Tommy Dunford's Fatal Crash @ Maryland International Raceway 2017
- 5 months ago
Veteran driver Thomas "Tommy" Dunford, 60, from Tazewell, Virginia, was fatally injured in a racing accident during the Maryland International Raceway’s 2nd Annual F.T.I Competition Converters & Transmissions Super Bowl of Bracket Racing event, on Sunday, 23 July 2017 evening.
The accident occurred around 20h00. For unknown reasons, Tommy Dunford's dragsters failed to slow at the conclusion of his second round elimination match, which he won, going off the end of the dragstrip. The parachute was never released and it plowed through the sand trap and safety netting at a high rate of speed, coming to rest into the trees that separate the track from the nearby Budds Creek Road. The track medical emergency personnel pronounced him deceased at the scene.
Out of respect for the fallen driver, after the accident the remainder of the day’s racing activities at Maryland International Raceway in Mechanicsville, Maryland, were cancelled.
A roofing contractor and general manager of Southwest Roofing, Inc., Thomas Dunford began his racing career in the early 1970s competing in various International Hot Rod Association (IHRA) and bracket eliminators over the years, including a stint in a nitrous oxide-assisted Pro Modified Camaro "Death Dealer" in the late 2000s.
R.I.P
The accident occurred around 20h00. For unknown reasons, Tommy Dunford's dragsters failed to slow at the conclusion of his second round elimination match, which he won, going off the end of the dragstrip. The parachute was never released and it plowed through the sand trap and safety netting at a high rate of speed, coming to rest into the trees that separate the track from the nearby Budds Creek Road. The track medical emergency personnel pronounced him deceased at the scene.
Out of respect for the fallen driver, after the accident the remainder of the day’s racing activities at Maryland International Raceway in Mechanicsville, Maryland, were cancelled.
A roofing contractor and general manager of Southwest Roofing, Inc., Thomas Dunford began his racing career in the early 1970s competing in various International Hot Rod Association (IHRA) and bracket eliminators over the years, including a stint in a nitrous oxide-assisted Pro Modified Camaro "Death Dealer" in the late 2000s.
R.I.P