Race car driver killed at Thompson speedway

THOMPSON— Shane Hammond, 27, was killed yesterday when the race car he was driving was involved in a wreck on the season’s first weekend of competition at Thompson International Speedway.

The crash, the second at the track in eight months, happened just after 1 p.m. during the fourth lap of a Northeastern Midget Association feature, part of the season-opening Icebreaker.

Mr. Hammond’s car collided with one driven by Chris Leonard of Pelham, N.H., then went over a concrete wall and through a billboard, according to witnesses. The car also overturned.


Mr. Hammond was pronounced dead at Day Kimball Hospital in Putnam, according to Connecticut state police.

Mr. Hammond, of 34 Lawrence Road, Halifax, suffered “multiple blunt force trauma,” according to police. State police are working with NASCAR officials to learn more about the crash.

Mr. Hammond and Mr. Leonard collided on lap 4 of the 25-lap race as the two headed into turn 3. It was not apparent whether Mr. Hammond’s car hit metal posts that held up the billboard, but his car was entirely over the wall and caught in the billboard when Thompson rescue personnel got to the scene.

Although rain began falling later in the afternoon, conditions at the 5/8-mile oval track were dry at the time of the crash. About 8,500 spectators were in the stands.

“Everyone at the Thompson speedway is saddened by this tragic loss,” track owner Donald Hoenig said in a statement. “Words cannot express how we at Thompson, and the entire racing community, feel at this time. We extend our deepest sympathies to Shane’s family, friends and to his many fans. Shane Hammond was a very talented young driver who had impressed many with his natural ability.”

Veteran Whelen Modified Tour driver Eddie Flemke Jr., who won yesterday’s Whelen Modified race, said he had seen far too many tragedies in his long racing career.

“It’s just their time,” Flemke said of racetrack fatalities. “That’s the only way I can look at it.”

Still, he was visibly moved when discussing yesterday’s tragedy.

“If you foul off a pitch or fumble a ball, what is the price?” he said, his voice cracking. “(In racing) when you fumble, the price is just too great. I’m just getting tired of it.”

Midget cars are smaller and lighter than typical racing vehicles. They have open wheels and cockpits that are surrounded by roll bars. Mr. Hammond, a 1999 graduate of East Bridgewater High School, who was named NEMA’s most improved driver after an excellent 2006 season, was beginning his fifth year on the circuit.

The Northeastern Midget Association was beginning its 56th season at Thompson. In a press release issued before yesterday’s race, association president Mike Scrivani Jr. described Thompson as the “fastest track NEMA visits.”

In August another racer was killed during a Whelen Modified Tour event at Thompson. John Blewett III, 33, a veteran driver from New Jersey, was killed in a crash that involved his brother Jimmy’s vehicle.

Before that there hadn’t been a fatality at Thompson since 2004.

Introduced to driving by his grandfather and mentored by fellow NEMA driver Randy Cabral, Mr. Hammond was considered among the top drivers on the circuit.

“Just try to be a contender up front and be a front-runner,” Hammond told Boston.com of his goals before his 2007 campaign. “Honestly, as long as I’m having fun, that’s my main thing.”

Racing is scheduled to continue Saturday at the Waterford Speedbowl.

“We’ll go on. We have to, otherwise they died in vain,” Flemke said.