Racers Mourn Greg Moore's Death
By Lois Pollard-Grant

The racing world was deeply saddened when CART driver, Greg Moore, recently lost his life in a devastating crash at California Speedway in Fontana. He was just 24 years old.

Car racing is a very dangerous business and over the years has taken its toll in serious accidents and death.

The inherent risks of a career literally at high speed is a drivers choice, and it's a choice that seems to take a back seat to the lure of high speeds, and the intense love that drivers feel for their sport.

Trevor Montgomery, NSRA sprint car racer, is very aware of the risks of high-speed racing.

Although he has never been seriously injured, he wrecked badly awhile back, when he backed into a cement wall at Evergreen Speedway.

"I was pretty lucky," he said.

I asked Trevor whether he felt any reservations about open-wheel racing since Greg Moore's untimely end.

"No, not really," Trevor replied. "The way I look at it, the chance of it happening (to me) are slim to none.

"It's weird how it happens though, "Trevor said, adding, "I think when it's time to go, it's time to go."

He will agree however, that the cars could be made safer. "One way would be to slow the cars down…. But it's human nature to want to go faster."

"Formula 1 races have sand traps to slow the cars down. Maybe they could look into something like that."

Trevor believes there is not as much chance of being injured in a stockcar (as opposed to open-wheel cars.) But driving a full-bodied car does not guarantee immunity from serious accidents.

He cites the terrible wreck of NASCAR Winston Cup driver, Ernie Irvin, who narrowly escaped death at Michigan Speedway a few years ago.

If Irvin had been driving an open-wheeled car at the time, the outcome could have been so very different.

Despite all the risks, Trevor said, if he ever got the opportunity to go Indy racing, he would jump at the chance.

The three-time NSRA champion hopes to pick up a couple of USAC shows in California next year. In the meantime, the Alpine Environmental/LeMonty racing team will pick up where it left off this year, to campaign in the year 2000 in the NSRA series.

As printed in the Goldstream News Gazette - 1999