Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
Moderators: dirtonly  /  dmantx  /  hosehead

From the Northeastern Midget Association web site.

NEMA’s Shane Hammond Succumbs at Thompson

Shane Hammond, one of the Northeastern Midget Association young stalwarts, died Sunday from “traumatic injuries” sustained in a crash at Thompson International Speedway’s season-opening Icebreaker. The crash occurred on the fourth lap of the scheduled 25-lapper.

Hammond, 27, of Halifax, MA, made contact with another car at the end of the backstretch on the fourth lap. Getting airborne, Hammond’s car cleared the concrete wall and struck a billboard in turn three.

After being extricated from the racer (a process that took some 12 minutes), Hammond was taken by ambulance to Day Kimball Hospital in nearby Putnam where he died.

NEMA immediately suspended the race. It was the first of nineteen scheduled events for the 58-year old club.

Hammond, who was diving Mike Jarret’s #4x second car, joined the Midget ranks in 2003 after a very successful stint in Go Karts. Regarded as a “steady hand,” he had “shook down” the car on several occasions and last raced it at Beech Ridge in 2007.

The last fatality for NEMA was Ed Clothier at Westboro Speedway on June 19, 1965.

Always a sad day when the Grim Reaper strikes.

Please let this be the last this season.

Save your butt, get a colon screening TODAY

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Thanks for posting the news on the board. I had read about the incident on several other boards, but had not seen it mentioned on here. For those of you outside the Northeast, Thompson (Conn.) is a very fast 5/8 mile asphalt track. John Blewett III lost his life there last August in a NASCAR Modified crash and Tom Baldwin also was fatally injured there in a NASCAR Mod crash in, I believe, 2003.

This latest fatality really sounds especially sad. From what I have read, Hammond's car broke earlier in the day and he then climbed aboard the second Mike Jarret car. From what I read on other sites, Hammond's car went over another driver's wheel and crashed right through a billboard outside the track.

We all LOVE racing, but this is the one thing that we all HATE. Condolences to the family, and Godspeed Shane.........

SUPPORT WILDLIFE, go to a sprint car race!