Driver Killed At Charlotte Motor Speedway

Driver Killed At Lowe s Motor Speedway. 2001, at Lowe s Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C. Earnhardt was uninjured in the crash, but Blaise Alexander.

Oct 09, 2002  at Lowes Motor Speedway, ARCA driver Martin killed in crash during practice. was taken to University Hospital in Charlotte.

Death toll highest at Lowe's Motor Speedway

Death toll highest at Lowe s Motor Speedway CHARLOTTE, Seven people were killed in races at the Charlotte-area one driver broke his neck and another was.

May 17, 1990  David Gaines, a driver in the NASCAR sportsman s division, was killed in a multi-car accident during a practice run at the Charlotte Motor Speedway.

May 17, 1990  LEAD: David Gaines, a driver in Nascar s sportsman s division, was killed today in a multicar accident in a practice run at the Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Charlotte Motor Speedway; Location: 5555 Concord Parkway South Concord, North Carolina, 28027: Capacity: 94,000 1 Owner: Speedway Motorsports, Inc. Operator.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Since 1990, more people have died at Lowe s Motor Speedway than at any other U.S. track.

Seven people were killed in races at the Charlotte-area speedway, including three spectators in the grandstands, and three drivers killed in an experimental division for racers trying to gain experience on large tracks.

Another death came in October, when up-and-coming driver Blaise Alexander Jr. hit the wall.

It s a tough course, said track President H.A. Humpy Wheeler. I think we ve reacted strongly to try to make it safer but at the same time you re always on the edge in racing.

The track s size, D-shape and high banks require more maneuvering by drivers than most tracks, Wheeler said.

In the mid-1960s, three drivers -- including renowned racer Fireball Roberts -- were killed. Three more people died in the 1970s. Nobody died in the 1980s.

The speedway vastly increased the number of events during the 1990s. Some of them proved riskier than its traditional stock-car events.

Wheeler created the Sportsman race in 1989 to give short-track racers experience on large, fast speedways.

We don t want to lose sight of a potential young Dale Earnhardt, a hungry, no-money driver who wants to win, win, win, Wheeler said at the time.

Sanctioned by NASCAR, the race drew a range of talent and equipment. The only requirement was a driver s license and some short-track experience.

The results were chaotic -- and deadly.

In 1990, David Gaines, 27, died during practice after his spinning car came to a stop, and was broadsided by another driver with little large-track experience.

There was too much inexperience, said Gaines father, Jerry, a race-car owner who financed his son s hobby. Anybody could have raced. You didn t need any credentials.

Wheeler called it a racing accident. God knows I ve seen enough of them. It s the dark side of what we do.

In 1991, one driver broke his neck and another was badly burned. Phil Ross of Greer, S.C., still has his charred fire suit and scars. He quit racing that day.

I wanted to be here to raise my kids and be with my wife, said Ross.

Gary Batson bought Ross car. He was a short-track racer who ran a restaurant in Travelers Rest, S.C. He wanted to move up in motorsports, so in 1992, he entered a Sportsman race.

Batson s car collided with another, flipped onto its side and burst into flames. He wasn t injured in the impact, and even flashed a thumbs-up. The fire, however, consumed him.

At the hospital, Batson looked at his close friend, Roy, and began to cry. He knew. You could tell he knew where things were headed, said Roy Barrett. Gary Batson, 40, died the next day.

The Sportsman race became known for spectacular wrecks: A 12-car pileup in 1992. A nine-car crash in 1993. A fiery crash and an eight-car wreck in 1994.

Russell Phillips, of Mint Hill, N.C., dodged most of the mayhem. He raced in 16 Sportsman events and had one crash that damaged his car severely enough that he missed a race.

In 1995, he became the Sportsman s third fatality in seven years.

As Phillips rounded a turn, his brother radioed that he should steer to the outside to avoid a wreck. Phillips responded but another car veered into him, flipping his car onto its side and sending it scraping along the catch fence, shearing off the top. Phillips, 26, was killed instantly. Workers cleaned the track, and the race resumed.

The stage was set for disaster from Day 1, said Phillips brother, John, who urged Russell to stick with short tracks.

Wheeler said he decided that day to stop the series. John Phillips said Wheeler phoned him weeks later and asked whether the Sportsman should continue. Phillips told him: You don t want to hear what I think. I ve lost my brother and my best friend.

Phillips death ended the Sportsman at all three tracks that staged it.

The three deaths we had, you can look at that as the most unlucky things in the world, Wheeler said. I ve thought and thought about that Sportsman race. If hindsight were foresight, you certainly wouldn t have done that.

Lowe s next death didn t happen in a race, and is excluded from the Observer s study of deaths in racing. In 1997, Charles McNish -- a 57-year-old glass company owner from Missouri -- crashed during a racing school event.

In 1999, Wheeler brought the Indy Racing League to Lowe s. The race featured cars with no fenders, and wheels that jut from the car s body. Faster than stock cars, they top 200 mph and disintegrate on impact to carry the energy away from the driver.

A year earlier, three spectators were killed at a similar event in Michigan, when a tire flew over the 14- 1/2-foot fence into the stands.

Lowe s examined its 15-foot fence and decided it was high enough to protect fans. It wasn t.

During an accident, a car knocked a loose tire into the stands -- killing three people and injuring eight.

North Carolinians Randy Pyatte of Connelly Springs died at 21. Hickory s Jeff Patton was 32. Dexter Mobley, 41, of Statesville, also was killed.

Since then, Speedway Motor Sports -- which owns Lowe s -- has raised fences to 21 feet at its four large oval tracks.

The most recent death at Lowe s came in October, when Blaise Alexander Jr. crashed during an ARCA Automobile Racing Club of America race -- a developmental division for drivers.

Alexander, 25, died from a skull fracture much like the one that killed Dale Earnhardt in February. Neither racer wore head restraints.

These deaths really take a toll on the families and friends and the townships where they re from, said Roy Barrett, among the last people to talk to Gary Batson as he lay dying from burns. Everybody remembers Gary and what happened to him. They still talk about it around here. Stuff like that, you can t get over.

69 rows  Circuit note 20 Fatal accidents; Total First Last; Daytona International Speedway: 14: 1961: 2001: Charlotte Motor Speedway: 6: 1964: 1995: Riverside.

1995 was a NASCAR Sportsman Division driver from the United States. He was killed in a crash at Charlotte Motor Speedway also withdrew from the.

One man is dead after a motorcycle accident near Charlotte Motor Speedway. Motorcycle accident kills man near speedway Office shot and killed a man.