i dont get it.

it was closed and he was going the wrong way.

was he just being stupid? or did he work there or something and had permission to be on the track for some reason?

http://www.shelbystar.com/news/track_33870___article.html/buff_driver.html

Quote :

"To our readers: A service to celebrate Josh's life will be held at 5 p.m. Sunday at the Woodlawn Funeral Home Chapel in Mount Holly. Years have passed without incident at Shadyside Dragway, according to Ronnie Buff, whose family owns the Southern Cleveland County drag strip. "Never been nothing at all," he said. Nothing, that is, up until Thursday. Josh "Mess" Messerschmidt, 22, of Mount Holly, was killed that night in a wreck at Shadyside after the track had closed, officials said. Since then, car enthusiast message boards and Web sites have been filling up with information and heartfelt condolences from friends and acquaintances. Buff said the track closed early because of poor weather conditions. EMS had already left and the lights were turned off, he added. Witnesses said Messerschmidt, who drove a green Honda Civic, went down the track in the wrong direction and crashed. "All we could do was call 911," said Josh Huneycutt, a track regular. The flipped car came to rest just off the tarmac. "It's just unfortunate," Cleveland County Sheriff's Office Capt. Alan Norman said. Tyler Kale, of Gastonia, remembered Messerschmidt as a "really good friend" - someone with a great smile and laugh who helped him out. The two worked on their cars together and Kale said they met on a car Web site a few years ago. His friend helped him get a job and they began hanging out, Kale said. "He was a good driver," he said. "We would go down to the track every now and then and race." Fellow Honda owner Bryce Sasso, of Dallas, said the situation is "unreal." "I'm still in denial about it," he said. No matter the time or circumstance, Messerschmidt was always there, Sasso shared. "That's the kind of friend he was," he said. "I can't believe he's gone." Messerschmidt, a 2004 graduate of East Gaston High School, was born in Wisconsin. According to ImportsNC.com, a car community Web site Messerschmidt was a part of, several users were planning on making a trip to the crash site to place flowers in his honor. Norman said there was no official estimate Friday on how fast Messerschmidt was traveling at the time of impact. Witnesses estimated a speed of 40 mph. One message board entry simply said: "Please just keep his family in your prayers. I know they will be in mine." Updated at 12:53 a.m. The driver of a fatal wreck at a local dragstrip is being remembered by his friends on several area messageboards and word has spread around the drag racing community through text messages and online postings. Josh Messerschmidt, 22, of Mount Holly, died after he went down the strip at Shadyside Dragway from the wrong direction, didn't get stopped in time and flipped. His friend, Tyler Kale of Gastonia, remembered Messerschmit as someone who helped him out and someone with a great smile. Kale will remember his laugh and said he was a "really good friend." The two worked on their cars together and Kale said they met on a car Web site a few years ago. His friend helped him get a job and they began hanging out, Kale said. "He was a good driver," he said. "We would go down to the track every now and then and race." A few messages on those forums: "We are all shocked and deeply saddened that our friend has passed. We will always keep him close to our hearts and remember him for the good person he was." "u just had to know josh he was a very funny guy and always liked to make people laugh! he was a really nice and funny guy that didnt mind helping a freind out!" "Josh was a good person and a good friend to anyone" "Please just keep his family in your prayers. I know they will be in mine." FIRST POSTING Law enforcement officials are investigating a fatal wreck Thursday at Shadyside Dragway in southern Cleveland County. The identity of the victim was unknown late Thursday. However, he had raced at the track earlier in the evening and is known by some of the track regulars. Josh Huneycutt, a track regular, said he talked to the victim earlier in the evening but that he did not know his full name. Other regulars knew him from a Web site they frequented. He and other witnesses said the driver, who had a green Honda Civic, went through the track in the wrong direction after it had closed because of poor weather conditions. The driver was going about 40 mph at impact, they estimated. He hit a ditch and some nearby woods. "When water gets on this stuff it's like black ice," Huneycutt said. "All we could do was call 911." Ronnie Buff, whose family owns the track, said the track closed at 7:45 p.m. and EMS had already left. The lights had been turned off, he added. While watching "Survivor" at home with his wife Gail, Buff heard the crash. "I said, 'I hear something down on the racetrack,' and I started this way," Buff said. When he went to check on the driver, the car had flipped over on its top. He said this was the first fatal wreck at the track. Buff said he has seen wrecks where people crashed at 150 mph and walked away. "I don't know why the boy did it," said Gail Buff. "That's a shame," Ronnie Buff said. The victim had made several successful runs before the track closed, witnesses said. Responders to the wreck included deputies from the Cleveland County Sheriff's Office, N.C. Highway Patrol officials, Shanghai volunteer firemen and Boiling Springs Rescue workers. "

