Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, November 29, 1994 TAG: 9411290108
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: GREENSBORO, N.C. LENGTH: Medium
The two teen-age children of Barry Dodson, Kyle Petty's crew chief, died in a one-car accident that apparently was alcohol-related early Saturday in Darlington, S.C..
David Trey Dodson, 17, a senior and an all-star baseball pitcher at Darlington's St. John's High School, and Tia Jan Dodson, 16, a sophomore and a cheerleader at the same school, were killed when the car in which they were riding careened at a high speed off a curve on a Darlington street, glanced off one tree and hit another.
Tia Dodson was pronounced dead at the scene of the 2 a.m. Saturday accident. Trey Dodson died at a local hospital about two hours later. Another teen-aged passenger died Sunday morning. A fourth passenger was seriously injured.
The driver of the car, David Elliott, 21, of Darlington, was the least seriously injured. Darlington Police Chief Roy Williams told the Florence (S.C.) Morning News that all five of the car's occupants apparently had been drinking and none was wearing a seat belt. ``Most definitely there will be charges'' filed in the case, Williams told the newspaper.
Both Dodson teens were born in Guilford County when their father was working on Richard Petty's NASCAR team. They lived with their mother, Jan Kirkman Dodson, in Darlington. Barry Dodson now lives in Mooresville, N.C.
Their funeral was scheduled for 10 a.m. today at Darlington First Baptist Church, where they were members. Burial was set for 4 p.m. today at Crestview Cemetery in Rural Hall, N.C., with a memorial service scheduled for 7 p.m. at Rural Hall Moravian Church.
The family requests that memorial donations be made to the Winston Cup Racing Wives Auxiliary, P.O. Box 251, Harrisburg, N.C., 28075.
On Nov.9, 24-year-old Craig Michael Myers, the son of Dean Myers, who owns the No.32 Active Motorsports Chevy, was killed when the motorcycle he was riding struck a horse in a road not far from his Mooresville home.
STEALING BRUTON'S THUNDER: As expected, Charlotte, N.C., businessman O. Bruton Smith, who owns the Charlotte and Atlanta speedways, announced Monday in Texas that he plans to build a $75 million speedway in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Smith said he was looking for a site with a minimum of 1,500 acres and has narrowed his potential locations from 10 to five. ``I'd like to think we can make the decision on the site very shortly,'' he said in a statement.
But another potential Texas speedway builder, 40-year-old Billy Meyer, made an effort to steal Smith's thunder by unveiling his own plans in an unusual Sunday press conference that featured Dallas' mayor.
Meyer, owner of the Texas Motorplex, which is widely considered the country's premier drag racing facility, said he planned to build a 1.5-mile oval track, with a road course, on a 1,000-acre tract known as Pinnacle Park in Oak Cliff.
Ironically, Smith's statement said he had considered St. Louis as a potential site for a new track (as well as Las Vegas), but had dropped the Missouri city because of competing proposals.
``The bottom line is that the market for a new speedway in St. Louis has become too congested with the recent announcement by [Long Beach Grand Prix promoter] Chris Pook and other individuals wanting to build a race track there,'' Smith said. ``Two superspeedways cannot survive in any marketplace and since they seemed further down the road with their plans, I think it is appropriate for us to step aside.''
NASCAR, meanwhile, is taking a wait-and-see attitude.
``We're spectators right now,'' spokesman Kevin Triplett said Monday. ``There are a lot of other markets we'd like to go to, and Dallas-Fort Worth is a good market. But we have no commitments other than the one we've made to Roger Penske and the California Speedway to hold a race there after that track is completed.''
Keywords:
FATALITY
by CNB