After the unfortunate accident of veteran race official Allen Tilley at Lake Cumberland Speedway in Burnside, KY on August 21 during a non-racing incident, a group has been formed to help guide and initiate updated safety measures for race tracks across the country.
Led by Chris Tilley, the son of Allen Tilley, as well as former NASCAR driver Randy LaJoie, a major advocate for driver safety across the motorsports industry, this new group will join with track promoters in the asphalt and dirt track racing ranks to address any safety shortfalls.
The group will help provide training sessions for local race officials, safety videos, literature, safety reminder banners and anything safety related to try and prevent such incidents from ever happening again. Michael Rigsby with DirtonDirt and FloSports have agreed to provide any help with videos that will train new officials and veteran officials alike along with getting safety videos to race tracks across the country via their media platform.
“As race officials in the industry, we all get too comfortable and relaxed because we’re going through the motions on a nightly basis or trying to speed up the program because we’ve had a long day or night, that’s no excuse. I think we can all do a better job of keeping people safe, not just on the track, but off the track and in the pits,” stated Chris Tilley.
Randy LaJoie has seen a lot in his many years in the racing industry. “I’ve been with Safer Racer Tour visiting 183 race tracks since 2006. I’ve been to wonderful facilities and maybe not so wonderful facilities and we can take some good from all of it, I think safety needs to be pushed up the ladder some,” stated LaJoie.
“Guys outside of the car shouldn’t get hurt. Some small changes need to be made. We can never fix all of the scenarios but let’s make sure it doesn’t happen again. Officials and promoters are too important to this industry and we don’t need them in hospital beds and being laid up injured,” LaJoie went on to say.
Already pledging their support to this cause include: Mitch McCarter at 411 Motor (TN) Speedway, Brett Hearn of Orange County (NY) Speedway, Dave Willoughby of Sharon (OH) Speedway, Brandon Hardgrove of Lake Cumberland (KY) and Ponderosa (KY) Speedway, Tim Bryant of Five Flags (FL) Speedway plus industry promoters Kelley Carlton of the Ultimate Series and SCDRA, Ray Cook of the Southern Nationals Series, former NASCAR driver and current Open Wheel competitor and TV personality Kenny Wallace, longtime NASCAR driver, current dirt racing driver and track operator Ken Schrader plus many more that will join on board in days to come.
The Racetrack Safety Initiative is planning to meet with promoters and industry leaders during the World Finals at the Dirt Track at Charlotte. More details will be announced soon.
For more information, contact Chris Tilley at (828) 361-5981 or Randy LaJoie at (704) 795-7475. Also visit the website at: https://imdirt.net/safety/ or follow along on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Racetrack-Safety-Initiative-104794745299246/
- administrator on Sep 23, 2021
- Article Date: 9/23/2021 by Brought to you by The Racetrack Safety Initiative