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"It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the
strong man stumbled, or where the doers of deeds could have done them
better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena:
whose face is marred by the dust and sweat and blood; who strives
valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again...who knows the
great enthusiasms, the great devotions and spends himself in a worthy
cause; who, at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high
achievement; and who, at the worst if he fails, at least fails while
daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and
timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat."
Theodore Roosevelt
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Remembering Casey Diemert
by Joe Breeze
The Northwest racing community continues to mourn the death of open-wheel
star Casey Diemert.
Diemert, 23, of Roseburg, Oregon, suffered fatal head and neck injuries
after crashing during a USAC Western Sprint Car practice session at
Irwindale (Calif.) Speedway March 27.
"This kid had character, and the kid had talent," reflects Northwest
open-wheel promoter Fred Brownfield. "We've got a bunch of good young
talent growing here, and you hate to lose them. A young guy like that -
that's tough."
Several versions of the accident story surfaced in the days following the
mishap, says Casey's father, Jim Diemert. Jim says he didn't see the crash
unfold, but his wife, Roberta, did.
"As he was going into turn three, I just turned to go to the back of
the track," Jim recalls. "I heard the commotion and turned around."
Casey, in fact, was on the last lap of the first practice session.
Casey and another driver were racing down the backstretch when a third
car spun between turns three and four. Casey was on the right rear tire
of the other driver, Jim says, and his son's view of the spun car likely
was hindered. When the two cars came up upon the idle driver, the
inside car moved high and Casey's car hopped its tire, nosed into the
pavement and slammed cage first into the cement wall.
"Casey was chasing this guy real close and tight," says Jim, who
estimates Casey was traveling about 100 mph when he crashed. "It was
nobody's fault, but it was probably the most vulnerable position to be
in."
Casey Diemert's racing career was brief but spectacular. He started
competing in 1992 after Jim, who'd been racing since 1973, stepped away
from the cockpit. Casey's first ride was a Dodge Charger in the Street
Stock class at Douglas County Speedway. He was 16.
In 1993, Casey drove a Dodge Dart in the Street Stock class as well as
a 410 sprint car. He won more feature events and trophy dashs and
had more fast times than any other Street Stock driver that year.
Casey found success in a sprint car the following year, winning the 360
title at Roseburg and earning "Driver of the Year" accolades.
From 1995 on, the Diemert team quit running for points locally and
travelled to high-profile shows. 1996 was Casey's best year ever.
"We ran a lot of races, won a lot of races that year," Jim says.
Among the highlights was Casey's emerging proficiency in a 360 sprint
car. He won eight of eighteen events entered with 15 top-five efforts.
Casey also ran his first wingless show on dirt, taking sixth at an
SCRA event after transferring from the "C" and "B" mains and starting
at the back in the feature.
In addition, Casey ran with the World of Outlaws and competed full time
in the Cal-Neva Truck Series, taking third after scoring three firsts
and eight top-fives.
1996 also brought a victory in a Hy-Per Lube Northern Sprint Tour
race at Riverside Speedway in Cottage Grove.
Casey, in fact, was the first Oregon driver to win an NST event.
Most recently, Casey stepped into a USAC Silver Crown car and took
13th in the Copper World Classic in 1997 and a memorable seventh in
the 1998 event staged in Phoenix.
In that race, Casey pitted on a red flag to get a flat tire changed
with 13 laps to go, then went to the rear of the pack.
"He slapped the wall three times to get ahead of everybody," Jim says.
"He raced his butt off, but he always did that."
Even when he wasn't supposed to.
Seems one of Casey's first tastes of high-speed road action was in his
mother's RX7, and he didn't have her permission. Casey, who was 14
at the time, and two of his friends went for a joyride late one evening.
The joyride, Jim says, turned into a high-speed chase with local and
county police.
"He escaped," Jim says.
Kids got to talking at school soon after, however. The principal found
out about it, and police ended up on the Diemert doorstep.
When an officer told Jim he suspected Casey had been involved in the
chase, Jim offered an unusual reaction.
"I almost laughed at him," he recalls. "That's the kind of son he was -
he did nothing wrong."
Casey did admit the deed, and the officer arrested him and read him his
rights. While Casey was retrieving his Social Security card - the only
piece of identification he had - the officer asked Jim a question.
"He said, 'You teach that boy how to drive?'" Jim remembers. "I said
no. He said, "Let me tell you, he can drive.'"
Casey got a job washing dishes and eventually paid all the fines and
lawyer fees, which totaled $1,500.
"He never complained once," Jim says. "He was never one to shirk his
responsibilities."
NST promoter Brownfield called Casey a "good-natured, polite" young man.
One of Brownfield's fondest memories of Casey stems back to
Willamette Speedway, a high-banked clay oval in Lebanon, Oregon.
Brownfield had the lead in a 1996 sprint car feature and was just three
circuits from taking the checkered flag when Casey gave notice.
"With three laps to go he blew by me on the restart," Brownfield recalls.
"He took the high line and I took the low line and we raced all the way
into turn three. He never let up. He flat outraced me."
Brownfield, who was recovering from a concussion suffered at Portland
several weeks earlier, settled for second.
Brownfield attended Diemert's funeral in early April. The gathering, he
says, delivered a strong message.
"It takes a situation like this to remind us how important racing really
is and how it relates to who we are," Brownfield says. "The community
pulls together and shares in the grief of the Diemert family over the
loss of their son.
"It also reminds us, hey, it's a reality. It's part of the sport. The risk
is always there. We don't think about it, but it's always there."
Casey, a graduate of Roseburg High School, had earned a bachelor of science
degree in environmental health and safety from Oregon State University.
He'd secured a job as safety director for Murray Electrical Contractors
in Roseburg.
He played the drums and had a passion for heavy-metal music. He enjoyed
snow skiing and snowboarding and even attempted surfing.
He was single, but he left behind his parents and a sister, Traci. Traci and
David Lowry are expecting a child in May.
