When Matt Swanson spun during the Atlantic City Indoor Midget Car Race, he thought that was the worst of it. However, there was more to come.
First, the spin.
“Suddenly, my car’s water hose exploded, covering me in water,” said Swanson, of Harvard, Massachusetts. “I spun in front of the field, taking out some of the heavy hitters. That’s something no driver would want to happen. Everyone was getting out of their cars. I took off my gloves and raised my helmet’s [eye] shield.”
Then, the track crew, led by renowned safety crew expert Andy Byron, worked to remove the car from the track.
“When the safety crew first picked the car up, they misplaced it on the dolly, and it slid off,” Swanson said. “After they began to pick it up the second time, the fire began.”
Swanson could only offer a theory as to the cause of the fire.
“We think fuel might have went into the breather hose, and then dripped out on something hot and ignited,” said Swanson. “It became a big fire for how small the car is.”
The fire then engulfed Swanson while he was in the midget.
“The safety crew was trying to rip me out of the car,” Swanson said. “I collected my thoughts as I saw the fire growing bigger. I got my harness released and continued to nonchalantly get out of the car.”
Swanson wore a Bell GTX3 helmet, Simpson balaclava, Simpson fire suit, Simpson fire-retardant long underwear, and Alpinestars gloves and shoes.
The fire melted the plastic components on the car owned by Ken Sebring. However, Swanson suffered only a singed eyebrow from having his visor open. Otherwise, he walked away without injury.
Swanson credits Massachusetts Matt and Bobby Seymour, of Seymour Performance Products, for his attention to safety.
“The Seymours taught me that there should be no skimping when it comes to safety equipment,” said Swanson. “As we say, I’d rather have and not need it than need and not have it.”
After returning from Atlantic City, Matt Swanson made the Seymours’ shop one of his first stops.
“When Andy Byron saw my fire suit had discoloration and burn marks down the back, he suggested it would be in my best interest to replace it,” Swanson said. “The first thing I did was go see Bobby [Seymour] to get fitted for a new suit.”
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.
