Russell Phillips

Phillips graduated from Independence High School in Charlotte in 1987 before working for his father's truck equipment company. After competing in short tracks across the Carolinas, he moved to NASCAR's Sportsman Division. He also worked as a fabricator, volunteer firefighter, and preacher. He also volunteered at a local racing school occasionally and was a devout Baptist, serving as the youth minister at his local church, serving as a mentor for many of the children there. He was nicknamed “Bubby” due to his large, intimidating stature. By all reports, he was an extremely kind man, sometimes referred to as a gentle giant.{{cite news|author=Knight Ridder|author-link=Knight Ridder|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/25280022/crash_claims_young_race_driver/|title=Crash claims young race driver|newspaper=Edmonton Journal|date=October 7, 1995|accessdate=November 10, 2018}} {{free access}}

He was married to Jennifer, a young woman he met on pit road in 1990 before one of his races while she was looking for autographs. They lived together in Mint Hill, North Carolina, and had no children.{{cite news|agency=Associated Press|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/25279966/driver_dies_in_multicar_crash/|title=Driver dies in multi-car crash|newspaper=Star-Gazette|date=October 7, 1995|accessdate=November 10, 2018}} {{free access}}

While little is known about his career, it is known that Phillips independently owned and drove the No. 57 car. Most of his career, he was a middle of the pack driver and hardly got attention from the media, but he started making a name for himself in 1995 with strong runs. His best finish was an 8th place finish in 1993. He received sponsorship from local companies such as Mullis Well Drilling, Quesco, and later in his career, Hendrix Business Systems .

The 1995 Winston 100 at Charlotte was the 15th series start for Phillips, who entered the race having just won his first pole position after setting a lap speed of {{convert|157.444|mph|km/h}}. Phillips led the first two laps of the race before falling back through the field.

The crash occurred on lap 17 of the 67-lap event. Phillips was in tenth place when his Oldsmobile was hit by the car of Steven Howard, who steered high to avoid a two-car spinout on the apron in turn 4. Howard's car forced Phillips' car onto its right side, then smashed it roof-first into the retaining wall, killing him instantly. Until 1996, NASCAR cars were not yet required to be equipped with the "Earnhardt bar", a roof-support bar running down the middle of the windshield, designed to prevent fatal roof collapse in roof-first accidents. His roll bars failed to protect the roof and, as Phillips’ car was dragged along the catch fence, both the roll bars and the roof itself were sheared completely off the car, exposing the interior of the driver compartment and grinding Phillips and the compartment against the wall and fence. The two cars slid along the fence for about {{convert|100|ft}} before Phillips’ car flipped back onto its wheels and the two cars slid into the grass. There was a massive "gaping hole" where the roof had been.

Phillips, whose body was mutilated by the track's steel catch fence and a caution light fixture at high speed, was both dismembered and decapitated, in what a photographer on-scene described, "as gruesome a wreck as I can ever recall".{{cite news |url=http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/VA-news/VA-Pilot/issues/1995/vp951007/10070379.htm |title=Sportsman Driver Killed At Charlotte}} In video footage taken at the scene of the accident, the first rescuer is initially shown running to the car, then immediately turning away after seeing Phillips' body and realizing the hopelessness of any attempt at resuscitation. The track was littered with debris, blood, and several body parts, necessitating a lengthy red flag period while track officials cleared the track.{{cite news |first=Doug |last=Roberson |newspaper=Newport News Daily Press |url=http://archive.apsportseditors.org/dec2001/14roberson.html |title=Racing-Safety Package Hits Home |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927142622/http://archive.apsportseditors.org/dec2001/14roberson.html |archive-date=September 27, 2013 |year=2009}}{{cite news |agency=Associated Press |newspaper=The Item |location=Sumter, South Carolina |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1980&dat=19951007&id=-aUoAAAAIBAJ&sjid=VAYGAAAAIBAJ&pg=6013,1820219 |title=Sportsman Driver Dies in Fiery Crash in Winston 100 |date=October 7, 1995 |via=Google News}}{{cite news |newspaper=Charlotte Observer |url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=CO&s_site=charlotte&p_multi=CO&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0F2448315BD04BF8&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM |title=NASCAR Vows to Study Wreck, Sportsman Series |date=October 8, 1995}}{{cite news |newspaper=Atlanta Journal-Constitution |url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=AT&p_theme=at&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=10BCC96337601238&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM |title=Auto Racing: The Modern Maverick Independent Team Owner Finch Also Notorious as an Independent Thinker |date=August 5, 2005}}

The race resumed after a 40-minute red flag. Track president Humpy Wheeler elected not to cancel the event, citing Phillips' wreck as a "freak deal."

Phillips' death resulted in a serious debate about roll cage design practices, construction methods and inspection techniques applied to NASCAR Limited Sportsman Division cars.[http://www.motorsportmemorial.org/focus.php?db=ct&n=29 Motorsport Memorial] In 1996, a roof reinforcement that had a bar running down the windshield from the roof to the hood of the car was made mandatory on all NASCAR vehicles. It was called the Earnhardt bar after Dale Earnhardt was seriously injured in a crash at Talladega in the DieHard 500. Charlotte Motor Speedway also withdrew from the Sportsman Division in 1996, following 3 deaths in 6 years, citing Phillips' death as "the last straw".{{cite news |year=1995 |url=http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/VA-news/VA-Pilot/issues/1995/vp951129/11290552.htm |title=CHARLOTTE TRACK RED-FLAGS A CRASH-AND-BURN SERIES MARRED BY TRAGEDY FOR YEARS, SPORTSMAN RACES WILL GIVE WAY TO ARCA EVENTS IN '96}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{YouTube|qdG4gppai9M|Local News Report}}
• {{YouTube|ExPOQNT5UUo|Video of the crash}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, Russell}}

Category:1969 births

Category:1995 deaths

Category:Racing drivers who died while racing

Category:Deaths by decapitation

Category:Filmed deaths in motorsport

Category:Sports deaths in North Carolina

Category:NASCAR drivers

Category:Sportspeople from Mecklenburg County, North Carolina