Accident kills 6 in charity car show         

[June 18, 2007]  SELMER, Tenn. (AP) -- Cars for Kids has staged a charity car show for 18 years in this small town, and the drivers always do crowd-pleasing burnouts -- spinning the tires to make them heat up and smoke -- at the end of the parade.

There had never been an accident until this past weekend, when pro drag racer Troy Warren Critchley lost control of his car and six people lost their lives.

The six people killed were all in their teens and early 20s, Tennessee Highway Patrol spokesman Mike Browning said. Saturday's wreck injured at least 20 others, including a 5-year-old boy, who were taken to hospitals in Tennessee and Mississippi.

The Highway Patrol scheduled a news conference for Monday to talk about the accident investigation.

Witnesses questioned the decision Sunday to let the driver speed down a highway with no guardrails, lined on both sides by hundreds of spectators.

"It ain't really safe to do anything with drag cars on a city street," said 19-year-old Garett Moore, who said he was about 15 feet away from the wreck, but was uninjured. "They shouldn't have done it."

Amateur video of the crash, broadcast on WMC-TV in Memphis, showed the car's engine revving loudly before the vehicle sped down a highway. After a few hundred feet, the smoking car skidded off the road and into the crowd.

Critchley, an Australian drag racer who is now based in Wylie, Texas, suffered minor injuries and was taken by car to a nearby hospital for treatment, authorities said. No criminal charges have been filed against Critchley, Browning said.

There was a short guardrail along part of the highway, but not along the stretch where the crash occurred.

Nick Staples, who was at the car show and charity event with his wife and three children, said he was standing 20 feet from where the car plowed into the audience.

"There should have been guardrails," Staples said. "But even if there had been, it wouldn't have mattered."

Mourners placed small votive candles, flowers, teddy bears and a ceramic angel at the crash site, which is located along state Highway 64 near the intersection with state Highway 45.

The Tennessee Highway Patrol said Raven Griswell, 15, of Finger and Sean Michael Driskill, 22, of Adamsville, died at the scene. Four others
-- Brook L. Pope, 20, of Selmer; Scarlett Replogle, 15, of Selmer; Kimberly A. Barfield, 17, of Adamsville; and Nicole Griswell, 19, of Selmer -- all died later in area hospitals.

Authorities closed the festival after the crash.

Cars for Kids holds several events throughout the nation and raises close to $200,000 annually for charities that help children in need, according to its online site.

The charity was formed in 1990, two years after founder Larry Price's son, Chad, suffered a severe head injury in a bicycle accident. Price promised that if his son was saved from lifelong injuries, he would spend the rest of his life raising funds for disabled children, according to the online site.

Price said he hoped to keep the charity going, but he wouldn't do any more burnouts on public streets.

On the Net:

• Cars for Kids:
  http://www.carsforkidsusa.org/

[Associated Press]

Associated Press writer Woody Baird contributed to this report.