[J_Tucker]

Authorities identify race-car driver who was killed
BLADE STAFF

Authorities Saturday morning identified the race-car drive killed Friday night at Toledo Speedway as 36-year-old Terry Gibson.

He was killed when four cars collided and his car hit a wall at about 110 mph, officials said.

It is believed to be the second fatality of a driver in the track's history, and the first since June, 2000.

Friday night's crash occurred around 7:45 p.m. in Turn 1 at the half-mile track, according to Lucas County coroner's investigator Charlie Hunt. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene.

It was the first race of the evening and fans said the crash occurred on the third lap of the race in the Super Modified division.

Article appeared in earlier editions of The Blade and toledoblade.com.
Toledo Speedway driver killed when race car slams into wall
A race-car driver was killed last night at Toledo Speedway when four cars collided and the driver hit a wall at about 110 mph, officials said.

The name of the driver was not released. It is believed to be the second fatality of a driver in the track’s history, and the first since June, 2000.

Last night’s crash occurred around 7:45 p.m. in Turn 1 at the half-mile track, according to Lucas County coroner’s investigator Charlie Hunt. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene.

It was the first race of the evening and fans said the crash occurred on the third lap of the race in the Super Modified division.

Super Modifieds are recognizable by their giant wings on top that provide downforce. They typically have 800-horsepower engines and weigh less than 2,000 pounds.

Mr. Hunt said that after the four cars collided, the car in which the driver was killed spun out and its rear hit the wall. He said an autopsy was pending.

One spectator, Jimmy Tucker, 18, of Mt. Clemens, Mich., who races as a hobby, said, “It didn’t look too bad, but it’s the ones that don’t look bad that always are. It’s kind of a reality check. Any driver knows what can happen out there.”

Scott Schultz, Toledo Speedway’s manager, said last night about 10 p.m. that he had no information on the accident and that racing had resumed.

“We’re still running races here,” he said.

Toledo Speedway, on Benore Road in north Toledo, opened in 1960.

In the 2000 fatal crash, Scott Baker, 43, of Holland, Mich., was killed when his car struck a bank of tires four laps from the finish line in a 150-lap race.

A concession operator was killed at Toledo Speedway in August, 1978, when he tried to cross the track and was hit by several cars going more than 100 mph.

Another man was electrocuted at the track in September, 1996, when he touched a live wire while attempting to hang a race sign on a utility pole.

[schinde]

Let none of us forget we participate in a dangerous sport, for the fun of it, the love of it and the adrenaline rush of it.

Condolences to the Gibson racing family.

have a good day,

schinde
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Short track racing is more fun than a human being ought to be allowed to have!