Iverson said last fall that the insurance company's policy is not to allow racers to see a copy of the policy. He knows the policy number, N00255786, but he asked to read it and was denied the opportunity. The company representative told him they don't offer track owners a look at the policy, either.

He also said back then that "the way NHRA describes their insurance is 'We cover anything that your insurance company doesn't take care of.' " Trying to get that clarified and enacted was a mind-boggling mess, despite the fact that Gail Iverson understands the insurance forms and processes because she worked many years for Blue Cross of Oregon (the company that he said paid "80 percent or more" of the medical bills).

"They send you letters of denial," Iverson said of the insurance companies, "in the hopes you're dumb enough that you'll look at it and you'll say, 'Well, they denied it, so I guess I'll just go ahead and pay this' and go on with life and everybody forgets about it."

When he tried to straighten it out, he contacted the proper department at the NHRA headquarters but said, "Nobody in Glendora knew anything about it."

But he persisted. He had to. After all, he was facing approximately $500,000 in expenses. One charge alone was several hundred dollars for the ambulance ride around the corner to the hospital's front door after being removed from the helicopter. After his stay at Harborview, Iverson spent several week at a rehabilitation facility.

The NHRA Communications department didn't stay on top of Iverson's situation, either. Anthony Vestal, director of media relations, later explained that the information about Iverson's condition came from a doctor who was substituting that day for Dan Brickey, who has since passed away but was director of emergency medical services at the time.

The NHRA report that weekend said, in its entirety:  

"Steve Iverson was transported to Harbor View [sic] Medical Center in Seattle after his dragster went out of control on the top end last night during final time trials. He was transported for evaluation where[sic] doctors found he suffered a bruised lung in the incident, but no other injuries. He was kept overnight at the hopital [sic] for observation."

Although Iverson is limited to what he can say, his son, Steve Jr., explained what he knows of the crash that occurred during the Friday evening qualifying session.

The accident happened in the right lane near the finish line. The Super Comp class competes on the full 1,320-feet course but ran that night after the nitro classes, which are restricted for now to a 1,000-foot distance.

"They ran the fuel cars before Super Comp," Iverson Jr., who was competing in a '64 Barracuda Super Stock/Super Gas car, said. "And they did zero track prep. The ran five pairs, and they had trouble. They were complaining about bad conditions."

He said NHRA, in response, cleaned the left lane. But, Iverson Jr. said, "I was told by multiple people that they never touched the right lane. The guy running next to my dad said he got loose and got all over the place, too."