Richard Petty's brother-in-law Randy Owens is killed during the 1975 Winston 500 after a pressurized water tank exploded in the pits.
1975 Richard Petty Pit Tragedy @ Talladega
Richard Petty's brother-in-law Randy Owens is killed during the 1975 Winston 500 after a pressurized water tank exploded in the pits.
52 comments
That was Randy Owens, father of Trent Owens. Trent is currently Crew Chief of the 37 car of Ryan Preece. Randy was Lynda Petty’s little brother.
Yes I heard it was Richards brother in law who was killed.Very sad .
The country music singer????
@Me You No! Miss Lynda Petty’s little brother’s name was Randy Owens, Miss Lynda’s maiden name was Owens.
@Robert Sanders ok got it I typed in name and all I hit was the Alabama guy!! Thanks so much sorry for their loss heart breaking for anyone anytime !!!!!!!
RIP randy owens
at 0:09 you can actually see how high the tank went
Damn can barely see what happened
@William Mackay-murphy play it at 0.25 speed
@Baba Booey Thanks for the .25 speed tip. I almost gave the video a thumbs down for not being able to see anything!
Thank you so very much!!! I could not see anything but kept trying to see whatever again and again then your 0:09 comment helped me find it so thank you so much….
wow… yeah you can see that big tank coming down from out of the sky like a Chinese booster rocket dropping down from reentry (lined up almost with the 76 sign pole)… It looks like it didn’t actually hit anyone, hitting between the car and the wall. I’m gonna guess Owens was killed when the tank exploded. Pressurized anything is always a risk in the pits. Reminds me of the ADRL ProNitrous team owner that was killed in the pits about a decade ago… bottle valve failure sent it into orbit, with one piece hitting him in the chest. Compressed bottles of anything, is a bomb just wanting to get out.
thank you for telling me what happened cuz I never noticed it until you explained it, then I was able to actually see the bottle coming down…. Really a sad situation, going from living a dream to this is just sad.
Thank you
spacex also had a huge debris came back down
friend of a friend of mine lost a leg after using an empty fire extinguisher tank for his bicycle’s horn. he filled it with too much air and it exploded in the middle of his legs
yes the tank falling down is basically the aftermath. Owens tried to put out a fire/smoke at the wheel of the car, and as he attached a hose to the tank, and tried to open it, the tank blew the hell up. There is a picture of him in the air after it….if you google it.
OMG! How awful!
I’m 57 years old and I still get Chills seeing the number 43 iconic Richard Petty Blue and Orange cars from my Child hood no wonder we still call him The King ! He brought so much to the world of racing especially to young boys fascinated with Cars like I was
@I.maiden 4 life eddie Yep. Sounds about right
@Jerry Broxson no wonder he always looked happy. I’m not even a Stock Car fan but growing up, his image was everywhere. Even in California.
They had video in the 1970s? With the proliferation of dashcams and cellular intellectual property makes accessing celluloid of races rare indeed.
@The boys ArE TrYiNg the schedule got shortened from 48 races to 31 in 1972, and this is a clip from 1975.
I watched when Adam Petty’s crew chief Chris Bradley died. He was under the car when the jack dropped. They were at an ASA Memorial Day race at the MN State Fair. The Petty’s have seen too much tragedy. RIP Randy, Chris & Adam.
How many people has Richard Petty murdered?
@Andrew Maguire what purpose would murder benefit them?
@Terry mcvicker are you a tall man made out of whicker?
@Andrew Maguire that made no sense at all
@Terry mcvicker I’m a nonsensical nonce from prie de lonce.
Petty!!!
Old NASCAR and crew really set the standard!!!
I was there that day. My dad worked in the infield hospital where they brought the body. I remember seeing it, and they brought Richard Petty in soon after. I handed Richard Petty a can of Pepsi, when he finished it I grabbed the can and took it home. My dad told his business manager what a huge fan I was of king Richard, a few weeks later a cardboard tube came in the mail from Randleman North Carolina. Autographed pic of the king sitting 9n his car.
@Michael Cobaugh Thanks for the grammar lesson Francis.
Interesting.
@Trent how was his body?
@H RALF Why do you feel the need to insert your political beliefs here?!
@Mike Youngblood Don’t recall mentioning either political party in my comment, so you’re saying there is third party that begins with a W and ends with an E. I always suspected such a thing!
I loved every car he raced, ICONIC
As a boy, my fastest AFX car had Petty’s car body on it. He was my favorite and I loved that paint scheme.
This video showed so much detail…
RIP to that guy
You can see the blue tank at his rear bumper after it returns to earth
when i was a kid in 1975 or so, i had a toy 43 that you could take apart. was my favorite, i wish i still had it. looked exactly like this one
For those who can’t see an object pop up in the air, and come back down, they do make screens bigger than on a flip phone. Any regular smart phone will reveal the object.
Thank you soo soo much friend…
ya, at 9 – 10 seconds when the camera is zooming in there are a couple of frames that capture the tank falling back to earth.
Thanks
I was in Raleigh Durham Airport a several months ago pre pandemic… Mr. Petty was on the same flight as myself and sat next to me on my return trip home! Friendliest person I have had the privilege knowing. Great ambassador for the sport even this day and age…
Lucky
Randy Owens spent his childhood fantasizing about assisting his sister’s famous husband in winning races. Owens was 20 years old, married with two young sons, and Richard Petty’s brother-in-law. ‘It was a weird event, but most incidents are like that,’ Petty says. Owens was well-liked by the crew, with many of them enthralled by the prospect of working for the Pettys. They had misjudged how hazardous racing could be until the deadly accident.
No you liar he spent his childhood fantasising about his sister.
@Andrew Maguire and you fantasize about your mother you little weirdo
It’s hard to see what’s happening here. The blue barrel lands next to the car but everyone is pointing and running the other way. Can anyone explain the scenario??