Moving tribute to tragic car racer Kasey Dixon-Grainger (From Darlington and Stockton Times)
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Moving tribute to tragic car racer Kasey Dixon-Grainger
8:00am Friday 31st August 2012 in News
By Chris Webber, Reporter (Stockton/Hartlepool)
BURNING TRIBUTE: Motorsports fans gather to pay their respects to Kasey Dixon- Grainger. Picture: Andrew Rasmussen
A FATHER has spoken of the “incredibly moving” support shown to his family a year after the death of his son at a drag-racing event.
At least 500 cars attended a cruise at Teesside Park, near Stockton, on Wednesday, in memory of Billingham man Kasey Dixon-Grainger who died on the track on August 28, last year. He was 23.
The evening event followed a special race meeting at York Raceway last week in which a minute’s silence was held in Kasey’s honour and his family provided a barbeque for 200 people.
Kasey’s father, Paul Grainger, a keen drag-racer who ran a garage with his son, described both events as incredibly moving and uplifting.
He said: “It was a special thing to stand back and look at all the people who were there in memory of my son.
“Without the support of these people, right from day one... their help and support has been overwhelming. They have made a big difference to our being able to carry on.
“It was an excellent turnout.
"There must have been 750 people there. There were people from all over the North of England up the Borders, and faces were popping up everywhere.
"It was excellent and very moving.”
Wednesday night’s event was organised through Facebook.
Kasey’s mother, Tanya, also attended.
Many people focused their attention on a car specially modified by Mr Grainger. The car contains the engine of Kasey’s last car, a purple 1966 Ford Cortina, and features a graphic image of Kasey.
There have been many hundreds of online tributes to the keen drag-racer, who had a long-term girlfriend.
His parents have described him as a “happy-go-lucky guy who everybody loved”.
Kasey died almost instantly of a brain haemorrhage after his car travelling at 131mph veered off the track, rolled and caught fire.
His parents were among the 1,000 spectators who witnessed the tragedy. An inquest heard that a fatigue crack where the axle was attached to the car, may have caused the vehicle to crash.
It was the first fatality at York Raceway since it opened 35 years ago.
