Driver dies at Columbus Junction race

A racecar driver was killed at the CJ Speedway in Columbus Junction Friday when his car collided with another. Tim Sands, 48, of Conesville, was pronounced dead after he was airlifted to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics from Trinity Medical Center in Muscatine.

Mark Huston, a member of the Louisa County Fairboard which owns the racetrack, was in the stands Friday night to watch the races. He said he saw Sands?s car brush up against the wall before a trailing vehicle collided with Sands?s. Huston said he attends races frequently and has seen cars spin out and even roll over.

?I?ve never been to a race with that hard a hit,? he said about Friday?s race. ?I could tell there was something different about the hit Tim took.?

Brian Tipps, one of two promoters of the CJ Speedway, said he had known Sands for about 15 years.

?He was a happy-go-lucky kind of guy,? Tipps said. ?He always had a smile on his face. It didn?t matter whether he finished in the top 5 or finished last. He was a great guy to have at the racetrack, and one of those people you look forward to every week.?

Tipps said that Sands was a very skilled driver and that Sands was poised to take over as the points leader Friday night. The rest of the drivers agreed to stop the remaining races after Sands?s accident.