That wind came through the Mansfield Motorsports Speedway about 7:15 p.m. Friday and collapsed two sections of 5,000 temporary bleacher seats in turn one. They were unoccupied at the time. “The wind got under them and flipped them onto the catch fencing. They’re probably a total loss,” said MMS vice president Tim Stephens. Crews were expected to work through the night putting in new bleachers. “We have spare parts and plenty of good people. That’s part and parcel of running this kind of race,” Stephens said. Stephens was on his way back to the track from downtown when the winds hit. “We saw the storm coming and let people (at the track) know it was on the way,” he said. When the wind had passed and it was established there was no danger, all activities were canceled and spectators were asked to leave. Stephens estimated about 2,000 people were at the track at the time. Pole qualifing begins today [Saturday] at 5:30 p.m.(Mansfield News Journal)(5-14-2005)
