Tragic night at LPIR!!!

During the women's race (last one of the night) at Lonesome Pine tonight Wanda Philips was atempting a pass on the outside of turn 4 and lost control of her car deflected off the outside wall and hit the inside wall head on. She was air-lifted out of the track and pronounced at the hospital. Track personel and friends that were still at the track including myself found out at around 12:40.

Thoughts and prayers go out to her family and frieds. The racing world has lost a true and devoted fan and racer.

I am truely sorry to hear of the loss of this woman. It is always a sad time when anything tragic like this happens, just shows all of us that we never know when it could happen to any of us. My thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of the driver. May she rest in peace.

WOW!! Is that the first death at LPIR? That is horrible news.

forgot which station I saw it on, but 1 of'em said she had a heart attack DURING the race, which caused her to wreck.

it was wcyb channel 5 i saw that as well.

At the funeral today her son said that the accident didn't cause her death that it was most likely a heart attack that caused the crash.

It was a very nice service celebrating her life.

I was talking to our race director and he mentioned and I agree that victory lane at the track should be named in her honor.

Dont they have to have a autopsy before they can decide if it was a heart attack? I may be way wrong or just watch to much tv. So if it was a heart attack LPIR has a clean slate?

AUTO RACING: Wanda Phillips was a true racer

Tuesday, Jul 03, 2007 - 01:50 AM

BY Allen Gregory
Sports Writer
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BY ALLEN GREGORY

BRISTOL HERALD COURIER

COEBURN "? Wanda Phillips was a true racer.

That point was driven home Monday evening at Sturgill Funeral Home.

A large crowd of family, friends and racers gathered to fellowship and share memories of the popular Coeburn native.

Phillips, 58, suffered a fatal heart attack Saturday night while competing in a 10-lap Ladies Pure 4 division race at Coeburn's Lonesome Pine Raceway .

Clynis Phillips said he and his mother forged a "great bond'' while pursuing their hobby.

"Mom was my favorite race car driver,'' Phillips said. "She supported me on the track and I supported her.''

Clynis Phillips made his motorsports debut in 1985 at Kingsport Speedway. It was a sequence to remember.

"Mom and dad had to sign a paper allowing me to race because I was just 16,'' Phillips said. "We found a 1963 Fairlane that had been driven at Lonesome Pine in the 1970s. We put that car back together and went racing.

"Mom was there every step of the way. She helped us put the car on the trailer, loaded the tools and cheered me on.''

Wanda soon followed her son on the track. Her first event came when LPR reopened in 1990.

"Mom took my Street Stock car and finished second in her first race,'' Phillips said. "At that point, we realized that she was a natural talent.''

Clynis said his mother won a total of eight races, including a track championship at Lonesome Pine in the Ladies division.

As guests moved past the casket Monday, a stirring video montage offered insight into the racing career and life of Wanda Phillips. There were many images of a smiling Phillips at various race tracks, including one sunny scene from Bristol Motor Speedway where Wanda awaited her turn at the famed Buck Baker driving school.

Wanda's son, Freddie, had another vantage point for racing. He served as track announcer at Kingsport Speedway in 1990, then continued for nine years at both Kingsport and LPR.

"My parents loved racing,'' Phillips said. "In fact, they would take us to the NASCAR-sanctioned track at Kingsport on Friday night, the NASCAR-sanctioned track at Lonesome Pine on Saturday night, and then to drag strip in Cedar Bluff on Sunday.''

Freddie now works in the country music industry in Nashville, but he had returned to LPR to help announce the past four races. Freddie had left the track before his mother's heart attack and subsequent on-track wreck Saturday. The Phillips car caromed off the wall and then hit head-on into the inside guardrail.

"The racing community is close, especially at a track like Lonesome Pine,'' Freddie Phillips said. "Fans, tracks and racing organizations from five states have been in contact with our family the past two days. We don't know those people, but they feel like they know our mother.''

From LPR track general manager Harold Crook was among the friends to send large floral displays.

Clinton Vance made the bold decision to reopen LPR this season after the scenic track had been dormant for nearly two years. It wasn't long before he encountered a woman many regard as the most loyal and intense racer in the coalfield region.

"Almost from the day the track reopened, Wanda was on me about to start a women's Pure 4 division,'' Vance said. "About three weeks ago, Wanda came to me again. She had not only rounded gathered female drivers, but she had rounded up the cars as well.

"Wanda won the first (ladies) race we had, and was on way to winning again Saturday night.''

Wanda was buried in her driver's suit, which featured a patch bearing the number of NASCAR star Tony Stewart. The casket, which included the checkered flag from Lonesome Pine Raceway, was surrounded by racing-related photos and trophies.

Wanda's female competitors showed up at the funeral home Monday evening in their driving suits.

"I knew Wanda for 13 years, and she ran the car owned by my father-in-law (Linton Peery),'' Shawnda Peery. "Wanda was a great competitor, and she was just the nicest woman you would ever want to meet.''

Funeral services will be conducted this morning in Victory Lane at Lonesome Pine Raceway.

Plans call for Clynis Phillips to complete a lap around the track in a hearse, then present the checkered flag back to LPR officials. Racers and friends of LPR will serve as pallbearers. In lieu of flowers, the Phillips family has asked that contributions be made to the Randleman, N.C. based Victory Junction Gang, a camp for terminally ill children founded by NASCAR racer Kyle Petty.

Meanwhile, Peery and the other competitors in the Ladies Pure 4 division plan to honor their friend and driver of the No. 1 Honda Civic in their own way.

"We will be in Victory Lane (Tuesday) with our racing suits on,'' Peery said. "Wanda was the one who got our division together and supported us, and I know that she would want us to keep on racing.''

Tribute stickers, which will adorn the cars at LPR, have already been designed.

Track officials will also pay tribute to Phillips in Saturday night's racing program. Preliminary plans call for members of the Phillips family to wave the starter's flag, and for Clynis to possibly compete.

"Mom always said she could race...we encouraged her and she proved to everybody that she could do it,'' Clynis Phillips said.

Ironically, Wanda Phillips was attempting to make a pass for the lead in her final race Saturday night when she suffered her heart attack