Gary Batson fatal crash at Charlotte (15 May 1992) NASCAR
- 6 years ago
Gary Batson never had a chance of escaping the inferno that took his life Friday night at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. The restaurateur and part-time racer from Travelers Rest, S.C., died at 12:35 Saturday afternoon, 15 hours after his fiery crash during the opening laps of a Sportsman qualifying race.
After treatment at the nearby Cabarrus Memorial Hospital Friday night, he was flown to North Carolina Memorial Hospital in Chapel Hill. He died there of third-degree burns and cardiac arrest.
Saturday, track operator Humpy Wheeler said he'd never seen anything like the Turn 4 accident. "I'd have a different feeling if a bunch of guys had overreacted and crashed," he said. "But this was a freak accident, something that could have happened in a Winston Cup or Grand National race. It's the most bizarre thing I've ever seen."
The accident happened when Batson's Chevrolet was shoved against the Turn 4 wall as several cars crashed ahead of him. His car flopped onto its side and slid 1,000 feet down the track. Batson was the eighth fatality since the track opened in 1960. Winston Cup drivers Fireball Roberts and Jimmy Pardue died in 1964, and Harold Kite a year later.
Sportsman driver David Gaines died in 1990 near the spot that claimed Batson. Drag racing mechanics Reid Southern and Blaine Oxendine died in a pit accident in 1974, and motorcycle racer Thomas DeBlass died in 1978. Like most Sportsman drivers, Batson was a short-track veteran with almost no superspeedway experience. He needed a top-10 finish in Friday night's qualifier to advance into Saturday night's 100-mile feature. He was 11th when he crashed with Neal Connell after just four laps.
Batson, a bachelor, is survived by two brothers and a sister. They were by his bedside when he died. Meanwhile, life went on at CMS. It was almost as if nothing untoward had happened the night before. Workers spent part of Saturday white-washing the black marks stretching 1,000 feet along the retaining wall. They came from Batson's tires as he slid left-side down out of Turn 4, his Chevrolet pinned to the wall by Connell's. If drivers spoke of the tragedy at all, it was only briefly and in hushed tones. Invariably, racers are loathe to discuss anything having to do with their own mortality. Like others, Wheeler spent much of the day searching for answers. He created the Sportsman division in 1989 and feels responsible when things go terribly wrong.
Wheeler said medical and crash teams responded "as quickly as they safely could" and added that Batson's on-board fire extinguisher discharged properly. "This wasn't a Sportsman wreck," he said. "Nobody panicked. Everybody kept their cool."
The first safety unit arrived 25 seconds after Batson's car stopped sliding and burst into flames. It was another 10 seconds before workers attacked the fire and 20 more seconds before the fire was out.
"It wouldn't be a race," Wheeler said softly, "if we made things 100 percent safe. It would be a completely different thing."
"Occasionally, we see the hard side of racing. This is the hardest side there is."
After treatment at the nearby Cabarrus Memorial Hospital Friday night, he was flown to North Carolina Memorial Hospital in Chapel Hill. He died there of third-degree burns and cardiac arrest.
Saturday, track operator Humpy Wheeler said he'd never seen anything like the Turn 4 accident. "I'd have a different feeling if a bunch of guys had overreacted and crashed," he said. "But this was a freak accident, something that could have happened in a Winston Cup or Grand National race. It's the most bizarre thing I've ever seen."
The accident happened when Batson's Chevrolet was shoved against the Turn 4 wall as several cars crashed ahead of him. His car flopped onto its side and slid 1,000 feet down the track. Batson was the eighth fatality since the track opened in 1960. Winston Cup drivers Fireball Roberts and Jimmy Pardue died in 1964, and Harold Kite a year later.
Sportsman driver David Gaines died in 1990 near the spot that claimed Batson. Drag racing mechanics Reid Southern and Blaine Oxendine died in a pit accident in 1974, and motorcycle racer Thomas DeBlass died in 1978. Like most Sportsman drivers, Batson was a short-track veteran with almost no superspeedway experience. He needed a top-10 finish in Friday night's qualifier to advance into Saturday night's 100-mile feature. He was 11th when he crashed with Neal Connell after just four laps.
Batson, a bachelor, is survived by two brothers and a sister. They were by his bedside when he died. Meanwhile, life went on at CMS. It was almost as if nothing untoward had happened the night before. Workers spent part of Saturday white-washing the black marks stretching 1,000 feet along the retaining wall. They came from Batson's tires as he slid left-side down out of Turn 4, his Chevrolet pinned to the wall by Connell's. If drivers spoke of the tragedy at all, it was only briefly and in hushed tones. Invariably, racers are loathe to discuss anything having to do with their own mortality. Like others, Wheeler spent much of the day searching for answers. He created the Sportsman division in 1989 and feels responsible when things go terribly wrong.
Wheeler said medical and crash teams responded "as quickly as they safely could" and added that Batson's on-board fire extinguisher discharged properly. "This wasn't a Sportsman wreck," he said. "Nobody panicked. Everybody kept their cool."
The first safety unit arrived 25 seconds after Batson's car stopped sliding and burst into flames. It was another 10 seconds before workers attacked the fire and 20 more seconds before the fire was out.
"It wouldn't be a race," Wheeler said softly, "if we made things 100 percent safe. It would be a completely different thing."
"Occasionally, we see the hard side of racing. This is the hardest side there is."