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USAC SPRINT CAR SPECIAL EVENT RACE RESULTS: May 22-24, 2008 – Anderson, Indiana - Anderson Speedway – 60th Pay Less "Little 500"

QUALIFICATIONS: (Held May 22-23 - 4-Lap Times) 1. Doug Heveron, 22, Heckman-45.184; 2. Jimmy McCune, 19, Durnwald-45.699; 3. Tony Elliott, 5, Nolen-45.703; 4. Dave Steele, 91, Puglio-45.862; 5. Eric Gordon, 2, Bowman-45.863; 6. Mat Neely, 44, Contos-45.926; 7. Jeff Bloom, 26, Bloom-45.934; 8. Billy Puterbaugh Jr., 23, Nolen-45.997; 9. Tate Martz, 32, Martz/Alexander-46.049; 10. Troy DeCaire, 66, Nowling-46.088; 11. Brian Gerster, 50, Ram-46.119; 12. Brian Tyler, 10, Harshbarger-46.178; 13. Shane Cottle, 4, Contos-46.253; 14. Johnny Rodriguez, 14, Pierson-46.416; 15. Brad Armstrong, 81, Blake-46.475; (TOP 15 ON MAY 22 LOCKED IN), 16. Jacob Wilson, 07, WBR-45.656; 17. Ryan Litt, 7, Litt-45.661; 18. Russ Gamester, 46, GMI-46.616; 19. Jason Blonde, 42, T & T Promotions-46.623; 20. Aaron Pierce, 29, Pierce-46.691; 21. Kenny Biro, 72, Biro-46.762; 22. Tyler Underwood, 41, Thunder Chassis-46.782; 23. Brandon Whited, 15, Hale-46.842; 24. Rex Norris III, 63, Norris-46.842; 25. Jeff Banyas, 87, DJ-46.943; 26. Ike Beasley, 99, Stickney-47.084; 27. Sonny Hartley, 27, DJ-47.427; 28. Brent Berry, 51, Berry-47.598; 29. Kevin Feeney, 9, Stewart-47.745; 30. Jim Swain, 6, Swain-48.226; 31. E.J. Calloway, 3, Calloway-49.527; 32. Mark Hall, 12, Hallmark-50.175; 33. Tom Paterson, 11, Paterson-50.519; 34. Ed Lute, 28, Lute-NT; 35. Donnie Adams, Jr., 17, Adams-NT.

FEATURE: (500 laps - Held May 24) 1. Shane Cottle, 2. Tony Elliott, 3. Johnny Rodriguez, 4. Ryan Litt, 5. Russ Gamester, 6. Rex Norris III, 7. Billy Puterbaugh Jr., 8. Brad Armstrong, 9. Ike Beasley, 10. Jeff Bloom, 11. Jeff Banyas, 12. E.J. Calloway, 13. Brandon Whited, 14. Mark Hall, 15. Tom Paterson, 16. Jim Swain, 17. Kenny Biro, 18. Dave Steele, 19. Kevin Feeney, 20. Ed Lute, 21. Aaron Pierce, 22. Brian Tyler, 23. Tyler Underwood, 24. Troy DeCaire, 25. Brent Berry, 26. Jimmy McCune, 27. Mat Neely, 28. Doug Heveron, 29. Eric Gordon, 30. Jacob Wilson, 31. Sonny Hartley, 32. Brian Gerster, 33. Jason Blonde. NT

**Wilson flipped on lap 49. Tyler flipped on lap 136.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-99 Elliott, Laps 100-144 Cottle, Laps 145-148 Litt, Laps 149-211 Rodriguez, Laps 212-218 Elliott, Laps 219-335 Litt, Laps 336-360 Elliott, Laps 361-373 Litt, Laps 374-376 Cottle, Lap 377 Litt, Laps 378-500 Cottle.

Because recent CRA A main winner J-Rod made the podium, I went looking for further information. What I found was unfortunate.

From http://www.theheraldbulletin.com/local/local_story_146194017.html

ANDERSON — Roy Hiatt grew up to work at the track where he watched races as a kid.

The 49-year-old Anderson resident never missed a week of work and loved his job, according to coworkers.

Hiatt died at 9:21 p.m. Saturday from injuries suffered during the Pay Less Little 500 at the Anderson Speedway. Tyler Underwood, driver of car 41, did not see Hiatt and accidentally ran into him on the track, said Rick Dawson, president of the speedway.

“He’s pretty shaken up about it,” Dawson said of Underwood. “It’s a tragedy. We’re all grieving tremendously.”

This is the first death on the track since Dawson took ownership of the speedway about 12 years ago, he said. Racing officials are thoroughly investigating the accident to find out exactly what went wrong and keep it from happening again.

Here’s what their investigation had discovered as of Sunday:

• A car’s oil filter busted and caused the vehicle’s oil to spill across the track. Several cars tangled in the first turn on Lap 99.

• Officials called a caution on the track and sent safety workers out to slow cars down and clean up.

• Hiatt, a track crewman, was on the track too early and had his back to oncoming cars, which personnel are told not to do because of the safety risk involved. Hiatt was dusting the track with oil-dry powder.

• Underwood had control of his vehicle but did not see Hiatt in time to stop from hitting him, because of the angles involved and other cars in the area. Hiatt died from blunt-force injuries to the head and chest, said Ned Dunnichay, Madison County coroner.

What remains unclear is why Hiatt went onto the track when he did and why he had his back to oncoming traffic. It was probably just an involuntary action to get the track cleaned up, meaning Hiatt acted without thinking, Dawson said.

Witnesses at the scene spotted the No. 41 car racing around the track while Hiatt had his back to the vehicle and dusted the track with oil-dry powder. They shouted and pointed to try to get his attention, and then they heard a loud slam as they watched Hiatt get hit, witnesses said.

Track official Gary Mong saw an ambulance drive onto the scene and assumed a driver was injured, he said. But the ambulance drove away from the car wreck and toward the front stretch.

Mong was not sure what had happened until he got a radio call from Dawson asking how old Hiatt was.

“I was like, ‘don’t tell me he’s the one that went down,’” Mong said. “And he was.”

The night before the accident, Mong had spoken with Hiatt about how much they enjoyed the track.

Hiatt’s death was a shock to everyone, even those who did not know him, Mong said.

“The entire speedway is saddened by his death. We just lost a part of our racing family,” Mong said. “We’ve become very close-knit here at Anderson.”

An earlier post on the same website:

A track worker was struck and killed by a race car Saturday evening at Anderson Speedway during the Pay Less Little 500.

Roy Hiatt, 50, of Anderson, a member of the speedway safety crew, died at 9:21 p.m. Saturday in the emergency department of Saint John's Medical Center, according to a hospital spokesperson.

Hiatt had reportedly suffered massive head injuries, but an exact cause of death will not be available until an autopsy is performed.

According to a Herald Bulletin photographer at the scene, cars driven by Jimmy McCune, Eric Gordon, Troy Decaire, Doug Heveron and Dave Steele tangled in the first turn on Lap 99. A caution was called on the track, and Hiatt and the rest of the safety crew were dispatched to slow down cars and clean up the track.

According to a Herald Bulletin correspondent on the scene, as Hiatt dusted the track with speed-dry powder, he was run over by a race car. The identity of the car that struck Hiatt was unavailable at press time.

The race was stopped temporarily as emergency medical personnel attended to Hiatt and then loaded him onto a waiting ambulance.

The all-clear on the track was given around 9:30 p.m., and the race continued.