Driver killed at track [not a fan] while loading car in pit area [not stands] UPDATE: One person was killed and another was injured in the stands at the Wythe Raceway [Wytheville VA] Saturday night when a car crash sent a tire from a race car into the stands. Sheriff Kermit Osborne said the incident at 10:00pm Saturday is under investigation. He did not have any information about the two victims or the driver of the car that lost the tire. The track, located in Wythe County off of Interstate 81 at Rural Retreat, was hosting “Children’s Gold Rush” Saturday night. No track officials could be reached for comment Sunday.(Roanoke Times)(6-25-2002) UPDATE: A man killed in an accident Saturday night at Wythe Raceway has been identified as a 39-year-old North Carolina man who was loading a race car onto a trailer. Lacy Don McNeill of West Jefferson, N.C., and his son had both driven in earlier races at the track and were in a pit area when a loose wheel struck McNeill on the head. The wheel had come from a broken axle flange when three cars collided on a track straightaway, Wythe County Chief Deputy Doug King said Monday. None of the drivers involved in the crash was injured. A Med-Flight helicopter landed at the track and two paramedics joined members of the Wythe County Rescue Squad in trying to stabilize McNeill, King said . They decided against transporting him to Roanoke by helicopter, and instead took him by ambulance to Wythe County Community Hospital, where he died. “It’s just a freak accident. So sad,” King said. After the wheel struck McNeill, it injured another person in the pit area, Donna Kelley, 33, also of West Jefferson. Kelley suffered minor injuries to her left elbow and wrist, her right hip and her neck. She was treated at the hospital and released, King said. The track is located just off Interstate 81 at Rural Retreat, west of Wytheville. It has been about 20 years since there had been another fatality at the track. The last one was when a flagman was struck by a race car.(Roanoke Times)(6-26-2002)
