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Tracks >> MARYSVILLE RACEWAY PARK >> Tragic night in Marysville
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Message started by Steve Curtis on 08/15/10 at 10:39am

Title: Tragic night in Marysville
Post by Steve Curtis on 08/15/10 at 10:39am

Hearing from a couple people that Marysville has canceled the rest of their season and they are looking for a new promoter.

Sadly there was a fatality at the track last night in one of the classes, http://www.appeal-democrat.com/sports/event-98089-inaugural-driver.html

Inaugural truck race turns deadly
Comments 24
August 15, 2010 01:01:00 AM
Appeal-Democrat

A driver was killed Saturday night at Marysville Raceway Park after a crash in the inaugural event of the track's new semi truck racing class.

The name of the driver could not be confirmed before deadline.

The wreck occurred late Saturday evening during the penultimate event at the facility off Simpson Lane in Linda. Billed as the "1st ever IBRRA Big Rig Truck event," the driver's turquoise semi became tangled with another race truck.

"It got together with another truck and it flipped over with devastating results," said track announcer Bob Burbach, who added that it is the first fatality in the track's 68-year history.

The truck landed upside down in the middle of the infield, where it was surrounded by squad cars from the Yuba County Sheriff's Department.

Prior to the truck race, the night had already been defined by pair of nasty wrecks on the quarter-mile clay oval.

There were two sprint car crashes that had one driver taken away with serious burns and another flipping so violently that his car left the track after flying over the retaining barrier in turn three.

In the Pro-4 feature, Gary Eckman's car experienced a mechanical failure, which made him crash into Mike Smith. The duo both flipped their cars on the side on the front straightway and Smith's car caught fire.

At first he yelled "get me out," then as the flames inched closer, progressing from the front of the car to the cockpit, he undid his restraints and contorted his body to escape the wreckage. Both drivers were unharmed.

Then on the first lap of the Pacific 360 feature, a multi-car pileup was given its exclamation point when Richard Brace Jr. went from driving more than 100 mph to flying over the track's wall. He too would be fine, and played to the crowd as he walked to the pits.

"I just closed my eyes and hung on," he said.

Marysville's Jeff Olschowka went wire-to-wire to win the super stock main event and thwarted Misty Castleberry for the second time in three weeks in the mini stock feature at Marysville Raceway Park.

Olschowka persevered in a highly competitive mini stock main event that saw him, Castleberry, who won 10 races in a row earlier this season, and Jason Clayton jockeying for the lead in the 20-lap race.

Castleberry, who has a commanding points lead in the championship standings, held off Olschowka, a driver moonlighting in the series, for the majority of the race before he slid past her on the exit of turn two.

Title: Re: Tragic night in Marysville
Post by formercrewguy on 08/15/10 at 10:51am

Wow..........sorry to hear about the fatality.
Marysville wasn't big enough for LM's...let alone semi-trucks. This is sad.

Title: Re: Tragic night in Marysville
Post by steph on 08/15/10 at 5:13pm

Thoughts go out to MRP and Merle Shepherd's family!

Title: Re: Tragic night in Marysville
Post by bullet on 08/15/10 at 6:45pm

my daughters friend was with us at willamette speedway last night and her dad races mini stocks at marysville so she was getting text messeges about the happenings there. Sad nite.

Title: Re: Tragic night in Marysville
Post by short track fan on 08/16/10 at 6:36am

They are reporting on a couple of news reports that the truck had NO roll cage.It was a bad weekend for racing.* dead down south then this.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to all of the families
Dean &Debbie Gray

Title: Re: Tragic night in Marysville
Post by hpman on 08/20/10 at 2:29pm

Merle Sheperd was a great guy
He was a long time racer and one of the best pit stewards around.
Paul Hawes and his racing family are as hard a working group of racers you will ever meet
they all love racing and it shows
Merle is part of this Family and he worked hard every sat.nite to make marysville a great place to race
this family is realy hurting from this terrible loss we
should all support them in this hour of need.
there our family too you can send a card shepard family 7100 7th st. rio linda ca 95673
there is also a thead on the skippersparty.com
paul goes by the handle 1old fart
Richard Hamilton

Title: Re: Tragic night in Marysville
Post by mudslinger47 on 08/20/10 at 6:23pm

It is such a tragedy, there are no words to console and remove the pain of the loss of a loved one and friend. Our Prayers surely go out to family and friends alike. Gods Speed to all.

The Buckley Family :(