Local racing legend killed

Published 9:00 pm Saturday, June 17, 2006

ALGER – The word began to spread around Skagit Speedway late Friday night, and it turned a dreary rainy night into one of heartbreak.

Snohomish businessman Fred Brownfield, a top sprint car promoter and former standout driver, died Friday night at Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma.

According to a statement released by Brownfield’s National Sprint Tour, Brownfield was killed when he was struck by a modified stock car while lining up cars prior to the D Main of the Northwest Modified Nationals. He was taken by medical personnel to Mark Reed Hospital in McLeary.

As word spread throughout the pits during the second day of the Jim Raper Memorial Dirt Cup, the mood in the pits, already somber due to the rain delay, dropped even further.

“The whole mood in the pits changed,” Lynnwood driver Barry Martinez said. “It deflated the whole night. And we still had to run our heat races. You try to block it out the best you can, but it’s still there. We all have heavy hearts.”

Brownfield was one of the Northwest’s most influential racing figures, and the reaction in the pits Saturday indicated that he touched nearly every driver on hand. Several drivers were too shaken up to talk, and everyone was shaken up by the news.

“Our whole team is shook up,” Lake Stevens driver Travis Jacobson said. “It’s definitely going to impact racing in the Northwest. He changed the image of racing up here, and there’s no one who can fill those shoes.”

Skagit held a moment of silence and ran a memorial lap in Brownfield’s honor Saturday. In addition, the drivers from Friday’s A and B Mains voted to donate the total purse of $10,000 to the Brownfield family.

The Grays Harbor Sheriff’s Office said Friday’s accident is under investigation.

According to eyewitnesses, Brownfield had just put chalk down in turn 4 to mark the line at which drivers could begin accelerating for the start of the D Main event.

Race director Bob Valencia was a couple of feet away when the accident happened around 9:30 p.m.

“They tried to open space for one car to get in there,” Valencia said. “Fred said ‘Just let me show them one (lap until green).’ That car decided to go and get into his position. Fred had turned his back on the car. Fred saw it out of the corner of his eye. Fred’s reaction was to try and jump out of the way.

“The hood of the car caught Fred, and he tumbled over the car,” Valencia added. “Fred’s head hit something, then he fell off the car and onto the track. I was the first one there. It didn’t look good. He was unconscious as soon as he hit the ground.”

In the scoring tower overlooking the track, Mike Troy was helping score the event.

“One car was lagging behind, and was supposed to be in the third row,” Troy said. “Fred showed them ‘1 at the line.’ As he did, the guy in the back moved up. At the last minute, Fred just saw him, jumped up and rolled over the hood of the car. Fred fell off the back of the car. Somewhere in that tumble, he hit his head hard on something, because there was head trauma.”

The track’s safety crew immediately tended to Brownfield, and racing was stopped. A member of the crew performed CPR, a task that continued as Brownfield was transported to Mark Reed Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Brownfield got his racing start about 30 years ago in Monroe, where he was named Rookie of the Year at Sky Valley Speedway. He went on to win four points titles at Skagit Speedway and also raced on the World of Outlaws tour.

Brownfield followed his racing career by becoming one of the top promoters in the Northwest. He ran Skagit Speedway in 1994 and ‘95, then started the Northern Sprint Tour in 1996. He also ran Grays Harbor Raceway at the time of his death.

Last year, Brownfield was named the World of Outlaws Promoter of the Year but split with that tour after the year and started the National Sprint Tour this year. Several of his racers – including Jason Meyers, Shane Stewart and Jason Solwold – competed in the Dirt Cup.

“He was a guy who would tell you how it is, and do it with a smile,” said Meyers, of Chico, Calif. “He was the greatest guy you’d ever meet. You could trust everything he said. Just a great person, the kind of guy you pattern your life after.”

The drivers at Skagit remembered Brownfield for his generosity. Martinez said he saw instances when Brownfield would pay a driver who did not perform well but came a long way to compete a few hundred dollars just for showing up. Jacobson said Brownfield would help out any driver who needed it, whether he was one of his drivers or not.

“He was such a positive influence on people,” Jacobson said. “He always made everyone feel welcome. He never played favorites. He wanted everyone to have a good time.”

“He was a driver himself so he always took care of the drivers,” Martinez said. “He had a big heart and he knew what it takes to run out here, so he always tried to support everyone.”

Myers said when he began promoting races a couple years ago, Brownfield was always willing to impart advice.

“Everything he ever did was first class,” Meyers said. “He was a pleasure to work with, and we were having so much fun with him this year. It’s just a shock. He was so helpful with everything. We’ve lost one of the greats.”

Meyers said it was too early to tell what the future of the National Sprint Tour held, and that the concern now is with Brownfield’s family, which includes wife Debbie, daughters Carrie, Jessica and Shelby and sons Ty and Luke.

All the drivers say that Brownfield’s death put a damper on the Dirt Cup, but they all agreed that it also added motivation to put on an outstanding show in his memory.

“I’m bummed that I wasn’t able to run with him this year, and now it’s even worse,” Jacobson said. “But I know that he would want us to keep going hard. He would want us to have a great race, all of us.”

“We were great friends and our thoughts are really with Fred’s family,” Martinez said. “But Fred would have wanted us to go out and race our butts off, because that’s what he would have done.”

A memorial service for Brownfield is scheduled for 2 p.m. June 26 at Grays Harbor Raceway.

Craig Murphy, of The Olympian, contributed to this story