Race Results: September 9, 2000


Owner:      James Alan Sherman

Drivers:    Jeff Blanton and  
            James Alan Sherman

Crew Chief: Ed "Tar Heel" Blanton

Chassis:    2000 Eagle

Engine:     Marc Huson 360 Shark


 

 

 







 

 

 

 






It was cool and cloudy at Grays Harbor Raceway.  
My wife Sarah was with me in the pits.

My best of two time trials was a 14.703, which was 9th fast
out of 23 cars in the 360 Sprint division.

I started on the inside of the 2nd row in my heat race.
I managed to maintain 3rd position for about five or six
laps, when I bumped the wall coming wide off turn two;
this apparently jolted my gearbox, because half a lap
later my car jumped out of gear; five cars passed me
before I could jam it back in and continue.  Then there
was a crash that took out a couple of cars, so I finished
last (6th) in my heat race.

I was preparing to start my first-ever feature main event,
when it started sprinkling.  Track officials thought we 
could get the race in if we hurried; all sprint cars were
sent out to the track on short notice.  We were out there
having a ball, hot-lapping on a somewhat slippery track,
under a seldom-seen combination of flashing green-and-yellow 
lights, when suddenly we saw flashing red lights instead - 
always a bad sign, which means "stop where you are".

What had happened was that a push-truck had entered the
track and hit the # 16 sprinter, driven by Alan Simpson,
which was at full-speed.

The car was sitting on its left side, with the driver
unconscious inside a helmet that was split in half.  By
the time this was sorted out, the track was a grease-bowl
as it had continued to rain lightly, and the remaining
races were cancelled.  Alan was taken to the hospital in
the track ambulance, where he remained for several days,
but eventually made a full recovery.

JAS