When Scott Velez hit the wall hard during the FWD feature at Newport Speedway, there was a collective gasp. Many knew that he had received a kidney transplant a year ago. After the track crew helped Velez out of the car and gave a thumbs-up, members of the crowd cheered.
Velez’s car and that of Dakota Collins’ had collided entering turn onw as both tried to claim top spot on the final lap.
“We were both looking for a win — me for my first win and Dakota because hadn’t gotten a win in quite a while,” Velez, of Newport, Tennessee, said. “He just went in a little too hard on the inside.”
He couldn’t remember the moment after Collins’ car and his car collided.
“I remember telling myself I f I could get through this last lap, I may have a win in the bag,” Velez said. “I can’t account for the half second after the cars collided. I do remember going fast into the wall. I didn’t have a chance to remove my hand from the steering wheel — and it bent the [steering] wheel on impact.”
Velez sat in an Ultra Shield full-containment seat with a Zamp harness. He wore a Bell racing helmet and a HANS device. Gran Boys Towing and Recovery sponsored his suit and belts.
“I had plenty of safety — and I have to give a shoutout to the safety manufacturers because the impact was so hard, things could have been a lot worse if I didn’t have quality protection,” Velez said. “Healthwise, I’m perfect after the crash. I took some Tylenol and woke up pain-free. The worst thing that happened to me was a sunburn.”
After the race, the two drivers shook hands.
“When I calmed down, I told myself all racers make mistakes,” Velez said. “I cannot have hatred against another driver because he may have made a mistake. Mistakes should become lessons learned — to be safe as you can on the track and to race one another fair and square. Everyone in racing should live by that.”
While Scott Velez was okay, his car was not.
“The car is totaled, the transmission is gone,” Velez said. “The 2.2 Ecotec [engine] looks like it will be okay — all we could see is a damaged oil pan.”
With the help of the Ritenours — Ricky, Shal and Cody — Velez is on the lookout for a new car to return to racing soon.
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.
