Over the past year, we have learned a lot about Daison Pursley. While he is only 17 years old, he has already been tested physically and emotionally in a manner that few of his peers can imagine.
Over the past year, we have learned a lot about Daison Pursley. While he is only 17 years old, he has already been tested physically and emotionally in a manner that few of his peers can imagine.
On Nov. 13, 2021, Pursley took a tumble while battling with Keith Kunz Motorsports teammate Buddy Kofoid at Arizona Speedway. His neck was broken and his spinal cord was compromised. Everyone braced for the worst. His story is one that has been played out via social media consistent with the age we live in.
His comeback from a potentially devastating injury is well-underway, and the very fact that he has climbed back into a race car has both been celebrated and questioned. In the end, most understand this decision was one that could only be made by Pursley and his family. Funny enough, when you speak to all the key participants it feels like Daison‘s return to the cockpit was nearly preordained.
It might be overstated but to appreciate this journey you must understand his roots. Pursley hails from Locus Grove, Okla., a town of about 1,500 souls less than an hour east of Tulsa. When he talks about home he notes there are two stoplights and a few restaurants. His parents were also raised there and everyone knows the family.
Looking back on his formative years, Klint Pursley describes himself as “a farm boy” and consistent with this description says his early days were spent working the fields and showing livestock at fairs. While Klint was rarely in the limelight as a youngster his future bride garnered plenty of attention.
The former Shawnda DeCamp was a superb athlete and college basketball scouts were paying attention to a spunky guard from a tiny Oklahoma town. Shawnda headed north to Kansas State University and quickly made her mark. At the conclusion of the 1993-‘94 basketball season, she was named the Big 8 conference Newcomer of the Year.
While Shawnda burned up the hardwood, Klint got his competitive juices flowing in his own way. He was 23 years old when some buddies coaxed him to attend a race at Siloam Springs, Ark. At first, he wasn‘t all that interested.
“I told them I didn‘t want to watch a bunch of guys go in a circle,” he said. “Then after it was over, I bought a car on Wednesday and started racing that weekend.”
After running regularly at Oklahoma‘s Thunderbird Speedway, Pursley answered the urge to travel with the United States Modified Touring Series. Then several forces conspired to suggest it was time to walk away.
“Daison was born, and I also had a couple of wrecks and had to have back surgery,” Klint Pursley said. “It was just time. Plus, there were some younger kids coming up and I was getting my butt handed to me.”
Daison is the youngest of four children in a blended family unit that includes brother Traden and sisters Kennedy and Mackenzie.
Klint was prepared to respond to any indication that his young son was interested in racing. When the time was right he secured a Junior Sprint to let Daison give it a whirl.
However, Pursley turned his car over in one of his first practice sessions at Port City Raceway and wanted no further part of driving the car.
But when Daison was 10 years old, he attended the Tulsa Shootout and had a change of heart. At one point, he looked at his father and proclaimed he wanted to try racing again. That was all it took so by the time the night was over Klint was loading a race car in the back of his pickup.
At first progressed slowly. “We were running in the restrictor class and weren‘t hitting our butt,” Klint said. “Then one night we were going to start in the back of a B feature and I took the restrictors out. We just weren‘t running very fast and I thought he could get up there and run with them.”
It wasn‘t horribly surprising when Daison captured the semi. So just to give his son the experience of running among the top dogs, he elected to leave the restrictors out again. Daison dominated the race. Klint knew came next. Former racer Aaron Lemmons was pit steward and he informed the team that it was time to pull out the restrictors and present for a tech inspection. Klint came clean, but soon realized the consequences of his little experiemnt were weighty.