Matt Tifft, the owner of Mansfield Speedway, defended his temporary decision to ban third party photographers from the infield.

Tifft explained his decision in a video upload to Facebook, “We have a little bit of heat coming our way from our third party photographers. They do not like the fact that we are not allowing them in the infield right now. And this is a hot button topic right now that has come from recent events in the dirt racing industry.”

“So, let me explain to you guys directly, and probably speaking to all the photographers, right now, but also the fan side of why we changed this ruling to temporarily  — and this truly is temporarily — not allow photographers in the infield. That does not include our staff photographers or the series photographers and videographers. Of course the teams, they have support vehicles down there, but when the events of this year happened between the World of Outlaws folks unfortunately lost their lives and then the events that happened at Wayne County the first time after a Sprint Car got spun and a bunch of people got injured, it really opened our eyes to say, ‘Are we actually safe in our infield? And can we confidently say that the photographers are in safe locations to where we feel good about extra bodies in the infield?’ I did not feel that that was the case after really opening my eyes to what was going on.”

“So we made that ruling,” he continued. “Lots of photographers were very upset with us. Well, the next week we go on for a race and it happened again, unfortunately. So with that being said, I did not get into this business to go get anybody hurt. I do not feel comfortable with extra bodies down there. Yes, there is space, there’s Jersey barriers, there’s barricades, there’s dirt hills, and things like that, but the more people that go down there, the more people that are at risk. So with that being said, my thought is, ‘Look, if you’re an experienced photographer or videographer, you should be able to get some incredible shots in all the access areas that you are allowed to go, which is pretty much limitless around our facility.”

“I did not go into this business to go have you get hurt. So I’d rather you go be pissed or be upset with me on the fact that you are not getting into the infield right now than your family be pissed or upset with me because I allowed you into an area that didn’t need extra bodies in there and ended up into somebody getting hurt,” he concluded. “With that being said, I’m standing by my decision until we come up with a better solution for down there. We can definitely accompany people down there. There’s no doubt about that, but more people, more risk, and I’m standing by that and I’m not backing away from that.”

The first of the two incidents that Tifft references occurred at Kennedale Speedway Park back in March when World of Outlaws Sprint Car official Billy Hurt lost his life while responding to an on-track incident after two safety vehicles collided and he was ejected from one. The incident also involved Safety Official Jerry Myers who was injured.

The second incident occurred at Wayne County Speedway during the All Star Circuit of Champions’ Ohio Sprint Speedweek. Three photographers were struck in the infield by a Sprint Car. The Apple Creek East Union Township Fire Department shared in a press release that it “responded to an incident … during Ohio Sprint Speed Week at Wayne County Speedway involving a sprint car that left the racing surface and struck spectators located within the infield area of the track.”

“Three spectators sustained injuries as a result of the incident,” the Fire Department continued. “Two patients suffered critical injuries and required advanced medical care. One critically injured patient was transported by Apple Creek Fire Department, while a second critically injured patient was airlifted from the scene by MedFlight. A third patient sustained non-life threatening injuries and was transported by Orrville Fire Department, who responded to provide mutual aid assistance.”

One of the photographers injured was Rick Rarer of SprintCarNews.com. He shared in a post to Facebook that he underwent surgery on his leg and suffered “some concussions, brain bleeds and a bunch of broken ribs” but was “doing ok.”

After undergoing a second surgery, he shared at the end of June, “I am FINALLY home! Happy to be home But using a walker with half your ribs broken may be the most painful thing I’ve ever experienced!”

“I do want to take time to thank everyone that prayed, donated, reached out, etc! I have a long way to go so please keep praying,” he concluded. “Special thanks to Paul Arch for all his help!”

One of the other photographers was Kyle Henline of Ohio Motorsport Photography. His business shared in an update following the incident that he “was taken back to surgery to have a metal rod implanted as well as plates and screws to fix the break. Kyle is currently in recovery at an undisclosed hospital surrounded by family.”

Towards the end of June, Henline shared an update, “They took new X-rays and finally unwrapped my leg. The surgeon said the incision sites are healing well, and both the X-rays and alignment of my tibia look great. The next milestone will be the Monday after the Fourth of July weekend when I return to have the staples removed. For now, I only have island dressings covering the four incision sites.”

“While there’s still a long road ahead, it’s encouraging to hear that everything is healing and progressing as expected. Thank you all again for the continued support, prayers, messages, and encouragement,” he concluded.

The third photographer Chase Grimm shared following the incident, “Thank you to everyone for their thoughts and prayers. I am home and getting into bed now for a long nights sleep. Fortunately I only sustained some bruised ribs, lots of cuts and scrapes, and a concussion.”

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