The legendary GTO is coming back with new wrapping for 2008, and a new star teammate in Dai Yoshihara. (Bill Wood photo) » More Photos

Even as the Yoshihara story continues to reverberate through the drifting world, the larger issue could be whether or not Rhys will be able to answer the bell with his new teammate.

Millen was preparing for what some might call a foolhardy Las Vegas stunt on New Year’s Eve. The plan called for him to backflip an off-road pickup truck on live TV. Even Rhys’ father, Rod Millen, is looking at him a bit askew as Rhys sits at home trying to mend.

“My father is giving me so much pressure on the incident right now,” Rhys admitted. “I’m definitely lucky.” He has no answer for the “Why?” question. Because it seemed like a good idea at the time? That hardly seems enough, though.

Rhys said he put the plans in motion with hundreds of RC car attempts before coming up with a structure for the takeoff ramp and vehicle dynamics. He’d even made 15 cracks (admittedly a poor choice of words!) at the stunt into a pit made of cardboard boxes. The last six of those attempts were successful.

The problem came on the 16th jump when Rhys raised the ramp speed from 32 to 36 mph, hoping to get the truck higher in the air and complete the rotation sooner for a margin of safety on the landing. Instead, the faster speed kept the suspension compressed longer on the ramp. The rebound of the suspension was supposed to start the rotation as the truck went wheels up. The faster speed, though, meant the truck was going just fast enough to clear the ramp before the suspension rebound took place. Hence, no rotation and a real problem.

“The faster speed was just enough to prevent the suspension from responding to the kicker on the ramp,” Rhys explained.

Instead of rotating, the truck went into the air and landed upside down at a 45-degree angle on the pavement, missing the cardboard box pit altogether. All the compressive energy was absorbed in Millen’s back.