Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Fires after Busch Series crashes raise concerns

Tuesday, June 22, 2004 | 9:06 a.m.

Brian Hilderbrand covers motor sports for the Las Vegas Sun. His motor sports notebook appears Friday. He can be reached at bh@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4089.

NASCAR officials are looking into why fire-extinguishing devices mounted near the fuel cells failed to deploy in a pair of fiery crashes during Saturday night's Busch Series race at Kentucky Speedway.

Cars driven by Blake Feese and Buckshot Jones erupted into flames after making hard contact with the outside wall in separate accidents and in both cases the flames were not extinguished until the track's safety workers arrived on the scene.

Both drivers escaped their cars without suffering any serious injuries, although Jones received treatment at the track for smoke inhalation.

Last August, NASCAR mandated that all cars and trucks in its three top series install a heat-activated fire-extinguishing device designed to contain fires in the fuel-cell area. The action was taken after Cup drivers Ken Schrader, Ryan Newman, Dale Jarrett and Bobby Labonte were involved in separate fiery crashes early last season.

NASCAR spokesman Mike Zizzo said that the device should have deployed in both accidents Saturday night and that technicians at NASCAR's Research and Development Center in Concord, N.C., would investigate.

"We brought some components back from those fuel cells," Zizzo said. "We've already seen that both fuel cells have maintained their integrity, so we're looking at some of the (other) components involved."

The incidents during the Busch race at Kentucky were the first apparent failures of the fire-extinguishing device in any of the three series since NASCAR mandated their use.

Rummerfield, 51, was paralyzed from the neck down in an automobile accident in 1974 and is believed to be the first person ever to recover from such an injury.

"My goal is to use my NASCAR racing to raise money for spinal cord damage research," Rummerfield said.

Last December, Rummerfield tested one of Sam Schmidt's Indy Racing League Infiniti Pro Series cars during a two-day test session at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Schmidt, a Henderson resident, became a quadriplegic four years ago as a result of an IRL testing accident in Orlando, Fla. He now owns a two-car team in the developmental Infiniti Pro Series.

Other winners Saturday were Glen Burke (Late Models), Fred Kiser Jr. (Chargers), Dustin Ash (Semi-Pro Legends Cars), Jimmy Parker Jr. (Pro/Master Legends Cars), Dave Green (Thunder Roadsters) and Austin Murphy (Bandolero Cars).

The NASCAR Dodge Weekly Racing Series resumes Saturday at The Bullring with racing in Super Late Models, Chargers, Legends Cars, IMCA Modifieds and Bullring Bombers.