EVENING DESPATCH NEWSPAPER - MONDAY 15TH MAY 1961
STOCK CAR KILLS FATHER AS HIS FAMILY WATCH
A Birmingham man died in hospital shortly after a car had crashed on him at Tamworth Stadium in an accident which was seen by his family.
He was Mr.James Harold Beet (33), of Ladywood, who was the official starter at Stock Car Meetings.
Mr.Beet, a garage foreman, was standing on the inside of the track when a car hit a safety barrel, leapt in the air and crashed down on him.
He died shortly after admission to Tamworth General Hospital. His wife, mother and three young sons were in the crowd when the accident occurred.
His mother, Mrs.Frances Beet, of Ladywood, was attending a Stock Car meeting for the first time specially to see her son in his second year as official starter for the races.
The crash occurred in the last race of the evening as the cars roared round the track on the 23rd lap of a 25 lap event. Two cars collided and came jammed together, just before the accident.
At her home today, his wife said: "He loved Stock Car Racing, It was his life, now it has killed him. All of us were in the crowd. Our children Brian (8), Alan (5) and Robert (2) knew their father was seriously injured".
She said her husband had been a Stock Car enthusiast for four years. Typing in the track offices at the time of the accident was Mr.Beet's sister, Elizabeth.
Trevor Frost #68 won the trophy in the first three years, and was permitted to keep it for the achievement.
