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Mechanic to inspect dragster Car in fatal crash carried required safety equipment By JIM DAVIS WHITE CITY -- A mechanic was scheduled this morning to inspect a dragster that was involved in a fatal race during the weekend. The dragster was equipped with all the required safety equipment, including a kill switch to shut off the engine and a switch to put the vehicle into neutral in case of an emergency, said Jackson County sheriff's Lt. Dewey Patton. "Those appear to be installed," Patton said. "Whether or not they're actually in operation, that is what we still need to determine." Mel Bresaw, 50, of Gresham, was driving the car when it crashed at the Southern Oregon Speedway on Saturday in front of about 1,500 spectators including his wife and grown son. Patton said that an autopsy is usually done in fatal accidents, but he wasn't sure whether one would be performed in this case. The 1933 Ford dragster ran through the quarter-mile course and the three-quarter-mile shutdown area, then over some soft sand and into the woods doing an estimated 140 mph, said George Lind, president of the Oregon Drag Racers Association. "Somebody said the throttle seemed to be wide open, but whether that was because of a mechanical problem or he passed out for some reason, we don't know," Lind said. A witness told Jackson County sheriff's deputies he heard Bresaw feather the gas, apparently in an attempt to unstick the throttle. The driver also was seen looking down near the finish line, then looking up, deploying the drag chute, then looking down again. The crash came during the National Hot Rod Association Bracket Bash '99, with $12,000 in prize money. Bresaw's wife and son asked that the racing continue after the crash. John Skinner, who leases the Speedway from Jackson County, said most of the drivers didn't want to continue with the event, but did so after the family's urging. "After the wife's request, they said, `Yep, that's what we'll do,' " Skinner said. Skinner said spectators raised more than $2,000 on Saturday for the family. He said the Speedway will contribute $500 as well. He said the track is one of the safest on the West Coast, with four turnouts and a three-quarter-mile shutdown area that runs uphill at a 12-degree angle. "It's the longest runoff in any track in the region," Skinner said. The fatality was the second race-related death at the Speedway in its 20-year history. In 1994, Gene Vecchio of Novato, Calif., died when his jet dragster flew off the end of the track at more than 200 mph and hit a tree. Earlier this year, a racer died of a heart attack, but not during a race, Skinner said. Patton said an experienced mechanic with the Jackson County Public Works Department will inspect the vehicle. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA