Stan Fox, retired racer
Newton
at the Indianapolis 500, has been killed in an auto accident in New
Zealand. The death Monday night of the 48-year-old driver from
Janesville, Wis., was confirmed Tuesday by the U.S. Auto Club and a
spokeswoman for Fox's brother. Fox was killed in a head-on collision on
a stretch of highway about 200 miles south of Auckland known as ''The
Desert Road,'' said USAC spokesman Dick Jordan.
Fox was in New Zealand working for head-injury support units. Last New
Year's Day, he turned a ceremonial first lap at an event billed as ''The
First Race of the Millennium.''
His racing career ended May 28, 1995, with a six-car crash on the first
lap of the Indy 500. His car was sheared virtually in half, and he was
sent hurtling into the Turn 1 wall with his legs unprotected in front of
him. Horrific photos showed the remains of Fox's car flying through the
air with the driver's legs dangling near the wall.
Fox suffered a severe head injury and was in a coma for five days,
finally regaining consciousness June 2. By July, he was out of the
hospital and at an Indianapolis rehab center.
Ten weeks after the crash, he walked out of the center and went home
for outpatient therapy. But his career was over and he had to make
adjustments as he slowly began to heal.
"I started from scratch," he told The Associated Press last year. "I
started like a 4-year-old. I had to learn everything."
Fox started racing in 1972 and made eight starts in nine years at the
Indy 500.
He became a star driving the lighter open-wheel midget cars on USAC's
Midwest circuit. Fox won 19 times in 184 starts in a 23-year career. He
also took prestigious Copper World Midget division races in 1980, 1990
and 1993.
Fox finished a career-best seventh as a rookie in the Indy 500 in 1987.
"His recovery from critical injuries at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway
was an inspiration to us all," Jordan said. "A great representative of
our sport, he will be deeply missed. We remember his many significant
triumphs but will most of all remember Stan the Man, whose presence was
always joyous."
Survivors include his ex-wife, Jean; a daughter and a son; and a
brother, Fred. Funeral arrangements were not announced.
Robert R. Feigel
>
> Stan Fox, whose racing career ended five years ago in a gruesome crash
> at the Indianapolis 500, has been killed in an auto accident in New
> Zealand. The death Monday night of the 48-year-old driver from
> Janesville, Wis., was confirmed Tuesday by the U.S. Auto Club and a
> spokeswoman for Fox's brother. Fox was killed in a head-on collision on
> a stretch of highway about 200 miles south of Auckland known as ''The
> Desert Road,'' said USAC spokesman Dick Jordan.
<snipped>
I'd heard the news flash about the Desert Road being closed overnight
after a fatal vehicle accident, but, sadly, vehicle accidents are such a
frequent event in New Zealand that I took no further notice. After
living here for almost 27 years I've come to learn that Kiwi's are good
at a lot of things, but driving is not one of them.
So ... a warning to anyone who is planning to visit this deceptively
beautiful country. New Zealanders are the most discourteous, unskilled,
aggressive, and totally inept drivers in the English speaking world.
Defensive driving isn't just a suggestion, it is the only way a foreign
driver can hope to survive on New Zealand road.
Keep in mind that outside NZ's major cities (Auckland, Wellington,
Christchurch) most of the "highways" in the rest of NZ are really just
two lane roads - many of which are old, have been badly designed and are
poorly maintained. So the majority of major accidents take place on
these stretches of highway.
Just one example of what to expect: If you're on your side of a two lane
road with double yellow 'no-passing' lines, and there's a line of cars
approaching you from the other direction, don't expect a Kiwi driver to
not pass into your lane. And just because you're on your side of the
road, don't expect a Kiwi driver not to force you off the road in the
process. A few weeks ago, on a drive up "Highway 1" - the main road from
Auckland up north, I had to take evasive action when a driver of one car
passed another car passing a truck. And don't expect the so-called
'professional' drivers over here to be any better. The police, truck
drivers and taxi drivers are all just as bad as the rest. In fact, truck
drivers are the worst of the lot, followed closely by taxi drivers.
Don't expect drivers to use turn signals. Forget the speed limits. And
most of all, don't expect Kiwi driver's to display even the most basic
courtesy. They are like guided missiles and will stop for virtually
nothing or nobody until they reach their target.
Enough said. My condolences to Mr Fox's family and friends. Even an
ex-race driver isn't safe in NZ.
