There’s always a first time as Phil Yaw found out. The 23-year racing veteran experienced his first fire last Friday at Outlaw Speedway in Dundee, New York. It occurred during the IMCA hobby stock heat race.
“I saw flames and came to a stop as soon as I could,” Yaw, 48, of Watkins Glen, New York, said. “It took me two tries to get out of the car, but I was able to as the track safety crew extinguished the fire.”
Yaw quickly determined the cause of the fire.
“The oil pressure line broke off because of the driver over-tightening the fitting,” said Yaw. “It was on the back of the block, by the distributor cap. Oil sprayed out onto the headers and ignited.”
The fire did more damage than Yaw realized. The burning motor oil melted the air cleaner, valve cover breathers, ignition wires, and various parts and fittings.
“In all my years of racing, I never had a fire under the hood,” Yaw said. “When I saw the photos, I realized how extensive the flames were. I’m lucky they didn’t reach the driver’s compartment.”
Yaw wore a Velocita fire suit, Bell helmet, and Speedway Motors gloves and shoes.
“I never thought too much about fire, but what happened made me aware,” said Yaw. “I kept hitting the cage with my helmet when I tried to get out of the car.”
Now, Yaw looks to spread word about fire safety.
“Anyone can get out of their car without all their racing gear on,” Yaw said. “I now know how important it is to practice getting out with everything on, just in case you have a fire.”
Phil Yaw won two weeks ago on June 17. With car his about 99% ready, he looks to continue his winning ways this Friday at Outlaw Speedway.
Mike Adaskaveg 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.
