Rodney Orr
| Rodney Orr | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | Rodney Bryan Orr November 6, 1962 Robbinsville, North Carolina, U.S. |
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| Died | February 14, 1994 (aged 31) Daytona Beach, Florida, U.S. |
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| Cause of death | Autoracing accident | ||||||
| Achievements | 1993 NASCAR Goody's Dash Series champion | ||||||
| Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career | |||||||
| 0 races run over 1 year | |||||||
| First race | Killed during practice for the 1994 Daytona 500 | ||||||
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Rodney Bryan Orr (November 6, 1962 - February 14, 1994) was an American racing driver. The 1993 NASCAR Goody's Dash Series champion, he was killed in an accident during practice for the 1994 Daytona 500.
Orr was born in Robbinsville, North Carolina. A graduate of Robbinsville High School, Orr was a resident of Palm Coast, Florida and started his racing career at Volusia County Speedway in the late 1980s. He was the rookie of the year in the NASCAR Goody's Dash Series in 1992, and won the series' 1993 championship.
Originally, Orr and his father Beacher had planned to advance to the Busch Series, Grand National Division (now Xfinity Series). But when NASCAR announced plans to change the second-tier engine formula from the six-cylinder engines used in the class to a limited-compression (9.5:1) eight-cylinder engine, they purchased a Ford Thunderbird during the 1993-1994 off-season, he acquired an engine from Ernie Elliott and the chassis from Robert Yates Racing in hopes of competing in the 1994 Winston Cup Series. 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 1994 Daytona 500.
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 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 four days after that of Neil Bonnett on the same track.
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