June 27th, 2009
Kingsville's Jim Ellis stands beside a track volunteer firefighter moments after escaping his burning No. 32 Sport Stock car during Saturday's feature race. James MacDonald Apex One Photo
You couldn’t blame Jim Ellis if he cringed just a little on Sunday when his family lit the candles on his birthday cake.
The night before, it was his race car that was lit up.
Ellis’ No. 32 car was virtually destroyed in a spectacular fire at South Buxton Raceway in the Sun Parlour Trailers Sport Stocks feature race.
Results are posted under Track Stats. Please go to Photos under the Multimedia icon for more photos by James MacDonald from Saturday’s racing action. Check back for expanded coverage, including pictures and updated standings.
The drive shaft came apart and punctured a hole in the fuel cell as Ellis was coming out of turn two on the sixth lap of the 20-lap feature.
He turned onto the infield and immediately knew there was trouble.
”My back felt warm and I could hear the crowd in the pits yelling, ‘fire, fire, fire…’, then I saw the flames in the right rear,” the Kingsville native said.
“I just stayed calm, got the belts off and window net down and got out as fast as I could.”
Seconds after he escaped, the car was completely engulfed as flames soared 25-30 feet in the air. The South Raleigh fire department was called to help the track’s firefighting crew contain the fuel-fed blaze.
Amazingly, Ellis was not injured.
His daughter Tiffany Ellis, driver of the No. 88 car, stopped on the opposite side of the track when the red flag waved and was terrified at the sight of her father’s car completely ablaze.
She was relieved when hearing on her race receiver that her father was all right.
”She was pretty shaken up when they brought her over,” Jim said, as a track official gave Tiffany a ride to the scene on a four-wheeler.
”After the race, she came over to the trailer and hugged me for about 20 minutes.”
Ellis said the motor, transmission and chassis are all salvageable, “but it’s going to need a whole new body and lots of parts.”
One of his sponsors, Dragon Fire Express, has already come forward with money to help build a new body.
“It may take three or four weeks, but we’ll be back,” said Ellis, who was very happy to celebrate his 43rd birthday on Sunday, after what he went through a night earlier.
Wallaceburg’s Gary Vyse won the feature, his second of the season.
Tiffany finished 10th while Jim was credited with a 14th-place finish.
Blenheim’s Andrew Reaume ran his regular season feature win streak to nine in the Ultimate Sandblasting & Coatings UMP Late Models. Reaume is four-for-four in feature races this year after winning the final five in the 2008 season.
Rutherford’s Chris Van De Wiele won his third feature of the season in the Schinkel’s Gourmet Meats UMP Modifieds.
Leamington’s Brandon Windsor earned his first feature victory of 2009 in the Four Seasons Driver Education Comp 4s.
South Buxton hosts the second half of the Outhouse Image & Design UMP Modified Summer Sizzler on Saturday, July 4. The event was rained out on June 20.
Tilbury’s Tim Richardson won the feature and $1,000 first-place prize at Ohsweken Speedway on June 19.
The winner at South Buxton will pocket $1,000. There is also a $500 bonus for the driver with the best two-track overall finish.
There will also be regular racing in the other three classes. Racing starts at 7 p.m.
