Young Canadian sprint car star critically injured

In mid-September, a young, vivacious, good-looking and ambitious 21-year-old sprint car driver from Langley, B.C., named Travis Rutz hauled 4,000 kilometres east to race in the fifth annual Canadian Sprint Car Nationals at the Brantford-area Ohsweken Speedway.

Seventy-seven drivers took time and Travis was 45th fastest. To put that in perspective, the quickest time-trialer was Glenn Styres with a time of 14.288 seconds. Travis went around in 15.3 seconds. The slowest “fast” guy was No. 75 on the list, Kyle Fraser, who turned a 16.8.

Travis made the field for the Little Feature but couldn’t transfer into the A-Main and his night was over. But that’s racing.

It’s also life – and life can turn on a dime.

A week ago Sunday – Sept. 27, to be exact – Travis was running an All Star Circuit of Champions tour event at the Action Track in Terre Haute, Ind., when disaster struck.

Powering out of the fourth turn, he was in a side-by-side battle with another driver when they came across a very slow-moving car on the main straight. The ensuing collision (so violent that the race was terminated because of damage to the safety fence and starter’s stand) left Travis with life-threatening injuries and he’s in a coma today at Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis.

Tommy Goudge, who handles PR for Ohsweken Speedway and the Southern Ontario Sprints, among other clients, has followed Travis’s career closely.

“I first saw him compete as a 16-year-old at Castrol Raceway in Edmonton in 2004, and he won what was at that time Canada’s most prestigious sprint car event - the Gold Cup - from 11th on the grid. I have followed his career ever since.

“The news of the crash and his injuries has hit a lot of people in the racing community very hard. The medical bills for Travis and his family are going to be astronomical, and the word I got from one of their friends is that their insurance is not going to cover any of it because the crash took place on a race track.

“Nearly 2,000 people have joined the Facebook group set up after the accident and "pass the helmet" donations were held over the weekend at Lawrenceburg, Ind., and Chico, Calif., among other places. We even did one at the Southern Ontario Sprints awards banquet on Saturday night in Brantford.”

Thanks for this, Tommy. Our thoughts and prayers are with Travis and his family. Racing remains a dangerous game. Sometimes, we forget that.

Comments

[Colin W]

My thoughts and prayers are with Travis, his family and friends. Here's hoping he comes out a winner in this his most important "race".

[Bob DeVreeze]

Racing is a dangerous sport. Racers know the risk. From Strictly Stock to F1 the risk of injury or death is the same. In my 50 years as a fan, I have had the extreme shock of loosing a friend on the racetrack more than once. My prayers go to Travis and his family for a speedy recovery and a return to the track.

[David White]

How can I help?

[Johnny Lugnuts]

You can help by visiting the Facebook page.

[Tommy Goudge]

David, you can help by visiting www.TravisRutz.com or the Facebook page that Norris has linked in the story...or here are some other ways:

USE LINK TO DONATE THROUGH PAYPAL:
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=8584956

Canadian Donation Account:
Canadian Banking info:
TD Canada Trust Acct# 0547-6480005

Make cheques payabe to:
Arlene Richmond &/or Debbie Birnie ITF Travis Rutz

Donations accepted at any TD Canada Trust branch in Canada or mail to:
TD Canada Trust
c/o Arlene Richmond,
13650 72nd Ave.,
Surrey, B.C. V3W 2P3

USA Donation info:

Accepting Mailed Donations:
Banner Bank
C/O Mikala Gammell
1414 12th St
Bellingham, WA 98225

Make Checks Payable To:
Travis Rutz and/or Travis Rutz and Family

Also, if you're near London on November 7, there might be something else you can do...stay tuned...

[Tommy Goudge]

Thanks very much to Norris for helping to get the word out.

[Brianna Hill]

It’s really sad to hear this again and again. This is really bad. It’s really important for teens to learn driving first. It helps them to improve there driving skills or habits and also some rules and regulations bout traffic which help them to be safe from accidents. The elders or parents should take care of the young ones or teens and make them to learn driving form driving school.