06/12/2026
A wonderful article about long time DSR members Scott and Mallory Henderson, son and granddaughter of Jim Henderson.
Story time from our photographer, Tommy Lee Byrd in honor of Throwback Thursday:
It's a scene that very few people saw in person, but it's one that speaks volumes of the selfless attitude and kind heart of a special Great Racer. The year was 2018, and the Great Race route took us from Buffalo, New York to Halifax, Nova Scotia. The ambitious route had an even more ambitious side quest on Day 4 of the event, as we passed through New Hampshire on our way to Maine. The Mount Washington Auto Road is a grueling climb to the highest point in the Northeast United States, 6,288 feet. The road is an adventure, even in a new car, but for Great Racers, it was an exhilarating experience. Guard rails are few and far between, and the road is barely wide enough for two vehicles, especially in the gravel section.
The views were incredible. The photos were some of the greatest we've ever captured. It was a beautiful day and seeing the cars climb and descend the mountain was surreal. It's important to note that climbing Mount Washington was OPTIONAL for the racers. It was not scored, and was not mandatory, but quite a few racers partook in the experience.
As the Great Race photographer, my job is to find a cool spot to take pictures, get some good stuff and move on to the next location. I rarely sit in one spot and let every car pass because then I can never get caught back up due to the nature of the event. But for Mount Washington, my plan was to be the first of the Great Racers to climb the mountain that day, and the last to come down, or at least so I thought.
After a few dozen racers climbed the mountain and eased their way back down the intense slope, I noticed a long gap and that was my signal that the final car had passed. So I left my spot, hopped in my rental car, and slowly made my way down the mountain. As I approached the gravel portion of the road, I saw what you see in this photograph. There were two Great Race cars tangled, and by this point, the drivers and navigators had already exited the cars. My first thought was to check on everyone, and after a quick thumbs up, I called the Great Race Director, Jeff Stumb. This wasn't the first crash I had ever reported to him, so when he gets a phone call from me during the day, it usually wasn't to ask what was for dinner that night. There was no way he could've known just how wrong this could've gone had it not been for the heroic efforts of a Great Racer, and his friend Scott Henderson.
Scott entered the Great Race family in 2013 with his daughter Mallory, and by 2018, it was an annual tradition to take their 1964-1/2 Mustang convertible on an adventure. As Scott and Mallory descended Mount Washington that day, they were blown away by the scenery, which was amplified by the fact that Scott had the top down. The view quickly turned into a nightmarish scene, which included a one-of-one Buick station wagon (built for the GM Motorama) passing the Mustang. The Buick had lost its brakes.
There isn't a "good" place to lose your brakes on the Mount Washington Auto Road, but the area where this emergency took place was one corner away from the most treacherous section. Carl Schneider and Jack Juratovic were the men inside the Buick station wagon. The driver intentionally steered the Buick onto a bank, which caused it to flip onto its passenger side. The car skidded on the passenger side sheet metal momentarily, but the momentum of the slide caused the car to fall back onto its tires. All four tires were still inflated, so it began rolling again. Although it scrubbed off a lot of speed, the slow rolling station wagon was less than 100 feet from a cliff when Scott blocked its path with his Mustang.
Scott Henderson saved lives that day with his quick actions. I stayed on the mountain until the tow truck arrived, and then followed Scott and Mallory into our next hosted stop in Gardiner, Maine that evening. Although every Great Race evening stop feels like a victory in the eyes of a Great Racer, this one was different. A few days later, Scott was awarded the Tom McRae Spirit of the Event Award at the banquet, and passed away a few months later. He is missed by the Great Race family, but his Mustang still competes in the race and still wears its wounds from that day on the mountain.
