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Blowout On Jet Car Revealed

LEWISVILLE, Texas - As officials of the Dallas International Motor Speedway announced Monday that a left tire blew out on a jet dragster that crashed and killed three persons Saturday, Art Arfons, the driver of the machine, recalled losing control of the car.
Arfons made his statement during an interview with a Fort Worth radio station by telephone from his home in Dayton, Ohio.
Larry carrier, president of the International Hot Rod Association and the speedway told a hostile group of television newsmen preliminary investigations had revealed that the"bead" or rim on the left front wheel of Arfons Super Cyclops - a jet engine on wheels - had caused the vehicle to veer into a guard rail.
Killed in the crash were Thomas Eugene Alred, known professionally as Gene Thomas, host of the WFAA-TV morning show News 8 Etc., and Robert Kelsey, 20, of Tyler and Sean Pence, 17, of 14000 Marsh Lane, Farmers Branch, IHRA staff members.
Arfons managed to scramble out of the overturned jet car and was taken to Parkland Hospital in Dallas. He left the hospital and immediately departed by plane for his headquarters in Akron, Ohio, 90 minutes after the wreck.
Arfons said once the power was shut off he lost the left front tire and the car veered left, hitting the guard rail, and rolled over.
Asked if he would race any more, Arfons said he had planned to keep his cars for several more years because that is the way he makes his living. but now he will have to find something else to do, he said.
Despite the rain, Glenn Anderson, executive director of the IHRA conducted a fact-finding investigation Monday to determine what happened when Arfons made his run.
Arfons covered the 1,320 feet of the quarter-mile at a speed of 283 miles per hour. As he approached a bridge Arfons deployed a 15-foot-wide braking chute. At this point the rim of the left front tire apparently failed, Anderson said.
The failure of the wheel caused a drag which forced the Cyclops to veer from the right lane to the left lane of the strip.  At 844 feet past the finish line, the jet dragster struck the 32-inch-high guard rail on the left side, Anderson said.
The machine catapulted up onto the railing and tore out  157 feet of it, and then bounced onto the parallel return road where Kelsey and Pense were hit and killed, he said.
It continued, "bouncing, skipping and rolling sideways" down the return road for 948 feet, Anderson said. In describing that portion of the accident, Arfons said the machine planed along, Anderson reported.
It left the track near the escape road at the end, traveled 210 feet along the gravel shoulder and flipped over and came to rest upside down near a small water-filled slough.

The Dallas Morning News - October 19, 1971
Submitted by John Bourland & Edward Lynn Williams

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The Dallas Morning News - October 18, 1971

NOTES FROM JOHN BOURLAND

Sean Pence.  You can see his picture on page 395 of the 1972 ROAR.  He is shown playing the piano at the Sate Fair of Texas in October of 1971 and on the lawn of R L Tuner HS during some event I can't recall.  I know, because I took those pictures.  I was the yearbook photographer.  Sean was killed in a strange accident at the Lewisville International Speedway.  Do you remember that place?  You could see it from Hwy 35 on the right as you headed North from Carrollton.  Sean was at the speedway with a friend to see the races and an exhibition of a Jet Car.  As the Jet Car sped down the runway, something went wrong and the car veered left then right and then began to roll.  It rolled into the pit area on the left side of the track and rolled over Sean and his friend.  They were both killed.  The driver survived.  There was some incredible footage of the accident that was shown on TV.  The car begins to roll, and you could actually see Sean and others running to try and get out of the way.  But, they cold not outrun the Jet Car.  I don't remember when that accident happened, but I know it was after the state fair in October and before the  deadline for yearbook submission in the early spring of 1972.  The Lewisville International Speedway closed soon after the accident and the only thing that remained for many years, was the old observation tower.  It was a large white tower that was very futuristic looking.  It finally came down sometime after 1977 or 1978.  There a music festival held there and Janis Joplin played.  Considering her fate, I think the place was cursed.

... John Bourland