Two fans were hospitalized when debris flew into the Bristol Motor Speedway grandstands Wednesday night during a USAR Hooters Pro Cup race at the .533-mile oval. Track officials, citing the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), said they could not disclose information about the condition of the injured fans, but eyewitnesses said debris from a spinning car flew high into the grandstands, striking a man and a woman. The fans received extensive medical attention from emergency personnel arriving on the scene, according to the eyewitness accounts. Both were removed from the stands on stretchers and taken for treatment to Bristol Regional Medical Center.
Mooresvilles Clay Rogers, driving a Ford, won the Food City 150, passing Jeff Agnews Chevrolet on the 137th lap. The race kicked off the weeks activities leading up to Saturday nights Sharpie 500, a Nextel Cup event. Steven Wallace, an ARCA winner last week in Michigan and the son of Cup star Rusty Wallace, twice touched off multi-car crashes, the latter occurring on lap 147 and leading to a green-white-checkered finish that extended the race to 155 laps. Trying to pick up positions, he took his Dodge to the tracks apron in turn one, slamming into the Chevrolet driven by Randy Gentry. The 18-year-old Wallace also crashed on the 19th lap, though he managed to finish 16th. The night also began inauspiciously for the race winner. Rogers, who started second, took the lead at the start but was involved with a crash on lap five while racing for the lead with pole winner Shane Wallace.(Gaston Gazette). more at the Bristol Herald Courier.(8-25-2005)
