Missouri native Bobby Williams (1B) ventured to Texas to race for the first time. His record in the Lone Star State included a win and then later this wild wreck.
Williams started out the swing in his limited modified with a win the first night at Hunt County Raceway in Greenville on February 23. The next night came a second.
The following weekend he went to Rocket Raceway Park in Petty. He scored a fourth on the first night and then this crash happened on March 2.
Williams launched into the air like the track’s name while gunning for the lead on an early restart. The car of Nik Morgan (9), of Muskogee, Oklahoma, also took to the air.
“After a racing incident I found myself riding the wall for a bit,” Williams, of Hermitage, Missouri, said. “Then, suddenly the wall launched me higher than I ever expected. When I watched the video, I couldn’t believe how high my car went. I remember quite an impact — the car landed on the roll cage halo. I thank the good Lord for watching over me — I didn’t have a scratch on me and was just a little sore the next day — I thank my chassis and safety equipment for keeping me safe.”
Williams competed in a chassis from J2 Race Cars. He sat in a seat from The Joie of Seating paired with a Simpson five-point harness. Williams wore a Simpson Devil Ray helmet paired with a HANS device. While he walked away without serious injury, his car may not have fared as well.
“I’m still assessing the damage to my car. I am trying to make a decision whether or not to race it again,” said Williams. “I have a backup J2 chassis, which I am working to put together for this weekend’s practice at Lucas Oil Speedway [in Wheatland, Missouri]. I’m going to send the car that was in the wreck back to J2 in Lebanon, Missouri. It is good to have a professional opinion in addition to mine if it can be safe to race again.”
At Lucas Oil Speedway, Bobby Williams will be seeking to defend his track championship. Fortunately, because of the safety measures he has taken, he’ll be able to.
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.