Dave/Kristin Hall
: I'd heard the news flash about the Desert Road being closed overnight
: after a fatal vehicle accident, but, sadly, vehicle accidents are such a
: frequent event in New Zealand that I took no further notice. After
: living here for almost 27 years I've come to learn that Kiwi's are good
: at a lot of things, but driving is not one of them.
See, that's where gun control will get ya! Give everybody a six-shooter,
let a few road rage incidents occur, I and guarentee that they'll learn
to be better drivers....
--
David Hall
Ridgecrest Paintball? - http://www.ridgenet.net/~thehalls/Paintball
aussie...@my-deja.com
theh...@ridgecrest.ca.us (Dave/Kristin Hall) wrote:
> Robert R. Feigel (rrfe...@hotmail.combat) wrote:
>
with driving on the "other side" and you are prone to get very tired
from the head injuries you sustained in a racing accident.In hindsight
it would have been better if he had driven in the daylight.
Sent via Deja.com
http://www.deja.com/
Robert R. Feigel
>
> Driving on the "Desert Road" at night and you are not that familiar
> with driving on the "other side" and you are prone to get very tired
> from the head injuries you sustained in a racing accident.In hindsight
> it would have been better if he had driven in the daylight.
>
Perhaps you know something the rest of us don't - and I would never
suggest that Aussie drivers are anywhere close to being as sloppy, inept
and dangerous as Kiwi drivers (except, perhaps, for your long haul truck
drivers). Here's what appeared in the New Zealand Herald:
Indy 500 driver killed on Desert Road
21.12.2000 A veteran US racer meets a tragic end in a
country he loved, reports ELEANOR BLACK.
An American who made a career of driving some of the
world's fastest cars was killed while driving a borrowed
van on the Desert Road.
Retired race driver Stanley Cole Fox, aged 48, died when
his vehicle and a campervan collided on State Highway 1
near Waiouru on Monday night.
The name of the veteran Indianapolis 500 driver was
made public yesterday, but police refused to discuss the
accident, which left the 53-year-old campervan driver,
of
Christchurch, in hospital with a broken collarbone.
Mr Fox had been in New Zealand visiting friends Warwick
and Barbara McKenzie and had planned to watch
international speedway racing at Western Springs on
Boxing Day.
He had visited New Zealand annually for the past 12
years and spent last New Year's Eve at Pukekohe
raceway, making one circuit of the track in a red midget
racecar for the first lap of the new millennium.
"He just loved New Zealand. It was like a second home,"
said lifelong friend Stan Milam, an American journalist
who followed Mr Fox's career.
An Indianapolis 500 veteran who qualified eight times
and
finished in the top 10 twice, Mr Fox also worked in the
family motorcycle parts business.
His racing career was cut short on May 28, 1995, when
his car slammed into the wall in a crash involving six
cars on the first lap of the Indy 500.
He suffered a bad head injury as his car was virtually
sheared in half.
Photos from the race show the remains of Mr Fox's car
flying through the air, his legs dangling from the
wreckage.
He was in a coma for five days before finally regaining
consciousness.
By July, he was out of hospital and at an Indianapolis
rehab centre. Ten weeks after the crash, he walked out
of the centre and went home for outpatient therapy.
But his racing career was over.
Mr Fox started racing in 1972 and made eight starts in
nine years at the Indy 500.
He became a star driving the lighter open-wheel midget
cars on the Midwest circuit. He won 19 times in 184
starts in a 23-year career.
Mr Fox also won Copper World Midget division races in
1980, 1990 and 1993.
He finished a career-best seventh as a rookie in the
1987
Indy 500.
Mr Fox founded a support group called Friends of the
Fox and each May would take groups of head-injury
survivors to the Indy 500, leading them on a tour of the
pits and introducing them to celebrity drivers.
"The thing about Stanley is that he had an infectious
enthusiasm about everything," said Mr Milam.
"It was absolutely impossible to be down in the dumps
when he was around."
Mr Milam said the tragedy was a loss to his hometown of
Janesville, Wisconsin, where Mr Fox had been involved in
a lot of voluntary work.
Mr McKenzie, a former racecar driver, said: "If people
were unkind to him in any way, Stanley's reaction was to
buy them a cup of coffee or beer.
"He won people over."
Mr Fox is survived by his daughter, Marie, 16, son Alex,
10, and his former wife, Jean.