Beck regains jennerstown points lead

JENNERSTOWN, PA (July 12, 2005) …. Tommy Beck regained the points lead over Barry Awtey in the super late model division at Jennerstown Speedway with a solid second place finish in last Saturday’s 50-lap feature attraction. But, the occasion was bittersweet for the Murrysville driver.

While leading the contest Beck’s wife, Jayme, was involved in a vicious accident on Lap 44 of the event. Jayme Beck’s car tagged the outside front straight wall and struck the car driven be Awtey. The action sent Beck careening into the inside retaining wall, which in turn launched  her machine up into the air, eventually stopping in the Turn 1 barrier.

Beck had to be extricated from the car, and was transported to the hospital with a hairline fracture of her left leg.

To further add to his grief Beck lost the lead on the restart to Mark Smith, and had to settle for a close second.

“It was a tough night,” Tommy Beck said. “I didn’t see Jayme’s accident, which was probably a good thing. They told me right away that she was alert, and was going to be OK. I remained in my car…. I really didn’t want to get in the way of the rescue people doing their jobs.

Is Beck concerned when his wife is competing in the same race as him? “You think about it,” he said. “But, we were both racing before we met. We really try to keep our racing and personal lives as separate as possible. We don’t communicate much at the track. We don’t even pit together.

The Somerset County half mile paved oval will present another five-division NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series race program this Saturday.

Also on the agenda will be the appearance of Megasaurus, the metal marvel of the millennium. Standing three stories tall, the mechanical dinosaur weighs over 50,000 pounds, and can lift over 30,000 pounds. His massive jaws can attain 15,000 pounds of biting force. The full size transformer will perform a pyrotechnic show while crushing a full size car.

Spectator gates open at 5:00 PM, with the first race set to start at 6:30.

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