This track is less than ten minutes from my house. I watched many races here as a kid, and they have a thing on weekends where you can pay to play. For a small fee, you can race some other guys pre-prepped subcompact for a few laps.
By Donna Willis
Web Content Coordinator
Published: May 23, 2009
HAMILTON TOWNSHIP, Ohio—Nearly a dozen people continued to recover after two buses collided, slammed into a concrete barrier and sent concrete shrapnel into the stands at Columbus Motor Speedway late Saturday.
Some 3,500 people packed the stands for a night of fun and excitement.
During an event called Crash-A-Rama, two modified school buses were involved in one of the derby-style races.
The incident happened at about 10:35 p.m. at the Southeast Side track off of Williams Road.
The buses collided, lost control and crashed into the wall separating the track from the audience.
Concrete shrapnel went flying into the stands.
Officials said 11 people, six of them juveniles, were injured and taken to area hospitals. Two were taken in critical condition. Columbus fire officials said they believe all six juveniles have been released.
One of the dozen injured was Melanie Gibson’s brother.
“They called me. They said two demolition-derby school buses from the crash derby today had went through the wall at Columbus Motor Speedway. He said, there are multiples injured, including my one brothers, complaining of his leg,” Gibson said.
Whiting said the racetrack is located in Hamilton Township.
The fire department there called for assistance almost immediately when it became clear that the impact of buses into a wall had caused multiple injuries.
A witness said the buses were involved in the Figure 8 race, crash-derby race.
Apparently, one of the buses lost control, hooked on to another bus and both crashed into the guard wall.
The guard wall is one-foot-thick solid concrete and runs four feet high.
There are additional guardrails to ensure spectator safety.
The buses never made it through either barrier.
Track officials said they’ve been racing buses here for more than half a decade without anything like this ever happening.
In fact, they said it could have been much worse if the wall weren’t to hold.
“They seemed to have done their job because they catch fencing, and the wall did their job tonight,” the speedway’s co-owner owner Jeff Nuckles said.
Nuckles said they inspect the wall and catch fence annually to make sure they are safe and sound.
“All sorts of activities have danger, and our hearts and prayers, thoughts go out to those injured last night,” Nuckles said.
Saturday’s crash happened about five weeks after an incident in which six people suffered minor injuries when a viewing tower collapsed at the speedway.
“We have a buffer zone of some 25 to 30 feet from the concrete wall to any spectator areas so all those sorts of things we do try to minimize any sorts of injuries,” Nuckles said.
Nuckles said in the coming days, he’ll have engineers come out and evaluate the wall and if it’s determined it needs to be strengthened, he said they will.
By Donna Willis
Web Content Coordinator
Published: May 23, 2009
HAMILTON TOWNSHIP, Ohio—Nearly a dozen people continued to recover after two buses collided, slammed into a concrete barrier and sent concrete shrapnel into the stands at Columbus Motor Speedway late Saturday.
Some 3,500 people packed the stands for a night of fun and excitement.
During an event called Crash-A-Rama, two modified school buses were involved in one of the derby-style races.
The incident happened at about 10:35 p.m. at the Southeast Side track off of Williams Road.
The buses collided, lost control and crashed into the wall separating the track from the audience.
Concrete shrapnel went flying into the stands.
Officials said 11 people, six of them juveniles, were injured and taken to area hospitals. Two were taken in critical condition. Columbus fire officials said they believe all six juveniles have been released.
One of the dozen injured was Melanie Gibson’s brother.
“They called me. They said two demolition-derby school buses from the crash derby today had went through the wall at Columbus Motor Speedway. He said, there are multiples injured, including my one brothers, complaining of his leg,” Gibson said.
Whiting said the racetrack is located in Hamilton Township.
The fire department there called for assistance almost immediately when it became clear that the impact of buses into a wall had caused multiple injuries.
A witness said the buses were involved in the Figure 8 race, crash-derby race.
Apparently, one of the buses lost control, hooked on to another bus and both crashed into the guard wall.
The guard wall is one-foot-thick solid concrete and runs four feet high.
There are additional guardrails to ensure spectator safety.
The buses never made it through either barrier.
Track officials said they’ve been racing buses here for more than half a decade without anything like this ever happening.
In fact, they said it could have been much worse if the wall weren’t to hold.
“They seemed to have done their job because they catch fencing, and the wall did their job tonight,” the speedway’s co-owner owner Jeff Nuckles said.
Nuckles said they inspect the wall and catch fence annually to make sure they are safe and sound.
“All sorts of activities have danger, and our hearts and prayers, thoughts go out to those injured last night,” Nuckles said.
Saturday’s crash happened about five weeks after an incident in which six people suffered minor injuries when a viewing tower collapsed at the speedway.
“We have a buffer zone of some 25 to 30 feet from the concrete wall to any spectator areas so all those sorts of things we do try to minimize any sorts of injuries,” Nuckles said.
Nuckles said in the coming days, he’ll have engineers come out and evaluate the wall and if it’s determined it needs to be strengthened, he said they will.
But yeah, if you are a spectator at any of these sort of events, you are taking a risk. ANYTHING can happen.
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