Fatal NASCAR hauler crash in Texas

[NickHolt]

The team's driver is Taylor Gray, son of former TIDA Late Model driver Johhny Gray.

https://racingnews.co/2022/03/08/fatal-nascar-hauler-crash-in-texas-photo/?fbclid=IwAR3Hg0CFndK5IJnC6tW_MnefZTig-QAojKVLNs-IP-r2J6hEJur5ThxAgQ0

[ron.brown11]

Back when Dee & I had our tractor trailer, we drove that piece of I-20 a lot. We worked out of Mesquite, TX, and made a lot of load pick ups out of the Longview area. That's a fairly straight stretch oh road. If fog wasn't a factor, he probably fell asleep. Very sad for all involved. I've seen way too many fatal crashes, and many involved big rigs. I was surprised, and very happy to hear that all survived except for the driver. May God bless him, and his family & friends. Normally, when a rig burns like that, nobody survives. After seeing the aerial picture of the crash, there was no doubt in my mind that God is the reason. 

Nick, I didn't know that Johnny Gray ran TIDA, I just remember him from seeing him race Pro Stocks in Phoenix. Do you know if he ever ran any of the Winter Heat races in Tucson in the late 90s? The first year there were 8-10 TIDA drivers that made the trip. I only remember 2-3 teams ever coming back over the next 3 years. I don't know what years Johnny raced in the TIDA series. I left south Texas in May of 1989, to go to England. Prior to going to England, I made a lot of trips to San Antonio to watch the late model races there. I just had to go see John Kelley run that green Ford. I just don't remember the name of Johnny Gray. The only time I ever got my wife to go to the track with me, was the night Greg Davidson ended up in the parking lot. It was cold and windy that night, and she got cold. She went to sit in our truck, and took a nap. After Greg crashed, she woke up and saw all of the lights, and people walking past our truck. She thought the races must be over, and I'd be there soon. When I got to the truck, I started telling her about the crash. He ended up 4 vehicles to the left of where we were parked. She never heard or saw any of it. I sure wish I could sleep like that. But I'd been even happier if it haden't happened to Greg. 

[HiTech]

 SAD DEAL ..  this wreck brings back   another sad wreck when in 1982 the highway patrol showed at our construction yard we owned in alice ..we had an A64 FORD LOADER  with 8 feet forklift set up for loading drilling pipe  . . i knew there was a head on crash between two rigs in the fog on 281  north of alice that happend   at 4 am  this was noon when the trooper showed up .. i loaded the forks and bucket and headed out to the wreck .. i never seen so much carnage .  one rig burned up just like this one  the other was pancaked   with a family of three inside crushed at first we didnt know their was a new born  in the  pancaked moving truck  didnt find that baby till the next morning i noticed something when i was loading the cab onto a trailer . a baby bottle fell out . the little girl was crushed   behind the seat where you could not see at all . i will never forget that moment .. the other driver was found in the FRAME  where the motor use to be  all of that was scattered  up and down the road way .. the rig caught fire and burned just like this one did ..  26 hours to clear  that sight .i  met the family of the three killed . they just got married and was moving to houston ....you can never unseen something like that . RIP TRUCK DRIVER .

[txtom]

Taylor Gray (and his brother Tanner) are Johnny's Grandsons. Their Dad, Shane Gray, was a NHRA Pro Stock driver, following in Johnny's footsteps. Ya'll may also remember Tanner was the NHRA Pro Stock Champion a few years ago before switching to stock cars. 

19 hours ago, ron.brown11 said:

Do you know if he ever ran any of the Winter Heat races in Tucson in the late 90s? The first year there were 8-10 TIDA drivers that made the trip.

  Ron, Johnny did not, he was out of stock cars by then. He raced late models into the late 80's or so, and that was mostly the TROC and Texas Grand Prix events at Texas World. He then entered the drag racing world; he has raced in several classes.

Edited March 10, 2022 by txtom
Correction

[NickHolt]

Thanks for clearing that up, Tom.  

[ron.brown11]

Well, I'm glad to know that all my memory hasn't succumbed to using Ambien for 20 years.. I never saw any racing at TWS unfortunately, so that explains why Johnny's name wasn't one I remembered from my days @ San Antonio. I saw both Johnny & Shane race pro stocks, both were very good. Between Tanner & Taylor, I think Taylor might be the better driver. I'm hoping that he will get a lot more seat time in the next couple years. If I remember correctly, Taylor is the younger of the brothers. Didn't he start racing circle track before Tanner? I caught an interview with Tanner after it was announced he was going circle track racing, after season's end. He said something like that his brother got him interested. Maybe I'm confused about that..

[ron.brown11]

HiTech, I know what you mean about those crash scenes. We were driving west through eastern AZ, through Texas Canyon about 3am. Very hilly through there, and we were loaded heavy. The traffic was very light that night. A couple of class C RVs went flying past us as we were climbing a grade. There was no moon that night, and there are no lights anywhere out there. About a minute after they passed us, we saw what looked like a small fire up ahead. By the time we got there, that fire was getting bigger. There was another truck behind us, so I told him to slow down, because I still couldn't tell which side of the road the fire was on. As we came around the final bend, where we could see what it was, I told him to pull up beside me, to help block the road. It was the second of those RVs. It crashed into the rock face just off the right side of I -10. That rock face comes within 6' of the shoulder of the road. There was a couple, 3 kids & a dog inside. The wife, kids and the dog got out. The driver was still inside, and his legs were pinned. That other driver & I tried to get him out, but that fire found the propane tanks, and lit them off. We couldn't get him out. He burned to death, halfway out of the cab. Ah but the love of a dog. The dog jumped back into the rv to try and help. He died too. I can't ever drive past the 218 mile marker without seeing that again. To add to that, we thought we had blocked the freeway pretty good, with 2 big rigs. After the fire was dying down a bit, here comes a big class A motorhome, snaking between the guardrail and the other truck. The guy driving pulls just past and let his kids get out to look. First of all, what idiot would want his kids to see that? Why would you want you kids to carry that memory? What made it worse is he stopped right next to the family that just lost their husband & dad. I was talking to the driver of the rv that was traveling with the one that crashed. It was his brother & his family. So now you have 3 families with that in their minds forever. Add to that the other truck driver, Dee and me carry that. The brother told me that they had just stopped back in Wilcox to fuel up, hence the reason got so big, so fast. He even suggested that they take a break, and sleep for awhile. The one that died said no, so they drove on. Within 20 minutes, you couldn't tell it was once an rv. I have no idea where the propane tanks landed. Thankfully there is virtually nothing around that spot. When those things pop off, the fly just like a missile.

[ron.brown11]

Well, amazingly DGR got equipment to Phoenix on time to race today. Then Taylor Gray qualified P2!!! Hopefully the race goes as well..

[ron.brown11]

Taylor Gray Wins!!! First ARCA win. They interviewed David Gilliland, and he was in tears. I watched David when he started running NASCAR's Southwest Series. I watched his dad Butch winning in the Winston West series. A really good west coast racing family.. What a week for David Gilliland Racing.