A popular racing circuit is mourning the loss of a race official and praying for the recovery of another after two emergency vehicles collided while responding to a crash on the track.
Billy Hurt tragically died as a result of the incident that occurred on Saturday night during a World of Outlaws sprint car race at Kennedale Speedway Park, located just outside Fort Worth, Texas.
Kennedale Police said that the crash happened just before 9 p.m. local time when the two officials were responding to an accident involving one of the racers on the track and struck each other, leading to both men being ejected from their all-terrain vehicles, KDFW reported.
Hurt died at the scene and World of Outlaws officials identified the other victim as Jerry Myers, who is in stable condition and recovering from his injuries.
Multiple reports indicated that sprint car driver Marcus Thomas had flipped his car during the Last Chance Qualifier that led to the emergency response.
“Beyond his professionalism, Billy exemplified what it meant to be a good person, always putting others before himself,” World Racing Group CEO Brian Carter said in a statement. “He dedicated his life to ensuring the safety of every racer, making their well-being his main priority. And beyond the track, his kindness shone further with every interaction, quickly becoming a friendly face to everyone he met.
“The entire World Racing Group family is deeply saddened by his loss.”
The crash is under investigation and the remainder of the event was postponed.
Hurt had been involved in the safety and rescue of sprint car drivers for more than 23 and is said to have worked with several different racing outfits, including American Sprint Car Series, World of Outlaws, the annual Tulsa Shootout and Chili Bowl Nationals at the Tulsa Expo Raceway.
Hurt had been a firefighter in Columbia, Missouri, for more than 25 years and was an extrication expert who had taught fellow firefighters the critical skill across the state, KRCG reported.
“Billy was proud to be a public servant. He enjoyed his job. He always came to work with a smile on his face,” Columbia Professional Firefighters’ President Zack Privette told the news channel. “He was never down and out. He showed up. He did his job and he was really good at it. He did it with an attitude that people wanted to work with him.”
The World of Outlaws is a national touring dirt track racing series that hosts events at tracks across the United States.
The series has been dubbed “The Greatest Show on Dirt” and features some of the top dirt track drivers in the world.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
