Local crew members mourn Kenny Irwin

BY MICHAEL KNOX
SALISBURY POST

“When we were around he was always a real nice guy, especially away from the track,”said Josh Yost, 22, of China Grove. “He took driving real serious, but away from the track he was real laid back.”

Yost worked with Irwin on the No. 42 BellSouth Busch car when Irwin ran his limited schedule in that series. He currently serves as a general mechanic and jackman for Glenn Allen’s No. 82 Channellock Busch car.

The Busch cars weren’t racing this weekend, which meant Yost wasn’t at the Louden New Hampshire Track. That meant he didn’t see Irwin’s car slam hard into the wall at the third turn. The 30-year-old driver died at the track.

“I actually heard it on the radio first, and when I called the shop they had sent everybody home,”Yost said. “I knew something was wrong when the receptionist didn’t answer the phone.”

Josh’s younger brother, Eric, 20, was working at the shop Friday and was among the first to find out about Irwin’s death.

Team owner Felix Sabates closed the shop for the rest of the day.

“Yesterday (Friday), after lunch, Felix called everybody to the prep area, up front and told us then,”said Eric, also of China Grove. “That’s before NASCAR announced it.”

Like Josh, Eric had gotten to know Irwin by working at the track. A fabricator in the shop, Eric is also a tire carrier during the races.

“I talked to him on the weekends in the hauler and he’d come by the shop pretty often,”Eric said.

Eric won’t be at the track this weekend. Sabates pulled the No. 42 BellSouth car from Sunday’s event. But before long, both cars will be back at the track, though it’s unclear who will drive the BellSouth car.

“They’re going to have to find another driver to carry the sponsorship, but Idon’t know who,”said Eric.

The team will be back in the shop Monday to work, but has already been given permission to leave for the funeral, which has not yet been set.

Until then the team has its work to keep it busy, and memories of Irwin, whose work as a team player won him the crew’s respect in a very short time.

“That was the thing with Kenny, if we did a good pit stop he’d be like ‘Good pit stop,’ ” Eric Yost said. “He’d push us on, and little things like that helped the pit crew out more than anything.”