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Gary Shaw, 62,
from Corning, NY passed away Friday night behind the wheel of his
race car during the B-Modified feature at Tioga Motorsports Park
in Owego, NY. Although not yet official, Shaw suffered an apparent
heart attack and left the speedway instead of negotiating turn two
with the rest of the cars. He was transported by ambulance to
Robert Packer Hospitalin Sayre, PA, where he was pronounced dead.
Shaw was a veteran of sports cars, motocross bikes and stock cars.
His longtime companion, Marge Cunningham, said Gary had raced
since he was 10 years old and died doing what he loved. Shaw died
in his racecar but was not killed in his racecar, and there is a
huge difference. The Zacharias family believes what happened was
more than that. "You cannot help but compare the passion Gary
Shaw had for racing to other professions where individuals are
willing to give their life. Passionate military people consider it
an honor to die fighting for their country, and we are grateful.
Firemen and police are honored to give their life in the line of
duty. None of that was more evident than on 9-11 when so many of
them died doing what they loved, and again we are grateful. So
when Gary Shaw strapped himself behind the wheel of his racecar
Friday night he was doing what he loved and gave his life doing
it. Once again, we are grateful", said track spokesperson
Chris Zacharias. "I can't help to think that when his car
left the speedway surface it flew Heaven," he added. "I
spoke to Marge just hours after his passing. She saw it all and
believes Gary knew what was happening. She believes in one last
act of heroism he drove the car away from everyone else to spare
as many people as he could from seeing what was about to happen.
This was a total class act and, again, we are grateful." Shaw
is survived by his son, Brian Shaw of Caton, NY, daughter, Lorna
Harrington of Corning, NY, and three grandchildren. In asking the
racing family to keep the Shaw's in their thoughts and prayers,
Zacharias made one final request. "From all of us on earth,
let's take a moment to wave our hands to Gary as he watches our
future races from the best seat in the house."
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