Man dies of burns suffered in Sedro-Woolley stunt explosion

[Danny_Heartland]

Man dies of burns suffered in Sedro-Woolley stunt explosion

SEATTLE (July 21) — A sprint car crew chief well-known to Skagit Speedway fans died this morning of burns received in an explosion during a Sunday night stunt that turned deadly.

Tyson Perez, an Australian in his 30s, died at about 9 a.m. at Seattle’s Harborview Medical Center.

Perez was badly burned attempting to “barrel ride” in a Sedro-Woolley parking lot Sunday night by placing four gallons of fuel into a 55-gallon barrel and lighting it on fire. The barrel was supposed to launch across the pavement like a rocket, but instead it blew up.

Travis Rilat, 33, also popular with local sprint car fans, was also critically injured in the same accident and remains in the intensive care unit at Harborview.

Perez was Rilat’s crew chief and a race car parts salesman. He was in charge of mechanical care for Rilat’s race car before and during races.

“All of us that do this sprint car racing are half off our rocker anyway,” Skagit Speedway announcer Kaleb Hart said of Perez Tuesday. “But being Australian, he’s got a bit of a quirky personality on top of that — he’s one big lovin’ son-of-a-gun.”