Rodney Bryan Orr (November 6, 1962 – February 14, 1994) was an American stock car racing driver. The 1993

NASCAR Goody's Dash Series The ISCARS Dash Touring Series (previously known as the NASCAR Baby Grand National, Goody's Dash Series and IPOWER Dash Series among others) was a stock car racing series created by NASCAR in 1973, initially running solely at North Wilkesboro ...

champion, he was killed in an accident during practice for the

1994 Daytona 500 The 1994 Daytona 500, the 36th running of the Daytona 500, event, was held February 20 at Daytona International Speedway, in Daytona Beach, Florida. Loy Allen Jr., ARCA Racing Series, ARCA graduate and Sprint Cup Series, Winston Cup 1994 NASCAR W ...

Career

Orr was born in

Robbinsville, North Carolina Robbinsville is a town in Graham County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 620 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Graham County, county population 8,861. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the town h ...

. A graduate of Robbinsville High School, Orr was a resident of

Palm Coast, Florida Palm Coast is a city in Flagler County, Florida. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 75,180, more than twice the 32,832 counted in 2000. The population was estimated to be 89,800 in 2019. It is the most populous city in Flagle ...

and started his racing career at

Volusia County Speedway Volusia Speedway Park (formerly known as Volusia County Speedway and Barberville Speedway) is an auto racing facility located near Barberville in Volusia County, Florida. It currently operates as a 1/2-mile dirt oval and a 1/5-mile dirt oval ...

in the late 1980s. He was the rookie of the year in the

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and h ...

Goody's Dash Series The ISCARS Dash Touring Series (previously known as the NASCAR Baby Grand National, Goody's Dash Series and IPOWER Dash Series among others) was a stock car racing series created by NASCAR in 1973, initially running solely at North Wilkesboro Sp ...

in 1992, and won the series' 1993 championship.

Death

Originally, Orr and his father Beacher had planned to advance to the second-tier series (currently the Xfinity Series). However, NASCAR planned a rule change that would make the current V6 engines obsolete by switching to a limited compression (9.5:1) V8 engine in 1995. As a result, the Orrs purchased a

Ford Thunderbird The Ford Thunderbird (colloquially called the T-Bird) is a personal luxury car produced by Ford from model years 1955 until 1997 and 2002 until 2005 across 11 distinct generations. Introduced as a two-seat convertible, the Thunderbird was p ...

during the 1993-1994 off-season from

Robert Yates Racing Yates Racing was an American stock car racing team that competed in NASCAR through the 2009 season, after which it merged into Richard Petty Motorsports. Previously known as Robert Yates Racing, the team was owned by Doug Yates, who has official ...

with an engine built by

Ernie Elliott Ernest "Ernie" Elliott (1943/1944 – 6 December 1972), nicknamed "Duke", was a Northern Irish loyalist activist and a leading member of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) during its early days. Unusually for the generally right-wing UDA, El ...

in hopes of competing in selected 1994 Winston Cup Series races. Orr's No. 37 was one of seven cars to exceed 190 miles per hour at one test session that winter. However, before he could run a single race, Orr was killed in practice before the

. During practice for second round Daytona 500 qualifying on February 14, 1994, Orr was making what was a mock qualifying run when he spun entering turn two. His car lifted up and slammed heavily into the outside retaining wall and

catch fence The following is a glossary of terminology used in motorsport, along with explanations of their meanings. 0–9 ;1–2 finish: When two vehicles from the same team finish first and second in a race. Can be extended to 1–2–3 or 1–2–3� ...

with the roof at over 175 mph. The caution light was found pierced into the roof of the car. Although there were efforts to save him, Orr had instantly died of massive chest and head injuries. The 31-year-old driver was survived by his wife, Crystal, and daughter Ashton. It was later found that a mounting stud, a part that holds the shock absorber to the car, had broken, rendering the car uncontrollable. Orr's death came three days after that of

Neil Bonnett Lawrence Neil Bonnett (July 30, 1946 – February 11, 1994) was an American NASCAR driver who compiled 18 victories and 20 poles over his 18-year career. Bonnett was a member of the Alabama Gang, and started his career with the help of Bobby a ...

on the same track. These incidents were related to suspension failure caused by using extremely soft shocks and springs. Drivers complained about shocks and springs at the two fastest circuits, magnified after the 1998 Firecracker 400 held at night because of sparks, leading to NASCAR imposing rule changes mandating specification shocks and springs to solve the problem by 2000. As of 2022, NASCAR and suspension parts suppler DR1V mandate specification shocks and springs for all Cup Series races.

Photo scandal

In 2001, Orr gained attention again after the

death of Dale Earnhardt On the afternoon of February 18, 2001, American stock car racing driver and team owner Dale Earnhardt was killed instantly due to a basilar skull fracture in a final-lap collision in the 2001 Daytona 500, in which he crashed into a retaining wa ...

when his autopsy photos as well as those of Bonnett and pop star

Lisa Lopes Lisa Nicole Lopes (May 27, 1971 – April 25, 2002), better known by her stage name Left Eye, was an American rapper and singer. She was a member of the R&B girl group TLC, alongside Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins and Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas. Besid ...

were displayed on the internet. Earnhardt's widow

Teresa Teresa (also Theresa, Therese; french: Thérèse) is a feminine given name. It originates in the Iberian Peninsula in late antiquity. Its derivation is uncertain, it may be derived from Classical Greek, Greek θερίζω (''therízō'') " ...

testified before Congress to ensure Earnhardt's autopsy photos would not be published in a similar fashion. Orr's father sued the owner of the website which had published the photos of his son, stating a claim for outrageous publication of a public record.

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (ma ...

) (Bold - pole position awarded by qualifying time Italics - pole position earned by points standings or practice time * – most laps led.)

Winston Cup Series

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Orr, Rodney 1962 births 1994 deaths ISCARS Dash Touring Series drivers NASCAR drivers People from Palm Coast, Florida People from Robbinsville, North Carolina Racing drivers from Florida Racing drivers who died while racing Sports deaths in Florida