Fan hit by debris in 2006 race sues Lowe’s Motor Speedway
A spectator in the stands hit by a flying car shock absorber during a race in May 2006 in what is now the Nationwide Series has filed suit against Lowe’s Motor Speedway.
Robert James Kaine claims a piece of metallic debris “sliced open [his] right thigh area just above the knee” late in the event, according to the complaint filed in North Carolina Superior Court in Concord, N.C.
Kaine, who resides in Canada, claims his injuries are permanent. There were no further details of the injuries suffered by what Kaine identifies as a part of a shock.
Kaine claims that the injuries were caused by the negligence of LMS because of inadequate fencing.
The complaint doesn’t specify the car, but it was during that race where Jay Robinson Racing’s Randy LaJoie had a single-car accident on lap 178 and a shock flew into the stands. There was a dent in the bleacher on Row 15 where the piece struck, according to a SceneDaily.com story from that event.
Two spectators were taken to the hospital that day for injuries from the flying piece of debris, according to track officials at the time.
The lawsuit was filed May 20, a week before the three-year statute of limitations would run out for such a claim.
The injuries from that incident are believed to be the only fan injuries from debris at the track in the last nine years.
Lowe’s Motor Speedway spokesman Scott Cooper said he could not comment on pending litigation.
