The factory stock driven by Skylar Ritter flipped down the backstretch of Pine Ridge Speedway during the feature. Then, his car erupted in flames. Fortunately, the car landed on its tires and Ritter escaped under his own power without serious injury.
“I blacked out the first time over and remember coming to in the middle of the flipping, and then blacked out until I was rolling on the ground,” Ritter, of Guntown, Mississippi, said.
Ritter credited the quick response from track safety crew member Bubba Scruggs.
“I don’t remember unbuckling my belts — it was the hand of God who saved me,” Ritter, of Guntown, Mississippi, said. “Bubba was already heading to my car while I was flipping into turn three. When I got out, I saw my legs on fire and then instantly Bubba was on top of them.”
Despite a couple of bruises and being a little sore, Ritter was not injured. He wore Zamp safety gear, from head to toe, and a HANS device. Ritter sat in a Kirkey full-containment seat paired with a Crow Safety Gear five-point harness.
Skylar Ritter can’t say with certainty in what caused the flip, but he has a theory.
“Two laps [before the flip], I was in third, and I took a shot in the right rear,” said Ritter. “The tire was cut down. I went to the pits for a tire change and came back out to start at the end of the pack. My car was running on the right rear. It wasn’t handling. I remember riding the wall.
As far as the fire, it started at the rear of the car.
“We had a plastic fuel can from the ’90s in the car,” Ritter said. “When the rear of the car hit the ground, the rear clip bent two feet, which would make it hit the fuel can. We figured that a bar punctured the can and that metal [of the bar] crossed the two battery terminals at the same time, causing a spark and igniting the fuel.”
Ritter plans to look into purchasing a fuel cell for his next car. Jeff Heotzler, of ATL, explained the benefits of using a modern-day fuel cell.
“A safety fuel cell, whether it be a molded or fabric bladder, is designed and manufactured to be flexible and absorb impacts without cracking, splitting, or rupturing,” said Heotzler. “Not all molded ‘poly’ tanks are created equal.
“In addition, many inexpensive poly tanks do not include foam baffling. Foam baffling plays a major role in both performance and safety. Foam reduces fuel slosh, which can impact the handling of a car, especially rear-mounted fuel cells. More importantly, in the rare event that the fuel bladder is compromised from a violent accident, the foam baffling traps fuel vapors within its pores, suppressing explosion if a spark or flame is present.
“Another key difference between a ‘cheap’ poly tank and a safety fuel cell is roll-over protection. Every fuel cell manufactured by ATL includes a flapper valve located on the underside of the fill neck and a tank-mount roll-over vent valve. The valve contains a stainless-steel ball, which closes off the vent line when inverted. These two safety features prevent fuel from exiting the fuel cell if the car is upside-down.
“Finally, another factor that separates a traditional poly tank from a molded fuel cell like the ATL Saver Cell series are safety approvals. Most traditional poly tanks do not meet the stringent SFI or FIA safety qualifications, which include a variety of tests from puncture resistance to tensile strength. The ATL Saver Cell series, for example, meets and exceeds FIA FT3 standards, making it compliant with virtually every racing series and sanctioning body on the globe.”
As far as the homebuilt car itself, it was a total loss. Ritter’s ride dates back to the 1990s, originally raced by his uncle. Ritter’s grandfather Johnny Pannell pulled the car out, rebuilt it, and added bars to the cage to outfit it for modern racing equipment.
“I did this together with my papaw,” Ritter said. “After the wreck, it was the first time in all my years of racing that I’ve seen him so upset. Him and I are going to sit down and talk. We’ll see what we want to do. He used to race, and racing for us is a family thing.”
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.
