Head injury was cause of death for drag racer

ST. LOUIS -- Drag racer Darrell Russell died of a head injury in a weekend raceway crash, St. Louis medical examiner Dr. Michael Graham said.

"How he got the injury, we're working on that," Graham told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Monday. "We have to look at all the debris to see what caused the injury. Either something struck him or he struck something. It's not just from jostling his head around."

Russell, 35, of Hockley, Texas, was racing in the National Hot Rod Association's Sears Craftsman Nationals Sunday at Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Ill., near St. Louis. His Top Fuel dragster, after reaching a speed of about 300 mph, blew a tire just past the finish line, spun out of control and burst into flames before coming to a stop against a wall.

He was airlifted to St. Louis University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead about two hours later.

The NHRA will conduct its own investigation after securing the car.

Russell was the first participant to be killed in competition at an NHRA national event since Blaine Johnson died during a qualifying run in the 1996 U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis. Still, some dragsters told the Post-Dispatch changes need to be instituted to ensure their safety.

"Something will definitely be changed because of this," Funny Car driver Tommy Johnson, who has driven a dragster in the past, said. "You can't let it happen again. They are going to have to maybe enclose the roll cages."

Top Fuel driver Tony Schumacher said the NHRA needs to take immediate steps to decrease down force on the back of cars. The extreme force can cause tires to blow. Schumacher said adjustments are needed regardless of the cause.

Russell was wearing a head and neck support, which is not required by the NHRA.

Johnson estimated that slightly more than half of drivers wear such protection.

Greg Anderson, who won the Pro Stock division at Gateway, has not worn the device. Although Russell was wearing one when he suffered his fatal injuries, Anderson was among the drivers who said the accident was a wake-up call.

"I'm going to Denver to test and I absolutely, positively will have something like that on," Anderson said. "I've got it in the trailer. I never wear it. It's absolutely ridiculous -- stupidity on my part not to wear it. And it will start from this day."