Injured fan sues Daytona International Speedway over 2013 crash

Kyle Larson's car flies into Daytona fencing. Injured for life and never able to work again, the dumb fan is only suing for $75K

A pair of North Florida attorneys filed a federal lawsuit this week on behalf of a spectator critically injured when a race car flew through a safety fence at Daytona International Speedway during a February 2013 race, injuring more than 30 people in the grandstands.

Shrapnel from either the car or the fence struck Pennsylvania resident Allen Davis in the head, fracturing his skull, cutting the lining around his brain and denting his brain, leaving him with life-altering injuries, said his attorney, Daniel Iracki of Jacksonville.

Iracki and Patrick Douglas, a Lake City attorney, filed a 46-page complaint in U.S. District Court in Orlando. The suit alleges negligence by Daytona International Speedway, International Speedway Corp., which owns the Speedway and 11 other tracks, and the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, the sport's sanctioning body. It also alleges recklessness and intentional misconduct against the Speedway and NASCAR, and seeks a jury trial, as well as more than $75,000 in compensation for Davis.

Iracki said he wants the businesses to provide answers to all NASCAR fans about what they knew and when they knew it about the vulnerability of the Speedway's catch fences and the hazards of high-speed racing at Daytona and other racetracks.

Iracki said he plans to depose NASCAR drivers such as Jeff Gordon and Ryan Newman, who have been vocal with their concerns about the safety of restrictor plate racing at Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway. "I'm going to give them an opportunity to tell the world how they feel," he said.

Speedway and ISC officials declined comment Friday. Both Andrew Booth, a Speedway spokesman, and Gentry Baumline-Robinson, ISC spokeswoman, stated the businesses do not comment on litigation.

Iracki said the Speedway, NASCAR and ISC have "a responsibility to spectators who come to watch the race that when they leave they're not going to be on stretchers or life-flighted in helicopters."

Davis was 37 and a single father of two children, aged 5 and 7, when he left Daytona International Speedway on a stretcher, Iracki said. He was a commercial truck driver with full custody of his children when his older brother bought race tickets and convinced him to come to Daytona Beach for a "once in a lifetime, bucket-list" type trip. Davis was seated in an upper level of the grandstands — Section P, Row 27 — as the cars thundered to the finish line during the DRIVE4COPD 300, an Xfinity series race on the day before the Daytona 500. A crash sent Larson's car into the air and against the fence. It disintegrated, spraying the engine, a wheel and other debris into the stands at a crossover gate, injuring Davis and 31 others.

He had a seizure in the ambulance on the way to Halifax Health Medical Center and then had emergency surgery, Iracki said. Even after his release, Davis' health continued to deteriorate. Iracki said Davis was forced to turn custody of his children over to his ex-wife and eventually had to spend six to eight months in a residential treatment facility learning how to care for himself.

Doctors have said Davis' brain injury — which affects his short-term memory, personality and critical thinking — will continue to deteriorate, Iracki said. He'll never be able to drive again or hold a full-time job.

Iracki said he intends to show the Speedway, NASCAR and ISC knew about the risks and could have done more to prevent the crash and injuries to fans.

The root of the problem is that cars go airborne, Iracki said. "That isn't supposed to happen," he said. "This isn't like a foul ball or a rogue puck at a hockey game. This is a 3,000-pound race car going 200 mph coming through a catch fence."

The lawsuit alleges the Speedway knowingly weakened its safety fences by cutting the fences and adding gates that allowed fans access to the track and the infield before races. "This was done for financial reason, to sell more tickets, to have more events," Iracki said. Daytona Beach News Journal