Local Hero Stops Out Of Control Dirt Track Kart With His Bare Hands
By Paulo Acoba
An out of control Beginners Box Stock Kart was stopped from careening into a pit full of people thanks to the quick-witted thinking and strength of one man.
Right around the same time folks around the nation were finishing up their Super Bowl plans and getting ready for the big game, Doug Lockwood was overseeing a weekend filled with dirt track racing over in Chowchilla, CA. According to Merced County News who first broke the full story earlier last week, Doug Lockwood stopped an out of control box kart from careening into a pit and crowd full of people with his own bare hands. Check out that awesome video below captured by Fast Four Media.
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The weekend of racing usually has many classes of outlaw dirt kart racing moving up skill levels from beginners all the way to 500cc outlaw karts. The beginner box kart races usually consist of box stock karts outfitted with smaller 6.5 HP engines. With just enough power to kick around some dirt and keep it competitive, they are the favorite choice for young kids starting out. You can see that particular race in the video below.
7-year-old Tyler Myers and her #1 kart was running in one of the beginner box stock heats and managed to grab herself a fourth place finish. Spectators knew something was sorely amiss when Tyler and kart went full speed into the pit area after doing a couple of donuts. From all accounts, Tyler was clearly fighting to keep her kart in control. Race Director Doug Lockwood, who happened to be in the pit area at the time, quickly diagnosed the situation as a stuck throttle and faulty brakes.
With Tyler re-entering the pits for the second time with people and spectators milling about, Doug knew he had to act quickly to prevent a possible disaster to Tyler and anyone who got in the way of her kart. Rushing towards the kart, Doug grabbed the speeding kart with his bare hands by the tops of the karts spoiler and switched off Tyler’s kart. Although Doug received the full brunt force a kart coming towards him, he only suffered minor scrapes and bruises.
You’ll be happy to know that Tyler was unharmed and Doug is doing well.
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Since this incident, all beginner box stock karts are to be outfitted with cut-off switches to prevent this sort of situation from happening again.
We at ArtOfGears recommend sending Doug Lockwood a tweet via his official twitter account thanking him for his bravery.