LITTLE ROCK — Tulsa's Shane Stewart led all 25 laps to win Thursday night's preliminary feature and secure a spot in tonight's 20th annual O'Reilly Short Track Nationals at Little Rock's I-30 Speedway.
All celebrations were tempered, however, after another driver suffered serious injuries earlier in the night.
Josh Howard, 22, of Byhalia, Miss., had to be cut out of his car after he flipped his sprinter over the turn-two embankment during a qualifying race.
Howard was taken to Baptist Medical Center in Little Rock after complaining of no feeling in his arms and legs.
According to track spokesman Tracey Clay, a CT scan performed early Friday morning showed Howard's C5 vertebra was crushed.
"Josh's father said Josh had moved his hands," Clay said. "Later in the day, he was getting some feelings in his shoulders."
Clay said a magnetic resonance imaging was planned for late Friday to determine if there was spinal cord damage. Surgery was also planned, Clay said, as soon as swelling in the injured area was reduced enough to allow it.
"You know you have to respect these cars every time you strap yourself into one of them, but it's always in the back of your mind," Stewart said on the frontstraight after the feature race. "I just hope the guy is OK."
Howard was in sixth place and had just taken the white flag in the 12-lap qualifier. It wasn't certain if he touched anothercar or if his sprinter hooked a rut on the track, but the car flipped over the embankment and wound up in the pits on one of the track entry roads.
Track officials, members of the Little Rock Fire Department and volunteers worked for more than an hour to remove Howard from his car. The top of the roll cage of his car was cut away, and he was lifted from the car while still strapped in his seat.
The event was stopped for 1 more than 1 /2 hours, but the racing continued. Many drivers were among those gathered in the pits watching the extraction process.
"The worst part was when they rolled the car past us with the top of the roll cage cut off," Stewart said. "You don't like to see that."
Howard's older brothers, Jan and Dale, and his father, James, were among those huddled around the car, helping remove Josh. Jan, who was crying when his brother was lifted out of the wreckage, was also competing Thursday night. He raced in the second qualifier after the action resumed, and he started sixth in the preliminary feature.
But on the third lap, the right rear tire came off Jan Howard's car between turns one and two,sending him over the same embankment where his brother took his tumble. Jan's car wound up on its side, but he was uninjured.
Shawn Sander of El Paso, Texas, and Jesse Hockett of Warsaw, Mo., also took spectacular flips during the feature, but there were no injuries.
Heavy rains over the past two weeks had left the track surface extremely tacky and fast, but they were not conditions that all drivers enjoyed.
"I really hope we can get some sunshine between now and [today]," said Stewart, a former I-30 regular who now tours with the World of Outlaws. "I've seen this place get tacky, but never like this."
Fifty-two drivers raced Thursday night, but only the preliminary feature's top three finishers - Stewart, Jason Sides of Bartlett, Tenn., and Zach Chappell of Talala, Okla. - secured spots in tonight's 40-lap finale.
A new roster of drivers, expected to total nearly 60, competed in qualifiers late Friday night. The top three finishers from the Friday night prelim also qualified for the A-Main. The remaining drivers from Thursday and Friday will then attempt to race into the field tonight.
Thursday's results
Thursday night's preliminary feature results from the 20th annual O'Reilly Short Track Nationals at Little Rock's I-30 Speedway with finishing position, driver, hometown, starting position in parentheses and laps completed. The top three finishers earned spots in tonight's A-Main feature: 1. Shane Stewart, Tulsa (1), 25 2. Jason Sides, Bartlett, Tenn. (2), 25 3. Zach Chappell, Talala, Okla. (4), 25 4. Travis Rilat, Forney, Texas (16), 25 5. Sam Hafertepe Jr., Sunnyvale, Texas (3), 25 6. Tony Bruce Jr., Liberal, Kan. (9), 25 7. Jerrod Hull, Sikeston, Mo. (10), 25 8. Wayne Johnson, Oklahoma City, Okla. (19), 25 9. Jason Johnson, Eunice, La. (15), 25 10. Dale Blaney, Fowler, Ohio (14), 25 11. Marshall Skinner, West Memphis (13), 24 12. Joe Beaver, Knoxville, Iowa (20), 24 13. Brad Bowden, Hernando, Miss. (11), 24 14. Jesse Hockett, Warsaw, Mo. (17), 24 15. Garry Lee Maier, Cimarron, Kan. (7), 23 16. Chris Morgan, Topeka, Kan. (8), 20 17. Mike Brecht, Leipsic, Ohio (12), 14 18. Shawn Sander, El Paso, Texas (5), 10 19. Claud Estes, Godley, Texas (18), 5 20. Jan Howard, Byhalia, Miss. (6), 2 Lap leaders - Stewart 1-25. Heat winners - J.Johnson, Sides, Hulll, Hockett, Bowden, Howard. Qualifying race winners - Maier, Skinner, Sander, Stewart.
Short Track Nationals WHERE I-30 Speedway, Little Rock WHEN Tonight: Gates open at 5 p.m. and racing starts at 7:30 p.m. both nights.
PURSE $20,000 to win, $2,000 to start in main event.
TICKETS Grandstand admission is $27 for adults, $5 for children aged 6-12; pit passes are $35.
Sports, Pages 29 on 10/27/2007