[Edited on September 28, 2008 at 6:41 PM. Reason : ]

[Edited on September 28, 2008 at 6:46 PM. Reason : ]

9/28/2008 6:38:38 PM

Quote :

"I just got off the phone with another friend that rode up there with him. They were all at the track, doing several passes. It had been drizzling up to then. The track was closing (or closed), they had just turned off the lights. He wanted to do one more run. So he went for it, did the 1/8 mile and started braking to slow down, apparently he got sideways and hit a barrier or wall, then flipped the car over into a ditch there. He was not wearing his seatbelt, or a helmet. "

Quote :

"He and other witnesses said the driver, who had a green Honda Civic, went through the track in the wrong direction after it had closed because of poor weather conditions. The driver was going about 40 mph at impact, they estimated."

9/28/2008 6:43:30 PM

LOL

the shelby star

never thought i see the day it was quoted here

9/28/2008 7:42:02 PM

Who the hell drives down the track the wrong way.

9/28/2008 9:16:16 PM

A kamikaze Messerschmidt!

9/28/2008 10:51:35 PM

the fast one was in the garage

9/28/2008 10:53:14 PM

his chrome APC fire ext. probably came dislodged in the rollover and hit him in the head.

9/28/2008 11:14:31 PM

I wonder if they were running the track backwards because the track owner closed off access to the starting section? My heart goes out to his family and friends either way. Just sounds like one of those bad situations where a lot of people suffer for no good reason.

[Edited on September 28, 2008 at 11:37 PM. Reason : l]

9/28/2008 11:33:24 PM

if you've ever been to shadyside, or even the shelby/gastonia/kings mountain area in general, this all makes PERFECT sense. it's sad someone had to lose their life over a stupid decision though.

[Edited on September 28, 2008 at 11:38 PM. Reason : i bet this guy cruised with a kar klub on the gastonia strip too]

9/28/2008 11:34:03 PM

yes, there are some really winners down there

9/28/2008 11:44:50 PM

must have been slowblack96's younger brother... sorry, bad joke.

9/29/2008 1:11:00 AM

Hmmm, racing on a closed drag strip in the WRONG direction without a SEAT BELT.

Yup, sounds like a Darwin Award finalist to me. I feel bad for his friends and family though

9/29/2008 9:20:07 AM

I'm just really confused about why you'd do it. You can't figure out when you've passed the 1/4 mile mark so you have no clue of what you've run. Why not just do it on the street after you leave the strip? Obviously these guys are street racers so why the fuck did he have to go down the track the wrong way? Did he think he could start at the finish line and then just begin braking once he got to the tree?!

9/29/2008 9:26:41 AM

or why the hell didnt he just drive down to the tree not like an idiot and then run the correct way?

9/29/2008 9:56:09 AM

Quote :

"A kamikaze Messerschmidt!"

I'm glad someone else noticed the name. Haha.

9/29/2008 10:32:28 AM

i know it's a warplane, but I didnt think of the funny

9/29/2008 10:46:54 AM

you know... seat belts are very dangerous and can give you bad bruises in an accident...

9/29/2008 11:44:23 AM

back in high school I used to race at shadyside, saw some awesome wrecks and awesome races. Never saw anyone do something as dumb as drive on the track the wrong way though.

10/1/2008 12:53:55 AM