it was Kenny Irwin.
Heres the Terrible news.
LOUDON, N.H. -- Kenny Irwin was killed today in a horrific crash during
practice for a Winston Cup race, yards from where Adam Petty was killed two
months ago at New Hampshire International Speedway.
The 30-year-old Irwin was taken to the track's medical center on a stretcher
and then to a hospital. Irwin's Chevrolet was a crumpled hulk, tossed upside
down between the third and fourth turns at the speedway.
The accident happened during practice before qualifying leading to the Sunday's
race, the New England 300.
There was no immediate comment from track and NASCAR officials, but ESPN's Matt
Yocum and Bill Weber confirmed Irwin's death.
Crew chief Tony Glover emerged from the infield media center about 90 minutes
after the crash and just shook his head "no" when asked for comment.
Driver Ward Burton, a friend of Irwin's, also refused to comment.
Irwin was the 1998 Rookie of the Year and was in his third full season of
Winston Cup. He spent the first two years of his career in Robert Yates' No. 28
Fords.
This year, he moved to Felix Sabates' Team SABCO. Ironically, Irwin replaced
Joe Nemechek in the No. 42. Nemecheck won the fall race last year at New
Hampshire. Irwin was 28th in points this season with one top-five and one
top-10 finish in 17 starts.
A star in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, Irwin enjoyed his best season in
1999 when he was 19th in points with a pair of top-fives and six top-10
finishes. Irwin also won two poles driving for Yates.
Irwin, who is from racing-rich Indianapolis, proved himself as one of the top
racers in the open-wheel ranks of the United States Auto Club. In five full
seasons with the USAC Skoal National Midget Series, Irwin earned eight wins, 20
second-place, 59 top-five and 87 top-10 finishes, as well as the 1996
championship.
In 1997, his only full season with the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, Irwin
once again was named Rookie of the Year. He won twice and finished 10th in the
series point standings.
Irwin grabbed the Winston Cup spotlight in September of '97 at Richmond by
qualifying his Ford on the outside pole in his first series race. He finished
eighth, becoming the only driver in NASCAR's modern history to start on the
front row and finish in the top-10 in his first race.
Petty, stock car racing's first fourth-generation driver, died May 12 after a
crash during practice on this same track. The 19-year-old driver appeared to
brush the wall on Turn 3 before spinning out and smashing sideways into the
concrete. He was taken to Concord Hospital, where he died of head trauma.
His death came five weeks after the family buried patriarch Lee Petty, his
great grandfather.