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MARION, IOWA (July 4, 2009)—John Hall and
his Left Turn Enterprises racing team saw the 2009 campaign come to a
grinding halt with a violent accident during Twin Features Night for the 360
division at the Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa, on Saturday, July 4. The track conditions contributed to several wicked crashes in all three sprint-car divisions on this night. Hall's incident came at the start of the first of two 15-lap A-main events in his class. He took the green flag from fifth spot in the 20-car field. The competitor starting seventh directly behind Hall tried to jump the start of the race coming from turn three, pulled up on the inside of Hall out of turn four and the two made contact. That sent Hall on a series of high flips directly in front of the frontstretch grandstands and he came to a landing under the flagstand. That resulted in a 19th-place finish and left him unable to start the second A-main. However, the biggest losses came in the form of an injury and a demolished race car. Hall was transported to the Knoxville Area Community Hospital, where it was determined he had fractured a toe and possibly compressed a vertebrae. He was later released and returned to the track. Meanwhile, the crew tried to salvage what they could on the destroyed race car. Unfortunately, without many spare parts, Hall's season looks to be over. Hall was in his 22nd season of
competing at Knoxville and this was his third serious accident at the
speedway. The first came at the end of his rookie season and nearly ended
his career before it really got started. He still was able to earn Rookie of
the Year in the 360 division that year. The second devastating incident came
at the end of the 2007 season, a year which had up until that point been
quite successful. He spent that winter rebuilding the car after another
driver's mistake cost him a top-10 point finish. The 2008 season was one of
great struggles trying to figure out the combination of new parts and
pieces. This season started off slow but seemed to be turning for the better
when he was able to put himself into the main events. Now the crew will have
to evaluate whether there will be a 2010 racing season for John Hall Racing.
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