Eagle Raceway holds silent auction to benefit family of Lincoln man injured in May crash

Three weeks ago, Lincoln man Justin Vanderharr was badly injured in an accident at Eagle Raceway.

Tonight, a fundraiser was held for his family.

Vanderharr was a pit crew member who ended up being pinned underneath one of the race cars.

He was in a medically induced coma, and has been in the hospital fighting for his life for the better part of the last three weeks.

His recovery since then has been nothing short of miraculous.

“I just woke up and decided that I was going to go after it, I guess. I experienced a lot of pain and I’m still in a lot of pain, but obviously god wasn’t ready for me so I just decided to wake up,” said Vanderharr.

In a stunning turn of events, Vanderharr was released from the hospital Friday night.

He was able to attend a few of the fundraisers that were held for his family this weekend, including a pancake feed put on by Alvo volunteer fire and rescue.

“I knew how I would feel if I was in that situation. I’m sure there’s been a point where he’s been thinking about his family and what they’re going to do during this time, being out of work. There’s a lot of us that just felt that it needed to be done,” said Chad Meysenburg with Alvo volunteer fire and rescue.

The outpouring of support from the racing community at eagle has been overwhelming.

The Vanderharr family Go Fund Me page is approaching $7,000 raised.

Saturday night at the racetrack, a massive silent auction was held.

“I just can’t express how happy I am, from the thoughts and things that everybody has done, it just amazes me,” said Vanderharr.

Vanderharr says the amount of support he has received from friends and family has helped motivate him to keep going during this difficult time.

“I didn’t expect to survive it and then I came out of it, and with everybody being there, it just kind of gave me the drive and the momentum to get better faster,” said Vanderharr.

Event organizers say the racing community is one big family.

They will do whatever it takes to help out one of their own.

“I just can’t thank everybody enough for what they’ve done so far,” said Vanderharr.

If you’d like to contribute to the family Go Fund Me page, head here www.gofundme.com/Justin-Vanderharr.

Event organizers say there are still a lot of Vanderharr decals remaining from the silent auction.

If you’d like to order one send an email to cdelp01@gmail.com.