The sport of racing lost a legend over the weekend.
Sprint car driver, Kramer Williamson of Palmyra, Lebanon County, died when he violently crashed his car during a qualifying race at Lincoln Speedway.
Local drivers and even the owner of the United Racing Company say Kramer Williamson was a true role model in the sport.
And, we’re told the world of sprint car racing — people across the nation looked up to him.
144 wins, one Williams Grove track championship, and a hall of famer.
The United Racing Company is the oldest spring car sanctioning body in the world.
And some say Kramer was a pioneer.
“Kramer Williamson in my mind was the most storied driver in the history of the organization,” says URC owner, John Zimmerman.
Zimmerman says Kramer was the person everyone wanted to be around.
“Race next to, talk to, socialize with, he’s very friendly, outgoing and he’s a jokester,” says Zimmerman.
Even those racing against him agree.
“He always made ya laugh. We could be in a drivers meeting and he’d always say something smart and everybody started laughing. He’d give everybody a hard time and even though he’d give you a hard time he’d do it in a way that was funny,” says sprint car driver, Chad Trout.
Saturday’s crash was the first URC fatality in 32 years.
“My initial reaction… he would walk away,” says Zimmerman.
Chad Trout, one of Kramer’s competitors, says racer’s spend thousands of dollars on equipment.
“He had the exact same seat as what I have.. it’s a full containment seat,” says Trout.
But crashes, and sometimes deaths, are in the nature of this sport.
“The way he ran ramped the wheel and the way he hit the wall.. it was a bad one and you know a lot of times we get lucky and we walk away and he was unfortunate and didn’t,
says Trout.
Trout tells FOX43 the racers are going to put together a special tribute on all of their cars.
Kramer drove a pink panther themed car which was different from any other racer.