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>