After getting the charred wreckage of their race car back to the pit area, Finney withdrew Reeves’ team car from the race, with both drivers taking their lives and their thoughts back down the road from Ohio to Florida.
“We’re at a complete loss,” a statement from Finney’s wife Sarah read on Facebook after the incident on Saturday. “Due to ARCA’s total lack of preparation and fire crew, we have totally lost a race car. If not for God watching over Brian, we could have lost a lot more.”
ARCA issued an official statement in regards to Saturday’s incident on Tuesday night, but Sarah Finney has made her stance very clear.
“I am very angry that we trusted ARCA with our drivers’ lives,” she continued. “As if this was not a wake-up call that they did not have proper safety equipment, they then decided to continue practice (after the fire). Hopefully, they will bring in a qualified fire crew before the start of any race, qualifying or practice (going forward).”
For a team like Finney’s, which runs on a far smaller budget than most of the well-known teams in the ARCA ranks, Saturday’s disaster is a massive blow — not just from an equipment standpoint, but from the standpoint of their faith in the series going forward, as well.
“We’re a small team,” Reeves explained. “We’re literaly the working people; we work for every dollar we have and every dollar that goes into (what we do as racers). The money that it took just to come (to Ohio) … and then to have this happen, it’s devastating.”
“Brian left the option to me … gave me the choice if I wanted to stay and race, but I wasn’t going to stay … not after (seeing) that.”
Reeves said that he is left with far more questions than answers in light of the situation.
“The biggest thing I ask is, ‘How do you not even try (to put out the fire)?'” he lamented. “If they (the safety workers) had hit the car with the fire extinguishers early, we could have probably fixed things.”
“He even parked right there at the infield opening off turn two; it was the exact right spot for help to come to the car. And they didn’t even try to help.”
Reeves, who started racing due to Finney’s help, said that he is unsure what direction the team will go in from here, or whether he or Brian will ever return to the race track for an ARCA-sanctioned event.
“This is so hard (to swallow) … because we were just getting our car better and were excited about being at the race track,” Reeves explained. “And now I have no idea what’s going to happen. Brian told me he’s done, that he’s never getting in the (race) car again.”
“I’m taking the car out of his shop and bringing it in with mine, so that he doesn’t have to look at it. We’ll look things over and try to fix what we can. But I don’t know. This may be the end of Brian (as a racer), and because we’re tied so closely together, it may be the end for me, too. I don’t know just yet. It’s going to take time to see where it goes.”
“Brian got me into ARCA through (running) late models, and for all of it to potentially be over for something stupid like this … you’d think it’s so simple: we want to race, not die.”
About the Writer
Jacob Seelman is the Managing Editor of Race Chaser Online and creator of the Motorsports Madness radio show, airing at 7 p.m. Eastern every Monday on the Performance Motorsports Network.
Seelman grew up in the sport, watching his grandparents co-own the RaDiUs Motorsports NASCAR Cup Series team in the 1990s.
The 23-year-old is currently studying Broadcast Journalism at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C., and is also serving as the full-time tour announcer for the Must See Racing Sprint Car Series.
Email Jacob at: editor@racechaseronline.com
Follow on Twitter: @Speed77Radio or @JacobSeelman77
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Sorry excuse for a safety crew they should be made help pay. For car repairs
Same thing happened at Bakersfield Speedway (Oildale, CA) a couple of seasons ago. And it’s only a 3/8th’s-mile track. I would hope these good people would simply leave ARCA and go race with the WoO DL-M series. Clearly, participants’ safety is NOT their primary focus.
No excuse for fire / crash units to be fully staffed and trained at all times when cars are on the track.
ARCA owes this team and driver an official public apoloigy and replace the car that was distroyed by their errors by not having proper safety crews.
Hello All….I have been in and around racing for 50 years now. First,so glad Brian was unhurt. BUTT….I’m am so unhappy with the circumstance. I’m a chassis builder that does so much to insure the safety of drivers. I’ve saved lives by doing what I do.
These people need to step up and take responsibility for what they have done. I have NO idea how they could have just stood there…. Thankfully this is RARE. With all the incidents I’ve been around, MOST safety crews do what they are trained for. A good friend of mine is on the safety team for F-1/ Indy type racing and they RE-TRAIN constantly.
I am mainly happy with safety crews BUT THIS HAS TO BE DEALT WITH ! ! ! ! (worse,Toledo was my home base)
Maybe ARCA should pay for the car since they just stood there and watched it burn, and thank God Brian wasn’t hurt
That safety crew should be fired