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

The issue now is recovery, obviously. Millen said he feels fine but his latest exam revealed inadequate healing and the doctor ordered him back to the couch for complete rest. Another poor report when he’s examined again in a month will mean surgery that will put him on the shelf for at least two months.

“For 15 years I never had anything go wrong. If I crashed, it was the car that got repaired and not my body,” related Rhys, who said some maturation has occurred since the accident. “To me it was very technically based. It wasn’t just a big daredevil act. There was a lot that we needed to figure out and a lot we did figure out. I just never got to perform it the way I was wanting to.”

There’s a lot still on the table with this. Rhys has enormous experience with movie stunts, especially with the Dukes of Hazard, for which he performed many of the high-flying routines in the movie. But now he needs to mend and reassess 2008.

“But if no one has attempted or successfully done it a year from now and my back has healed,” Rhys said of that problematic flip, “and my dad’s still talking to me and my girlfriend’s still talking to me, you might just see me be stupid enough to attempt to do it again...”

You have one lifetime to make a name for yourself, but history will keep your name alive forever. That’s a line Rhys dropped on me in our conversation. It says a lot about the man.



Automotive journalist Bill Wood covers the tuner/sport compact scene for RACER magazine. For details about the current issue, visit www.racer.com.