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Since this hasn't been discussed on here, I'll do it.
We were there Saturday night and witnessed it up close. I've been going to dirt track races for almost 50 years. This was the scariest thing I've ever seen.
It started when the leader, Chesley Dixon, caught a rut exiting Turn 4. The car barrel-rolled twice and then stood up on its nose. At that point the second place car of Blake Smth hit the bottom of Dixon's car, resulting in the leader's car erupting in flames. The car landed upside down and immediately was engulfed in fire. With Chesley Dixon trapped in the driver's seat.
Other drivers, crew members, fans, etc., rushed to the fire to attempt to extinguish it, but weren't able to. Blake Smith's car also burned in the fire, but they were able to get him out after a minute or so. But Dixon's car continued to burn, with flames reaching 15-20 feet high, as fuel still fed the fire. The entire place was chaos, with people running and yelling, fans in the stands screaming and crying. Track personnel were yelling into the grandstands for additional fire extinguisgers. My wife has been a nurse for 25 years and even she had trouble containing her emotions as Chesley remained trapped in the car for 15 or 20 minutes.
By now two things were shockingly obvious -- there was no fire truck at the track, and there were no trained professionals with the knowledge or equipment to do anything about the situation. After what seemed like forever, Chesley was pulled from the car and carried to an ambulance. The car burned another 10 minutes or so before it was finally extinguished.
Most importantly, by the grace of God, Chesley is alive. He is burned over much of his hands, arms, and lower body. He begins the first of many surgeries today. The only reason he's alive is, the driver's side of the car was uphill on the track, and the burning fuel was running down the embankment and away from him. Otherwise, he'd have burned alive.
Throughout the entire tragedy, one topic kept going through the crowd: Where is the fire personnel?? Where's the fire truck?? Where are the firemen? Even after 20 or 30 minutes, no fire personnel arrived. This track charged $20 a head and had a large crowd, and they won't spend $200 to have a fire truck and a couple trained firemen sitting at the track? That's absolutely inexcusable and it nearly cost a man his life. I'm assuming lawsuits are forthcoming, and they would be 100% justified.
Please pray for Chesley, his wife Bridget and their children.
We were there Saturday night and witnessed it up close. I've been going to dirt track races for almost 50 years. This was the scariest thing I've ever seen.
It started when the leader, Chesley Dixon, caught a rut exiting Turn 4. The car barrel-rolled twice and then stood up on its nose. At that point the second place car of Blake Smth hit the bottom of Dixon's car, resulting in the leader's car erupting in flames. The car landed upside down and immediately was engulfed in fire. With Chesley Dixon trapped in the driver's seat.
Other drivers, crew members, fans, etc., rushed to the fire to attempt to extinguish it, but weren't able to. Blake Smith's car also burned in the fire, but they were able to get him out after a minute or so. But Dixon's car continued to burn, with flames reaching 15-20 feet high, as fuel still fed the fire. The entire place was chaos, with people running and yelling, fans in the stands screaming and crying. Track personnel were yelling into the grandstands for additional fire extinguisgers. My wife has been a nurse for 25 years and even she had trouble containing her emotions as Chesley remained trapped in the car for 15 or 20 minutes.
By now two things were shockingly obvious -- there was no fire truck at the track, and there were no trained professionals with the knowledge or equipment to do anything about the situation. After what seemed like forever, Chesley was pulled from the car and carried to an ambulance. The car burned another 10 minutes or so before it was finally extinguished.
Most importantly, by the grace of God, Chesley is alive. He is burned over much of his hands, arms, and lower body. He begins the first of many surgeries today. The only reason he's alive is, the driver's side of the car was uphill on the track, and the burning fuel was running down the embankment and away from him. Otherwise, he'd have burned alive.
Throughout the entire tragedy, one topic kept going through the crowd: Where is the fire personnel?? Where's the fire truck?? Where are the firemen? Even after 20 or 30 minutes, no fire personnel arrived. This track charged $20 a head and had a large crowd, and they won't spend $200 to have a fire truck and a couple trained firemen sitting at the track? That's absolutely inexcusable and it nearly cost a man his life. I'm assuming lawsuits are forthcoming, and they would be 100% justified.
Please pray for Chesley, his wife Bridget and their children.
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