Tragedy at Children's Charity event

The Drag Racing community, and more specifically, the Pro Mod family has experienced another terrible tragedy.

In what would normally be a generous and good-natured gesture, the AMS Pro Mod team was putting on a show for the “Cars for Kids” benefit in Selmer, TN when an exhibition burnout went seriously wrong and sent the car into the crowd, killing several teenagers and injuring others.

Its a horrific accident that makes your stomach turn for the people involved. Its even more sickening as a racer knowing it could have been any of us… Some of the AMS crew are personal friends of mine, if not once removed, so its hard seeing people who you know are very caring and good people experience this type of tragedy.

18 years of an excellent benefit for children. 18 years they have entertained the crowds with parades, and with burnout exhibitions. This will be a learning experience for many, that despite how many times its been done before without incident, how experienced the driver is, or how good the intentions are, with these and any other machines… things can go amiss quickly and result in devastating consequences.

There is no doubt that this is a severe and horrific tragedy, one that no amount of speculation on what/who’s to blame will correct or return the lives that are lost. My prayers are with all involved… the families, the injured, the witnesses, and also to the driver and team.

The media is doing what it does best… looking to point the blame. People are already crucifying Troy, who is absolutely paralyzed from grief over this incident already. They are blaming event promoters, the city, the officials, and of course… drag racing as a whole. They are digging up old, unrelated incidents in which to crucify Troy to the public. And they are looking for blood… it amazes me how quickly people turn green with greed to collect on lives that have perished.

Here’s a few convenient quotes and comments used by the media to sensationalize this story, and what I believe to be the truth behind them. I may not have all the right answers, I do not claim to know it all, but some of these comments are just downright ignorant.

“There’s a button inside the car that you hold down, and it holds the front tires down during a burnout,” said Griffin, 19. “If the throttle gets hung, or if your foot gets caught, then you’ll take off and you wouldn’t be able to stop.”

First of all, since when did a 19 year old wannabe racer become a 5 year drag racing “veteran”? 5 years makes him a veteran? Damn, I’ve been racing for 10– that must make me a racing master. And if he’s been racing for 5 years, that would make him 14 when he started… before he was legally able to drive a car. I don’t think Jr. Dragsters are adequate experience to compare to a Pro Mod by any stretch. And secondly, the device he’s referring to is a line-lock, which promods, funny cars, and fuel cars DON’T USE in a burnout. They are commonly used on non-blown configurations to aid in burnouts, and in staging procedures… and have absolutely NOTHING to do with getting the car to stop after a burnout. I do have a line lock on my car, mainly to help get the tires spinning. I push it to lock the front tires, throttle the car, and as soon as the tires begin to spin, I let GO of the button and allow the car to then move forward in the same fashion as blown promods. They just have more torque and don’t need help getting the tires spinning from start.

NOTE: After a day of flooded emails undoubtedly, most of the AP articles I searched have been amended to remove this misnomer by our dear drag-challenged 19 year old friend, Griffin.

“What idiot thinks its safe to be flying down a public road at 150mph?!? That’s negligence.”

I suppose this person has a radar gun suck up his hindquarters. Let’s break this down: the video and event coverage show the burnout to have lasted less than 3 seconds total, and the distance covered to have been a couple hundred feet. Now, if this very car under perfect “track conditions” and complete traction can only accelerate to 190 mph in 4 seconds flat over an 1/8th mile segment, then what idiot would think he could reach 150mph, tires ablazing in white smoke, in 3 seconds and less than 300 feet?

“Troy Warren Critchley pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated in April 2000, according to court records from Loudoun County, Va.”

It seems that the AP journalist by the penname “Woody Baird” has a real agenda against drag racing and of portraying Troy as a murder, instead of reporting on the facts of a charity event that resulted in a tragic ACCIDENT. Critchley and the entire crew voluntarily submitted to drug/alcohol testing, with the results being NEGATIVE. What bearing does this have with the accident other than to try and imply that Critchley might have been intoxicated in the event, a complete defamation of character and complete disregard for the facts?

The founder of Cars for Kids, Larry Price, was standing in the road during the burnout, signaling each driver when to start and stop. Drivers usually burn their tires for 20 to 50 feet, Price said, but Critchley went much farther before losing control.

Price said he waved his arms trying to get Critchley to stop, but the car was already past him.

“I was trying to get him out of it, you know,” Price said.

Another gem by Mr. Baird. First some background: Price is the fellow standing in the street wearing overalls in the crash video. Now, take a close look at the video… the throttle blades on the injector hat were CLOSED at that point, but the momentum had not subsided. You can hear the engine come down as he passes Mr. Price. He did exactly as told. What happened after that was the result of conditions and terrible tragedy.

Here’s one quote that hasn’t made its way to the wire….

Rodger Pitchford, 18, a spectator who suffered a broken right leg and chipped vertebrae, said two police cars drove down the parade route and advised spectators to move farther back from the road. People heeded the warning initially then moved back up for a better look, he said.

“It was our choice to stand there,” he said. “We shouldn’t have been that close. If we had stayed back, I don’t think that many people would have been injured because we would have had time to move out of the way.”

God forbid someone not seek a scapegoat to an accident. That’s not good news.

Its just maddening that people cannot for one minute focus on what is important in this situation… the people’s lives and the respect owed to them.

Want to do something to help? DONATE HERE to the charity and make some good come out of this tragedy.