Chadwick Steven McQueen (December 28, 1960 - September 11, 2024) was an American actor, film producer, martial artist, and race car driver. From an early age, McQueen was an enthusiast of automobiles, motorcycles, and racing, interests that he inherited from his father, Steve McQueen.
Steve and Chad McQueen
McQueen began racing dirt bikes by age 9 and, in three years, went on to win his class in the World Mini Grand Prix. He moved on to auto racing, winning his first race: the Mini Le Mans event, a children-only track created on the set of the 1971 film Le Mans, when McQueen was 10 years old.
His professional racing career started in the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA). McQueen competed in several types of racing from Motocross to the Baja 1000. He teamed with Belgian racing legend Jacky Ickx and his daughter Vanina, piloting a trio of Porsche 959s restored by Porsche Motorsports for the 2004 Goodwood event. Also in 2004, he qualified for the SCCA Runoffs, winning multiple events.
Chad McQueen is attending the Rolex 24 weekend at Daytona. What makes this special is that he's able to at all, and that he wants to. Because he nearly died there.
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1: История создания автоспорта (2013) #фильмыпроавтоспорт
The 2006 Daytona Accident
In January 2006, he was seriously injured in an accident at the Daytona International Speedway while practicing for the 24 Hours of Daytona Sports Car race.
Chad McQueen at Daytona
A year before, McQueen was running in a practice session at the wheel of the Tafel Racing Porsche GT3, in preparation for a Grand Am GT Class run in this most historic endurance race. Another car lost control, and took him out. It wasn't a pretty scene, and it took several hours to extricate him from the car.
He'd suffered a smorgasbord of injuries, including a severely shattered leg and several broken vertebrae. The latter injury wasn't much different from the one that left Christopher Reeve a quadriplegic on a ventilator for the rest of his all too short life.
Although official reports listed Chad's condition as "critical but stable" there were a few times when it was more like "grave." His significant other, Jeannie, and his children, were called in for last rites a time or two. But McQueen got past the worst of it, and credited Jeannie for "making some very good decisions."
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After numerous surgeries and many weeks in the hospital, McQueen returned to his Southern California home to begin the long road to recovery.
Details of Injuries Sustained
McQueen's injuries included:
- A broken lower left leg
- Two fractures to his vertebrae
- Multiple rib fractures
McQueen’s Acting Career
McQueen began his career as a film actor, playing the character Dutch in The Karate Kid and The Karate Kid Part II. His further acting work included main roles in direct-to-video action films including Martial Law, Death Ring, and Red Line. He also worked as a producer, winning a Telly Award for his documentary Filming at Speed. Attempts were made to arrange for him to reprise his role as Dutch in the series Cobra Kai, but commitments to his company, McQueen Racing, and problems with his racing injuries, prevented this.
Personal Life
Chad McQueen dated Jill Henderson White Pasceri in the 1980s, a USEF Equestrian rider and horse trainer. Jill is the daughter of trombonist Jimmy Henderson. He was married to Stacia Toten (who later wed Hockey Hall of Famer Luc Robitaille) from 1987 to 1990. The couple had a son, Steven R. McQueen (b. 1988), an actor, who was a regular in the television series The Vampire Diaries and Chicago Fire. His sister, Terry, was the owner of a Malibu film production company.
Chad McQueen died Wednesday of organ failure at his ranch in Palm Desert, his friend of 40 years, Arthur Barens, told The Hollywood Reporter. He had been injured in a fall in 2020 and never fully recovered.
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