MIS worker involved in bizarre Daytona 500 crash dies
Barnes, 55, of Addison passed away Tuesday at his home. He had worked at MIS for 27 years, where he was the chief jet dryer operator, fabricator and heavy equipment operator.
During a caution flag in Daytona, driver Juan Pablo Montoya, who now drives in the Verizon IndyCar Series for Team Penske, spun into a pickup truck/jet dryer rig being operated by Barnes, who was on loan to Daytona International Speedway from MIS.
The jet dryer, which held 200 gallons of jet fuel, was drying the track and blowing off debris during the caution.
The force of the collision caused it, Barnes' truck and Montoya's car to explode into a fireball, bringing out a red flag with 40 laps remaining in the NASCAR Sprint Cup season-opening race.
Both Montoya and Barnes managed to escape from their vehicles, and were taken to Daytona's infield medical center. Barnes later was transported to a nearby hospital.
Neither was seriously injured, although both were shaken by the wreck.
NASCAR stopped the race for two hours as track workers cleaned up the mess.
Barnes is survived by his wife, Barbara, two children and four stepchildren.
Funeral services for Barnes will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday at Brown-Van Hemert Funeral Home in Addison.
MIS president Roger Curtis today issued a statement on Barnes' passing: "Our condolences are with Duane's family and friends. Duane was a trusted, respected and most important part of our MIS family and the NASCAR community for almost 30 years, and we will miss him tremendously. We're a tight group, and I can only hope the wonderful memories of Duane will help comfort us and his family during this difficult time."