Sprint Car Driver Badly Burned

[ancrdave]

A well-accomplished Sprint car driver and one of his crew members involved in a serious shop accident on Sunday night in Washington. Travis Rilat, the 2003 ASCS National champion hailing from Forney, TX, and Australian crew member Tyson Perez both suffered severe burns when a methanol barrel exploded on Sunday evening. Rilat and Perez were transported to a Seattle hospital, where they remain in critical condition.

Early indications are that both Rilat and Perez will remain in the Harborview burn unit for at least two to three months.

[Todd McCreary]

http://www.hoseheadforums.com/forum.cfm?ThreadID=44645

[bubba]

That has got to be the dumbest damn thing I have ever heard of. Hope they get well soon, but man that was stupid.

[Todd McCreary]

That has got to be the dumbest damn thing I have ever heard of.


wow. i hadn't read down into the thread, i just linked it. you're right, that was crazy stupid. with emphasis on stupid.

http://www.goskagit.com/home/article..._in_explosion/

[racnphotos68]

No disrespect intended but if that story is true then I call it "natural selection" and not an accident. I really hope that story is far from the truth.

[JackTripper]

It's true. Dumb. But true nonetheless.

http://www.goskagit.com/home/article..._in_explosion/

[carolwicks]

scares me the most...

when i hear of drivers being burned like that it makes my stomach quezy... it was a stupid "accident" but a huge price to pay. i pray they will recuperate and i also pray they have the courage my dear friend LeRoy Porter had to come back into our racing world and know they are loved. LeRoy has inner beauty and thats what makes the man..actually i still think he is very handsome... ;-) i dont notice anything but his eyes and his smile when i am with him... hopefully these guys can find the strength and courage to do the same and that their family and friends will be strong. their bodies and faces may never be the same but they are still the same human beings they were...a very sad story... i hope it is a lesson to other drivers and crew members. ;-(
carolwicks aka oz

[John Berti]

How ironic, Travis Rilat represents the second major sprint car driver to be seriously injured or killed in a shop accident this season. Rising sprint car star Jesse Hockett was killed in his shop in Missouri at the end of May when he was electrocuted while attempting to fix a short in his trailer.

It seems to be getting more dangerous to work on your car in the race shop than it is to be racing on the track.

Continually lift up Rilat and crew member Tyson Perez as they both need our prayers.

[Rick Williamson]

They got what they ask for.

[JackTripper]

Well, Tyson Perez just passed away from his injuries.

[carolwicks]

huh?

Rick... i cant believe you said that. no one deserves to suffer that kind of pain and emotional trauma. i see one has suffered the ultimate price. the only good thing is that he has been spared excruciating pain... now it is his family who will suffer and my thoughts and prayers go out to them...
carol aka oz

[Boneman]

Rick, have you ever made a dumb mistake? I've made plenty, and thankfully didn't pay for it with my life. Its a heart-breaking story.

[bubba]

thats a damn shame..its one thing to learn a painful lesson..another to die from it.

[ronabneysr]

people do dumb things and some times there ain't no one around to say

heh that $hitt ain't gonna work ----- but for some one to say
they got what they asked for man that was cruel low down shit face thing


you said ...

[Todd McCreary]

for some one to say they got what they asked


what do you expect to happen if you sit down on top of 4 gallons of methanol and light it off, Ron?

some of the people on the other forum were saying that the guys did this sober.

as if being sober makes this "better" somehow.

as far as i can tell, the barrel blowing up may have been better for them. there was certainly no way they were going to be able to hold onto the thing if the barrel had functioned as they intended. which means they probably would have been blow torched as the barrel went flying away....

at least if they were drunk, you could say their judgment was impaired.

that they were sober and did this anyways? *shakes head*




when i hear of drivers being burned like that it makes my stomach quezy


this doesn't have anything to do with being a driver.

and, in fact, one of them wasn't a driver at all.