Tony Stewart won the rain-shortened New England 300 Sunday, a National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) event that was marred by the death of driver Kenny Irwin in a practice crash.
Irwin was killed at age 30 on Friday in a practice crash only a few meters from the site of a May accident that claimed the life of 19-year-old Adam Petty, a fourth-generation NASCAR racer.
Stewart, a former Indy-car driver, led after 272 of 300 scheduled laps at the 1.058-mile flat oval New Hampshire International Speedway when rain halted the race. Fellow American Joe Nemecheck was second with Mark Martin third.
In the wake of two fatal crashes by drivers here in the past two months, an outcry for safety improvements came from racers in NASCAR, the closed-cockpit form of racing that is by far the most popular United States auto series.
"It needs to be addressed," NASCAR veteran Ward Burton said.
"Hopefully we will make things better," said reigning series champion Dale Jarrett. "There should be something to come out of these two accidents that will be beneficial to everyone in the future.
"We're all stunned, shocked that this could happen again. Unfortunately, we have to go on."
Some ideas have included tire barrier in the turns on the flat oval corners here and at Martinsville, Virginia.
"I would hope, after these two tragic deaths, we can take a look at how to make tracks safer," NASCAR veteran Rusty Wallace said. "(NASCAR officials) aren't going to blow it off,” – (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
