Post by woosprints12 on Aug 3, 2019 7:26:04 GMT -8
A spectator was killed Friday night at Williams Grove Speedway when a Sprint Car flipped over the infield fence and struck him
Richard E. Speck Jr., 67, of Mechanicsburg, was pronounced dead at the scene of multiple traumatic injuries. According to a press release sent out just after midnight by the office of Cumberland County Coroner Charles Hall, the accident occurred around 9:25 p.m. when two cars that were coming out of turn 4 got tangled up. That caused one to lose control and strike the inside wall, which propelled it over the top of the infield fence and into Speck, who was sitting in the back of his pickup truck that was parked along the fence.
Williams Grove Speedway immediately cancelled the remainder of its Friday night card, sending out this tweet soon after the accident: “Due to the severity of the accident, we have been forced to cancel the remainder of tonight’s racing program. Freddie Rahmer has been declared the winner of tonight’s event.”
Pennsylvania State Police were called to the scene.
Gregg Kohr, of Dover Township, was sitting in the grandstand when it happened. “It’s heartbreaking, somebody was killed,” he said. “I knew somebody wasn’t going to be in good shape.”
Per the Williams Grove website, the feature on Friday night was the Billy Kimmel Memorial for the Lawrence Chevrolet 410 sprint cars, part of the 2019 Yellow Breeches 500 series. Also on the program was the HJ Towing & Recovery 358 sprints competing in a Summer Series race.
The annual Billy Kimmel Memorial for 410 sprint cars is run in honor of Billy Kimmel of Mechanicsburg. Kimmel was fatally injured in a sprint car racing accident at Williams Grove in 2007. He was 27 years old.
The crash took place during the final two laps of the feature race, according to observers, as drivers Robbie Kendall and Anthony Macri were battling for position in the bottom half of the top 10. It was Kendall’s car that catapulted over the fence. According to reports, the driver was OK.
Speck operated one of the push trucks at the track, one of several positioned around it throughout the evening of racing. They drive on to the track to assist a car idled after it spins out or is involved in a crash.
The crash remains under investigation by the state police, the Cumberland County coroner’s office and track officials, the press release said. The owner of the track declined comment Friday night.
Dozens of cars remained in the parking lot after the races were canceled. Groups of spectators stood around discussing what they had seen.
Friday’s incident comes less than a year after the death of racer Greg Hodnett at BAPS Motor Speedway in York County, prompting offseason measures designed to improve safety there.
Source:
www.pennlive.com/news/2019/08/accident-at-williams-grove-speedway-kills-spectator.html