distance away. 

“I was on fire, and for some reason, I couldn’t get out. I got hung up on the door and panic set in. In hindsight, it was stupid of me, but I tried to pat the fire out instead of getting out. It hurt, but sometimes your instinct [kicks in], but it wasn’t the right thing to do.” 

DJ aimed the car towards the scales, also near Jay Kiser Racing crew member Sheldon Arndt and All Star official Kenny Osborne, who jumped into action to help Foos. 

“Sheldon pulled me out of the car, and then Sheldon and Kenny put me out. When I saw Sheldon, I knew that if I couldn’t get out, he would get me out. Sheldon didn’t know what I was doing, but once he saw me take the steering wheel off and the front tires start wobbling, he knew something was wrong.”

The flames were out, but they had left their mark; the hardest part, unbeknownst to Foos, was about to start. He went to the hospital Friday night to get treated for his burns, but intended to race the following night at Attica despite the second and third degree burns on his lower legs. 

“It hurts. No matter what, it hurts,” stated Foos. “Friday, it hurt, I went to the doctor and got it cleaned up. I just wanted to come home. I had originally planned on going back to Attica on Saturday to fire the car, because it didn’t hurt that bad.”

“At first I thought, ‘This is nothing.’ Saturday came, and I didn’t fire the car because the doctor said to stay at home. On Sunday, my wife and I went up to our camper to put water in it so that my wife didn’t have to do it on her own, in case things got worse. Sunday afternoon is when the pain set in.”

It was unbearable to walk for a week. Even standing up took 15 minutes. “I had to scoot around the house on my butt. I’m telling you, it’s the worst thing I’ve ever been through in my life. After the first week, it was tolerable. After the first month, it was frustrating.”

At the time, Foos was 33 years old and lived what he described as a “wide-open” lifestyle. Now, he was sitting at home, not cleared for work and unable to race. The frustration took it’s mental toll on Foos.

“Your self-worth, you just feel worthless,” Foos said. “You’re not working, you’re just at home. I’ve never cleaned the house as much as I did, I’ve never done that much laundry, I had to do all of that,” Foos said with a laugh. 

“I felt like the little kid that had to watch everybody have fun. I’ve raced my whole life. You see all your friends having fun, but you’re stuck inside. I couldn’t go into the lake to swim with my friends, because I’m the kid on the sidelines with a broken arm.”

In the few years I have known DJ Foos, and the conversations I have had with him, it has always struck me how well he responds to negativity. Whether it’s losing a race due to something out of his control, or getting through the mental and physical storm the burns caused, he has always been positive, grateful for the current day and hopeful that the next day will be better.

“It’s easy to get down on yourself, but you can’t. I just had to keep telling myself that there are way better people in this world that have had way worse things happen. At the end of the day, every day is a good day.

“Double check everything, man. It was something as simple as a nozzle line coming loose that should have never come loose. We had all winter to do it, but it was one of those things that got missed. Accidents happen every day, but unfortunately it was my turn to receive the accident.”

Foos climbed back in the car at Butler Motor Speedway in Michigan on August 12th, where he led laps in the Feature before having a tire go flat, and would finish in the top five the following Friday night as he returned to Attica for the first time. He said he was nervous, but the racer mentality soon took over because he was there to race, and that’s what racers do. 

“I don’t want to think about the bad things. I want to think about the good things; winning, going fast. Is it in my mind? Yeah, it’ll be instilled in me forever probably,” concluded Foos. 

The fire won’t be a defining moment for Foos’ career. He has aspirations of being in the Hall of Fame, but you “have to be old to do that.”