News-Record.com

DATE: Saturday, July 8, 2000
PAGE: A1
BY DUSTIN LONG Staff Writer

KENNY IRWIN, 30, KILLED ON TRACK THAT TOOK PETTY

NASCAR Winston Cup driver Kenny Irwin died Friday after crashing in the same corner at the same track where Adam Petty suffered fatal injuries eight weeks ago to the day. Irwin was 30.

Irwin crashed Friday in turn 3 at New Hampshire International Speedway about 10 minutes after practice began for Sunday's race. Petty was killed May 12 after crashing in turn 3 at the Loudon, N.H., track during NASCAR Grand National practice.

Irwin's car hit the turn 3 wall and tipped over onto the driver's side, riding along the outside wall toward turn 4. As the car slowed, it rolled onto its roof. Rescue crews removed Irwin within 10 minutes. He spent about 30 minutes at the infield care center before being taken to Concord (N.H.) Regional Hospital.

He was pronounced dead "due to multiple injuries," according to a hospital statement.

Irwin is the first Winston Cup driver to be killed in a racing accident since Neil Bonnett and Rodney Orr died from injuries suffered in crashes four days apart at Daytona International Speedway in 1994.

"We're just in disbelief that two tragedies in such a short amount of time can happen here," driver Geoffrey Bodine said. "I survived the worst crash in NASCAR history at Daytona in February, and here Adam Petty and Kenny Irwin are gone at a mile track, a track that has never seriously hurt anyone. I'm just numb. I'm standing here and my body is shaking, it's so numb.

"I have to believe the reason why Adam and Kenny are gone, it was fate on God's part. God needed them somewhere else and chose to take 'em. Today was Kenny's day to go."

Bodine was injured and missed 10 races when he was involved in a fiery Craftsman Truck Series race at Daytona.

Brett Bodine's voice choked as he talked about Irwin.

"This is just a terrible day in our sport," said Brett Bodine, who with Jeff Gordon stopped at the crash site immediately after Irwin's accident. "We're going to miss Kenny an awful lot."

NASCAR president Bill France said in a statement that series officials "are deeply saddened" by Irwin's death.

"Kenny was a fine competitor and will be missed very much by the entire NASCAR community," France said.

No cause for the accident had been determined. NASCAR officials impounded the car after the accident.

Driver Ward Burton said that track officials should look at making changes to the 1.058-mile oval.

"Two means it's a problem," Burton said of the fatal crashes in the same location.

He suggested that the banking in the track's corners be increased to help the cars carry their speed into the corners. The track is banked 12 degrees, a minor amount. The banking is the same as at Martinsville Speedway, but the straightaways at New Hampshire are longer and allow drivers to build more speed before entering the turns. The corners also are tight, making it more difficult for drivers when they approach at speed.

Richard Petty, grandfather of Adam Petty, says there's nothing wrong with the track.

"Those things are circumstances beyond human control," Richard Petty said. "It's circumstances with the way you stop that thing so quick. Your body just can't stand it."

Irwin's Winston Cup career was brief and beleaguered. Expectations shadowed him beginning in 1997 when car owner Robert Yates announced that Irwin would replace Ernie Irvan for the 1998 season. Irwin made his debut at Richmond International Raceway in the fall 1997 race. He started second, led 12 laps and finished eighth. No other Cup driver has ever recorded a top-10 start and finish in his first race.

It seemed as if more ground-breaking runs were about to happen for the Indianapolis native with the childlike voice and contagious giggle. He was seen by many as the next Jeff Gordon - a fresh-faced open-wheel racer from Indiana who had been a successful driver and was a good spokesman. Irwin won the 1996 U.S. Auto Club midget title and was the 1997 rookie of the year in the NASCAR truck series, winning two races.

Days before his first Daytona 500 in 1998, Irwin talked of his opportunity.

"I've had a lot of dreams about what this would be like," he told the Indianapolis Star. "I'm glad I'm finally here."

But it never went as well as he hoped. Irwin never met those expectations and was often dogged by talk that he would be replaced. Irwin won rookie of the year honors in 1998 but had four top-10 finishes in 32 starts. Last year, he had six top-10 finishes, but it wasn't enough. Last August, the team announced that Irwin would not return.

Irwin, who was single, was signed by car owner Felix Sabates and joined Sterling Marlin as a teammate for this season. Irwin's best finish this season was a fourth at Talladega in April.

Irwin's team withdrew from the New Hampshire race. Marlin, his teammate, did not make a qualifying attempt Friday. He will do so today.

The race will continue as planned for Sunday, but it won't be easy for many drivers.

"I know there's nothing we can do about it, it's in God's hands, but everything just went on. Everything just went on and that really bothers me a lot," Jimmy Spencer said. "That bothers me more than anything. We all feel it, you know, and you think that we don't feel that, but every competitor in here and every person in this garage area feels like the best thing we can do is load up and go home, but we know we can't do that."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

DATE: Sunday, July 9, 2000
PAGE: C3
BY DUSTIN LONG Staff Writer

DRIVERS RECALL BATTLES, FRIENDSHIP WITH IRWIN

Their relationship was strained at times, but then again, it's difficult to be friends with a competitor. For nearly a decade, Tony Stewart and Kenny Irwin raced each other for victories from dirt tracks to Daytona.

Irwin died Friday from injuries suffered in a crash at New Hampshire International Speedway during practice for today's NASCAR Winston Cup race. He was 30. Friday became a day of reflection for Stewart and rookie Mike Bliss, who competed against Irwin in open-wheel cars before they met again on the NASCAR circuit.

Stewart, an emotional racer driven to compete, once described his relationship with Irwin as unique.

"It's always been a love-hate relationship as far as we always hated seeing each other show up at a racetrack because we knew that's who we had to beat," Stewart said last year.

Their rivalry was born in 1991 on a paved one-fifth mile track in Indianapolis when the Hoosier natives drove midget cars at the Indianapolis Speedrome.

"From then on, it's been a rivalry that continued through the present," Stewart said this weekend.

It intensified at Martinsville Speedway last fall when Stewart and Irwin were involved in several bumping incidents during the race. Irwin crashed Stewart in retaliation for being spun twice. After his crash, Stewart waited for Irwin, threw his heat shields at Irwin's car and reached in the car as Irwin drove by.

Even through the conflicts, Stewart says they raced each other hard.

"Through nine years of rivalry, there's been a mutual admiration and respect for one another and for what each other could do in a race car," Stewart said. "Of all the years I've ever raced, I think I can pretty honestly say ... Kenny was the hardest and toughest racer I've ever had to run with on a daily or weekly basis.

"I've said this a thousand times since I started in Winston Cup; Kenny's part of the reason I got here because he pushed me to make myself better each week."

Bliss, an Oregon native who moved to Indiana in the 1990s to further his racing career in open-wheel cars, raced against Irwin for about 10 years. They reunited in the NASCAR truck series in 1996 when Irwin competed in a few races. He raced full-time the following year. Bliss was second when Irwin won at Homestead-Miami Speedway in 1997 for his first career truck win.

"We weren't best of friends, but we raced against each other," Bliss said. "We were competitors. You hate to see anybody get killed in a racecar or anywhere. But I'm more mad and frustrated. Let's make sure our drivers are protected at the racetrack. Let's make sure they can hit a wall and walk away."

Stewart shared similar feelings.

"I don't understand why things like this happen to guys like him that have paid their dues and worked really hard to get to this level," he said. "It just doesn't seem fair."

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