Forum: Oklahomatidbits.com General Forum (go)
Moderators:  /  David Smith Jr

David Smith Jr. has released this video from the Oklahomatidbits archives. I am at a loss for words right now. Thankfully no one was killed in this accident, and it did cause everyone in the dirt track community to rethink their safety practices. The lives of at least three men were changed forever.

There are some still shots taken from the grandstand side of Hutch fire on racingfromthepast.com., just click on Hutch fire on the front page of the website.

A more indepth set of pictures and some explanation here.

http://www.racingfromthepast.com/hutchnationals74firelap1index45.html

That is amazing. I was there in the stands, but I was only 4 so I don't remember. My dads car was one of the lucky ones that hit the wreck and went to the infield.

It is what it is.................I have disabled the star ratings because I didn't want this to turn into a debacle.

It is history

It turned out non-fatal, even if it changed drastically lives of several men.

Yes, even well into the 90's there were guys running without bladders. Dutch sold one on credit to a broke guy--guess what? That next week the bladder Dutch gave away, saved that guys ass. That "person" paid IMMEDIATELY the balance owed. This video also serves as a reminder. You and I know--Dutch lost his own car that year in the fire too.

No offense intended.

Brian, I was in the Grandstands and at the age of 14 and I was horrified. Like Mike Spivey said, that is HARD to look at. Jerry Solderberg was a close family freind and Aaron Madden married my Aunt.

Thanks for posting it. These kids need to know where it all came from.

One of those strange stories that always exist around events like this: Madden had been beat up pretty good in a crash at Tulsa and wasn't sure he was going to be able to go to Hutch. He called Emmett Hahn and asked if Emmett wanted to run his car at the Nationals, since the Zink car hadn't been performing particularly well and Jack had decided not to go. Emmett and Fuzzy talked it over, with Hahn thinking he could fly up there, log some hours on his student pilot's license, and fly back. They decided it was just too hot to fool with it and just stayed home. Aaron felt well enough to race and got into the car.

It's hard to watch, but there is value in posting it. It demonstrates the fire hazard that exists in motor racing. We get numb to things like that when we don't see them very often, but there are still a number of tracks that would be vulnerable to a similar disaster, or worse. Seeing this video might jolt someone to review emergency response in all facets of track operation and do a better job of preparing track crews. We go to a lot of tracks and nearly every one of them is completely unprepared to handle something like this.

"I'd pay $15 to watch a sprint car sit still."

The driver who was injured the worst was Jerry Soderberg. In the 80s or 90s Open Wheel did a story on him and the wreck. His hands were badly burned, and some or all of his fingers were shortened. They had a picture of him assembling a racing engine for a customer. Every finger I could see was short, but I couldn't see them all.

The article said that FORTY-THREE cars started that race.

There is nothing in racing scarier than a fire! That is incredible and it was truly a miracle knowone died. I don't know how many of you have ever heard of Ryan Bard but he died in a fire at Abilene and I had a front row seat to the accident that took his life a few years back, and there is not a worse feeling in the world than to watch something like that and know there is nothing you can do!

Can I change my name to ModifiedFanRob?

There is another short clip that I have from Tulsa Speedway about 1987 or so when local champ dirt car racer Jerry Potter had slowed entering turn three. I think it was Berryhill or somebody hit him full throttle and the car and him burst into flames. Behind him there were cars crashing all over the place but the camera stayed on the crash.

One off duty Fairgrounds Speedway safety team member was the first to the driver and rolled him in the dirt and got the fire out on him. Fire crew was quick and got the scene contained. Just scary, Mr. Potter was very lucky. I will try to get that converted to DVD and have that posted as well since nobody was seriously injured.

I can remember Fairgrounds Speedway promoter Larry Hill had safety his number one concern with an equiped blazer and staff ready for anything that may have happened. He was also a car owner so he knew the dangers that could exsist in racing.

David Smith Jr.
www.oklahomatidbits.com

Actually the driver in the crash at Tulsa Speedway's name was John Potter. I have it on tape also. The clip of it was on Channel 2 from Tulsa. John had a bandage on his arm and Al Jerkens asked him if he was done with racing and he said "probably". John later on drove a modified with some success (won some features at Tulsa Speedway and Creek County Speedway) for a number of years and raced up until a couple of years ago that I know of.

It was a full size bronco but that is not the point. I remember those guys the were in the high temp resistant gear and everytime there was a crash they were on the scene.

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands 
in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he 
stands at times of challenge and controversy." 
Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Erich Petersen 

David I was in that race. From what I remember he had a part broken on the front end and was trying to get off the track. When he tried to go over that hump in three to get into the pits whatever was broke turned lose and the car made a left turn right out in front of the leaders. I had came thru the B and I remember coming off of two and all I could see was fire and racecars everywhere. I was far enough back I got stopped before I got into the fire but from my seat it was a very scary looking deal.