The news of the death of Hunter Dakota Reedy on August 9 shocked the racing community at Wythe Raceway. He was killed on duty as a police officer just 20 minutes away from the Rural Retreat, Virginia, dirt oval.
Reedy, a Smyth County deputy sheriff, was dispatched to assist the Marion Police Department. An officer there encountered an agitated person while being issued a traffic citation. After his arrival, Reedy was shot and killed at close range with a shotgun. The Marion police officer was also wounded.
When deputies returned fire, they wounded the suspect, Timothy Wayne Goodman, a 65-year-old man from North Carolina. He was charged with aggravated murder of Reedy and attempted aggravated murder of the Marion officer.
Wythe Raceway held a moment of silence Saturday night for its past champion. The track lowered the flag to half-mast.
“Hunter had a great racing pedigree — he was the grandson of Kenny McMahan, one of our most winning drivers,” said Wythe Raceway’s Peery Brown. “I first met him as a tall, thin 14-year-old who was happy go-lucky as he started racing in the UCar division.”
Reedy, 27, had a family, with a wife and three children.
“It is hard for all of us to get through this,” Brown said. “There is no rhyme or reason or explanation why he was murdered. Those of us who knew Hunter knew him as the most non-aggressive, non-confrontational person. Most here didn’t even know he was a police officer. He took the job to truly help people and serve this community.”
Reedy’s family has competed at Wythe Raceway since the early 1970s.
“There is a range of emotions — people here were in shock, and now they are mad,” said Brown. “We had a moment of silence, and we are giving the family time to decide what they would like to do in remembrance of Hunter. We won’t make any plans for a memorial here unless it is the family’s wishes — we assume they would want to coordinate it.”
Talking about the death of Hunter Dakota Reedy left Brown choked up.
“Like it is often said, the worst things happen to the best people,” Brown said. “Hunter and I were friends. After he was murdered, I looked at photos of all of the times he was in victory lane, or standing there on the frontstretch as a top-three finisher.”
A fund has been set up to support the Reedy family. To donate, click here.
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.
