BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) — Like many Birmingham area residents, NASCAR legend Red Farmer and his wife, Judy, paid close attention to the weather Thursday afternoon.
And as tornadoes started to form, the Farmers prepared for the worst.
“It said it was headed for Indian Springs, which we live in Indian Springs and they had given a time schedule,” said Farmer, who was recently inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
As soon as they saw black clouds, the couple took cover in the bathroom waited out the storm. After the worst had passed, Farmer made his way out to inspect the damage.
“[We] went over and saw the neighbors houses had been torn up and it’s kind of heartbreaking. Then I went outside and my race car trailer sitting out there with my car inside of it and there was three trees on top of it,” he said.
Friends and crew members came to the Farmers’ damaged home and tried to get his car out of the destruction, but it was too late. The 88-year-old NASCAR legend had planned on racing in Talladega Saturday.
“It kind of put me out of business, I was planning on running tomorrow at Talladega Short Track,” he said.
It was a tough scene for both Red and his biggest fan– his wife, Judy.
“That was one of the worst parts of it. Really, today is worse than yesterday because I think the aftereffects has finally hit me. You can look at me the wrong was and I’ll burst into tears,” she said.
Over the last couple of days, the Farmers have received an outpouring of support from fellow drivers, including Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Tony Stewart.
“There’s so many people, I’ve got so many phone calls my phone went dead answering phone calls from everywhere,” he said.
Despite the severe damage, Farmer said he’s remaining positive about the situation.
“I told Judy, we’re still alive, thank God for that. We can repair the house, you can’t repair yourself. I’ll send up somehow getting another race car trailer and race car and in a couple weeks I’ll be out running again,” he said.