NASCAR Mexico Series Driver Killed

On Sunday June 14, 2009, NASCAR Mexico series driver Carlos Pardo was killed in a horrific on track accident. Mr. Pardo was 33 years old at the time of his death. The racing accident occurred at Autodromo Miguel E. Abed in Pueblo, Mexico.

Carlos Pardo had 74 starts in the NASCAR Mexico series and won 10 of those races. He was the series Champion in 2004. He was one of the stars of the Mexico series and was a fan favorite. His brother Ruben Pardo also races in the same series and was in the race that killed his brother. Ruben Pardo finished in 6^th place. His brother Carlos was post humously declared the race winner because he was leading the race at the time of the accident.

Carlos Pardo had the lead as the race was nearing its end. A fellow driver, Jorge Goeters, was attempting to make a pass on Mr. Pardo and just barely clipped the rear left quarter panel of Mr. Pardo's #21 Ford. The contact sent Carlos Pardo's race car into a sideways slide, directly towards a wall at the front end of pit road. This wall did not appear to have any of the standard safety features that NASCARS American series uses. Generally there would be big barrels of water, sand or tires or a safer barrier wall to cushion the impact of any on track wrecks. Those are fairly standard in NASCAR's top 3 divisions, Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Camping World Truck series. Unfortunately for Carlos Pardo, there was nothing to soften the impact of his hit against the wall which occurred at about 120 miles per hour. His race car hit the passenger side full on, and essentially disintegrated. Judging by what was left of his race car, it appears the standard safety measures are not in place for the design and structure of the Mexico series race cars.

Right after the accident, safety crews arrived on scene to assist Mr. Pardo who appeared lifeless in his vehicle. They held up tarps so that the full effect of the carnage would not be seen by the audience or Carlos' wife and brother. They extracted him from his vehicle and rushed him on board an awaiting helicopter for hospital transport. At the end of this article I will post the video of this accident, it also shows Pardo's wife trying to get to him and in obvious distress. This is one of the most horrific NASCAR related accident's I have ever seen, and I warn you now, the video is not for the faint of heart.

I write this story so that people will remember a fine young race car driver who died too soon. I also write this to call out NASCAR for the obviously low standards of safety they employ in their Mexico race series. If NASCAR is going to put their name on a series, and their support, they ought to make sure the drivers in that series are just as safe as the ones who race in America. An almost identical accident occurred last year on a road course race in NASCAR's Sprint Cup series. Sam Hornish Jr. hit the pit road wall, which was luckily protected by huge barrels of sand. Hornish and others involved in the accident were hurting afterward and received medical attention, but they were racing again the following week. Carlos Pardo should be racing next week as well. Unfortunately for him, his family, friends, teammates and fans, he will never race again.

Sources: You Tube video of the accident and aftermath: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t46o2CtwyaY

http://www.nascar.com/2009/news/headlines/bg/06/15/cpardo.dies.crash.mexico.ap/index.html