by Richard Manfredi

Tyson Perez, a crew member for former ASCS National Champion Travis Rilat, died today at the University of Washington’s Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, three days after being admitted with severe burns following an apparent methanol explosion at a Washington shop. Susan Gregg-Hanson, director of media and public relations for UW Medical, said that Perez died in the morning as a result of burns suffered in the explosion.

Rilat had competed in the Fred Brownfield Memorial on Friday and Saturday nights at Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, Washington. Rilat was 21st in the preliminary feature on Friday night and failed to qualify out of the B-main on Saturday night.

Rilat and Perez were injured during an explosion at the Funk Racing shop in Sedro-Woolley. A report in the Skagit Valley Herald suggested that the two were injured when they poured methanol fuel into a 55-gallon drum and set it on fire. The attempt at horseplay backfired when the barrel exploded, seriously injuring both men.

Perez, 30, was an Australian native who had worked with Rilat, 33, for several years. He and Rilat were transported to Harborview Medical Center, roughly 60 miles away from the scene of the accident, for treatment of severe burns. Gregg-Hanson said that Rilat remains in the hospital’s intensive care unit in critical condition.

Addendum

by John Berti

Florida sprint car racing fans should be familiar with Travis Rilat as many a February he made the trek from the Lone Star State to the Sunshine State to compete in Speedweek racing at such dirt venues as East Bay Raceway Park and Volusia County Speedway.

Just this past February, the 27th to be precise, “The Texas Tornado” recorded a fourth place finish in the Ronald Laney Memorial race as part of the Winternationals at East Bay.

Special bank accounts are now in place at First State Bank in Mesquite, Texas to make contributions to help Travis Rilat and family and the Tyson Perez family with medical bills. To help in this time of need you can call the bank at 972-285-6311 and say you’d like to make a donation to the Travis Rilat and Tyson Perez accounts.

My fervent prayers go out to the family of Tyson Perez in their time of grief and to Travis Rilat and his family that he is able to recover from his injuries.