Andy Bryant had a sizeable lead on the rest of the pack during the Grant Junghans Memorial at Lakeside Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas. Then, the unthinkable happened.
Bryant’s modified lurched toward the wall coming off turn four after a right-front spindle broke, according to the driver. His car hit with its nose first and proceeded to roll. The car came to a rest while on its roof.
“I knew there were cars coming at me,” said Bryant, 21, of Fort Scott, Kansas. “I closed my eyes and hoped for the best.”
A trio of cars ran into Bryant’s car while still upside-down.
“The first hit was hard — the whole rear clip of the car was cut off right behind the halo,” Bryant said. “Then my car spun around and I was hit in the front by two more cars.”
After the last impact, a sense of urgency overcame Bryant.
“I smelled fuel,” said Bryant. “I tried and tried to get out of the car without taking my [head-and-neck restraint] off. There was a fold of sheet metal from the roof blocking my exit.”
The track crew quickly arrived to help Bryant exit the car. Fortunately for Bryant, the Fuel Safe fuel cell separated from his ride and landed yards away from him. Despite receiving some damage, the fuel cell did not leak.
Bryant walked away under his own power.
“My back was sore and there was a rub mark on my forehead from the helmet,” Bryant said of the extent of his injuries.
Bryant sat in a Kirkey full-containment seat, with a Simpson five-point harness. Bryant wore an Impact helmet, with a HANS device. The Rage chassis Bryant used was a total loss.
“We saved the engine, the seat, and the steering wheel,” said Bryant. “I’ve already ordered another Rage chassis.”
Thanks in part to him paying attention to his safety equipment, Andy Bryant resumed his normal activities without issue on Monday. He went to classes at Pittsburg State University in Kansas, where he studies plastic engineering technology. The next weekend, Bryant returned to racing, driving a friend’s backup car at Old 71 Speedway in Butler, Missouri.
“I wanted to get back out there and race,” Bryant said. “Sometimes you crash — it’s part of racing.”
Photo Credit: John Lee.
Outside Groove Note of Transparency: Corrected the length of the lead in the opening paragraph (2020-11-16). Clarified the source who cited the cause of the accident (2020-11-16).
The Outside Groove Director of Photography has written hundreds of stories since the website’s inception. This year marks his 54th year of covering auto racing. Adaskaveg got his start working for track photographer Lloyd Burnham at Connecticut’s Stafford Motor Speedway in 1970. Since then, he’s been a columnist, writer, and photographer, in racing and in mainstream media, for several outlets, including the Journal Inquirer, Boston Herald, Stock Car Racing, and Speedway Illustrated. Among Adaskaveg’s many awards are the 1992 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Ace Lane Photographer of the Year and the 2019 National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) George Cunningham Writer of the Year.
