In Memory of Jim Pagel
I would like to take this
time in memory of Jim Pagel. Jim was a fan favorite who was
known for his clean racing. It was the season opener for
the Thursday Thunder at Wisconsin International Raceway.
Jim had just gone out for his qualifying effort. His first
lap wasn't quite fast enough to make the feature. As he was
running his second lap he had a very fast time going. As
Jim came to the finish line his car slid violently and hit the
wall drivers side first. That was the worse way a car can
hit the wall. After the safety crew spent 45 minutes
getting Jim out of the car he was flown to Theda Clark Hospital
where he was pronounced dead after hours of emergency
surgery. Jim's team had just planned on going bigtime in
racing. They thought this would be the year that they would
have a great finish in the final points. Jim died doing
something that he loved to do. He will be forever
remembered by friends, fans, drivers, and tracks that he
raced. His number 6 was retired meaning no one can use his
number during Thursday night racing.