Article by : Doug De Keyrel
The weekend started with setting up on Friday and getting ready for
practice. We had a great day of practice and I was running some really
good times.
We made a quick video to talk safety gear and promote Axcel Sports and
their suits and gloves. After that everything was prepped and prepared for
Saturday's races. Then we loaded everything into the orange conex box for
the night. It is awesome that Progressive Power Sports has three of these
their team members can use. We only have an open trailer so we are
thankful to be able to lock everything up at night.
Saturday Morning Started with practice at 7:00 am and then straight into
Pro Qualifying. After Qualifying was complete. Tex and Brian had the riders
Meeting. Brian announced the new name of the series as the Texas Outlaw
Series.
My first race up was the 1000 LTD 12 + Class. The Texas Outlaw Series
had decided to use the long start for this race weekend. That is why this
pictures looks different than others in the past. I got a great jump and was
in second place going into the first turn.
I was able to make the pass into the lead before the end of the first lap.
They kept me honest the entire race. This class has great competition in it.
The limited rules allow Sway Bars, Exhaust, Tunes, Quickeners etc. Just
no internal engine work. This opens it up for a lot more drives. I was able
to take the win in my stock class car so I was feeling really good about
the day.
Up next for me was the 1000 STK 12+ race. I was ready and focused on
trying to get the win………….. I only made it about another 300 feet past
this picture. Another driver hit me in my left rear tire and started to turn me.
I was completely sideways with him pushing on my side when we went
down into a roller. This caused my right side tires to hook and we both
started tumbling. I think I flipped about 5 or 6 times and ended up way off
the track by the water on my side. I was waiting for them to come flip me
back over so I could go. Quinn from Progressive was one of the first guys
there. He asked me if I was ok. I told him to flip me over. He said you car is
done bud…. They had me get out of the car and flipped it back on what
was left of the wheels.
( Photo Credit Harlen Foley)
All of the time that had been put in to make sure the car was safe paid off.
My dad had specced a Great American Short Course Legal cage for ABF
to build which had higher standards than an average aftermarket cage.
Using 120 wall tubing instead of 80 thousands. There were also specific
places where tubes had to go. It was a good thing as the cage still came
in contact with my Bell Helmet and broke it in the crash.
As you can see this ended my day and maybe my season. We will see
if we can get a frame and parts to start a build up again. Not sure how
quickly we will be able to pull it off as for cost and parts availability. I really
want to thank all my sponsors who have helped me get this far and helped
me stay safe in this incident. Sparco seat and steering wheel. All still
intact and did their job. HMF nerf bars. Kept it from crushing in the sides.
ABF cage. It kept me safe and did not completely crush in. Bell Helmets.
The Helmet broke on top and I was completely fine. That's amazing.
Thank You to all of you that support me and believe in me.
( Photo Credit Harlen Foley )
GOD, Progressive Powersports, Jsportsxs, PPEI, FOX,
Double E Racing, Maxxis Tires, Method Wheels, Bell Racing, Tagger
Designs, Axcel Sport, SSI Decals, HMF, PCI Radio's, Sparco, ABF,
Motive Engineering Check out www.DeKeyrelRacing.com
Waiting to see what we can pull off. Thank You GOD for this opportunity.