Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, May 8, 1995                   TAG: 9505080120
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: COLUMBIA                                  LENGTH: Medium

FANS AT VA. DRAG STRIP `COULDN'T GET OUT OF THE WAY'

Shawn Mowdy and his girlfriend were sitting in lawn chairs at the base of a gentle slope that lined the left side of the Bodacious Motor Sports Park on Saturday night.

A gray Late Model Stock Car called the Pony Express, racing alone against the clock, was nearing the end of the 200-yard-long mud track when a front tire broke off, Mowdy said. The car veered off the course, broke through a metal guard rail and a chicken-wire fence and careened into a row of fans sitting about 30 feet from the track.

``People couldn't get out of the way in time,'' Mowdy said. ``I tried to run, but I got trampled by the people trying to get out of the way. You could see it coming.''

Mowdy, 20, of Woodbridge, dived to his right and looked up to see the bottom of the car pass over him. The car struck his girlfriend, 21-year-old Kathy Grimsley of Woodbridge, and a man sitting next to her, Mowdy said.

Three people were killed and six were injured, two critically. Marion Black, senior dispatcher for the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office, said those killed were Richard Tucker, of Hayes; Christopher Redmon, 21, of Woodbridge; and Erin Doughty, a 17-year-old Woodbridge boy. Tucker's age was not available.

Grimsley was in critical condition Sunday at the University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville with a crushed pelvis, said hospital administrator Cary Burton.

Rolanda Hart of Woodbridge, in her mid-40s, was in critical but stable condition Sunday at Medical College of Virginia Hospitals in Richmond, a hospital supervisor said. She had multiple fractures of the upper body.

Of the four other injured fans, who were taken to the UVa hospital, William Trevellian III, 24, of Cartersville, was in fair condition Sunday. His wife, Terri, said he had a serious cut to his left leg near the groin area. The right side of his neck also was cut, but not as seriously, she said.

Joseph H. Morrison, 32, of French Creek, W.Va., was in good condition. Brian Bevins, 16, of Woodbridge, and William J. Zienot, 26, of Bremo Bluff, were treated at the hospital and released.

Mowdy was not hurt, nor was the driver of the car.

``The driver lost control; there was nothing he could do,'' Mowdy said.

The car's engine still was running when it came to a rest near a rescue squad crew at the end of the track, he said.

Racing resumed Sunday as spectators watched from a hill overlooking the track, avoiding the pit side where the Pony Express stopped Saturday below an old announcer's tower. A wreath of flowers and ribbons marked the spot where the fans were killed.

Investigator Vincent Tate of the sheriff's office said the driver, a professional with 30 years of experience, would not be charged. ``He just lost control,'' Tate said of the 50-year-old Mississippi man whose name was not released. ``Those racing vehicles have about 200 horsepower. They can travel 200 feet in a few seconds.''

Tate said an inspection of the car found no mechanical problems. Pending the result of autopsies this week, he said the case likely would be closed with a ruling that the deaths were accidental.

Keywords:
AUTO RACING FATALITY