Америкалық жарысшының трагедиясы

American racing driver

Shane Riley Hmiel (pronounced: "Meal") (born May 15, 1980) is an American former racecar driver, who competed in all three of NASCAR's national series. Hmiel's controversial stock car career, marred by accidents from his aggressive driving style, ended in 2006 after he failed a third substance abuse test and was banned from competing in NASCAR for life. After rebuilding his career in open wheel racing, primarily in United States Auto Club sanctioned dirt track racing, Hmiel was paralyzed in a near fatal racing accident on October 9, 2010, in Terre Haute, Indiana. Prior to the accident, Hmiel had become the first driver to win the Hoosier Hundred, Rich Vogler Classic, and the Pat O'Connor Memorial, the three premier USAC midget car races, in the same season.

At age 5, Hmiel was misdiagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. He began smoking cannabis at age 12, and on a daily basis through his teens and 20s. Hmiel also admitted to using cocaine "about 100 times,"

After entering drug rehab in 2007, Hmiel's condition was properly diagnosed as Bipolar II disorder.

In 2001, Hmiel competed in the NASCAR Goody's Dash Series, earning the Rookie of the Year award with two wins and 13 top 10 finishes, finishing fifth in points. Initially planned to run a part time schedule, sponsorship from Thomas Pacconi Classics, Goulds Pumps, and Mike's Hard Lemonade Co. expanded his schedule to the full season. Hmiel opened his rookie season with a fifth place finish at Daytona. In 2003, Hmiel moved into Innovative's No. 48 car. After the first 26 races of the season, he already improved on his rookie season statistics, earning four top 5s and 10 top 10s, and sat 8th in points. Hmiel also attempted to qualify for the Pepsi 400 at Daytona in July in the Winston Cup Series for Petty Enterprises' famed 43 car, with normal driver Christian Fittipaldi driving Petty's 44 car. He did not, however make the race.

At the Funai 250 at Richmond International Raceway, Hmiel was involved in several on track incidents, beginning on lap 103 when he spun the lapped car of Randy MacDonald. Late in the race with 5 laps to go, Hmiel was involved in an accident with Jason Keller. Hmiel was moved out of line down the backstretch, then slipped up into Keller in turn three, sending Keller's 57 car into the wall driver's side first. Hmiel was fined $5,000 and placed on probation for an altercation in the garage area after the race with Keller. Fellow competitor David Green would later identify this race as a sign of bad times to come for Hmiel. A week later on September 18, Hmiel was suspended indefinitely for failing a drug test, testing positive for marijuana. According to NASCAR's substance abuse policy, the sanctioning body is allowed to administer drug tests, based only on "reasonable suspicion", at their sole discretion. At the time, he was the highest profile driver to fail such a test. Hmiel was released from Innovative Motorsports, replaced with former Busch Series champion Jeff Green at Dover, then several other veteran drivers for the remainder of the season. He was set to drive the 91 car for Evernham Motorsports that weekend at Dover coming up but the team withdrew after the suspension.

Hmiel was reinstated in 2004 after completing NASCAR's Road to Recovery program, and was picked up for the full Craftsman Truck Series season by Billy Ballew Motorsports, with crew chief Ritchie Wauters. Hmiel scored his first and only NASCAR victory at the Las Vegas 350 in September, racing hard with Todd Bodine through lapped traffic, eventually bumping Bodine out of the way coming to the white flag. Hmiel returned to Busch Series competition at the 9th race of the season at Fontana for GIC Mixon Motorsports, starting and finishing 32nd. After running three more races with GIC, he drove two races for Akins Motorsports' No. 38 Dodge, scoring a fourth place finish at Milwaukee. In late October, Hmiel was signed to Braun Racing, replacing David Stremme in the TrimSpa X32 Dodge for the remainder of the season beginning at Atlanta Motor Speedway. He had a best finish of 22nd in four starts for Braun. Hmiel also made his Nextel Cup Series debut in September at Fontana in the 23 car for Bill Davis Racing. He ran 5 races for BDR, with a best finish of 24th at Kansas and Atlanta. For 2005, Braun formed an alliance with Dale Earnhardt, Inc. and switched to Chevrolet. The team was also joined by new sponsor WinFuel Multivitamins, produced by TripSpa's parent company. Hmiel was in a series of commercials with Dale Earnhardt Jr. to promote his sponsor's product. In addition to the full Busch Series schedule and a partial truck series schedule with Ballew, Braun and WinFuel fielded a 08 Chevrolet in a partial schedule in the Cup Series for Hmiel, debuting at Atlanta. During the Sharpie 250 at Bristol in April, Hmiel was involved in a very heated incident with Cup Series veteran Dale Jarrett after Hmiel spun him out on the front stretch with three laps to go. The two were racing for 12th and 13th place, and Hmiel had bumped and ran the last three drivers he had passed before getting to Jarrett's 90 car. Later, When an angry Jarrett leaned into Hmiel's window to question why Hmiel had spun him out, Hmiel appeared to have no remorse for his driving, then flipped the middle finger toward Jarrett as the latter was walking away. The incident was captured live on Fox Sports' national television broadcast (especially the finger gesture pointed at Jarrett) through Hmiel's in car camera. Hmiel was fined $10,000 and docked 25 points in the standings for the incident.

At Charlotte in May 2005, Hmiel was administered another substance test following Busch Series qualifying, after NASCAR officials observed Hmiel making "erratic moves" on the racetrack. In June at Dover, it was revealed that he had failed the test, and he was escorted from the garage by NASCAR officials. Hmiel had tested positive for marijuana and cocaine, and was suspended "indefinitely" starting in May 2005. Hmiel was offered a chance at reinstatement after his second infraction, under condition that he submit to medical and psychological reviews, and frequent drug testing before reinstatement. In February, 2006, however, Hmiel failed a third and final drug test, and was banned for life from NASCAR. The ban would be partially lifted in 2012 (see below). During his four year NASCAR career, Hmiel appeared in seven Nextel Cup races, 83 Busch races, and 29 Truck Series races. He had one win: in the Truck Series' Las Vegas 350 in 2004. Hmiel was not paid his 2005 salary for races prior to the suspension, as Braun Racing alleged that Hmiel signed the contract in bad faith due to health concerns, leading Hmiel to sue the team for over $135,000 in earnings and another $135,000 for "bad faith dealings" by the team. Under oath, Hmiel admitted that he violated NASCAR's substance abuse policy with a positive test for marijuana in 2003 and a positive test for marijuana and cocaine in 2005. Hmiel denied he was using drugs on a regular basis (at least once a week) in 2005. Hmiel denied that he had tested positive for heroin at any time from 2003 to 2005, and testified that he was not under the influence of any drug at any time while he was racing. The disposition of the lawsuit is unknown.

During his stock car career, Hmiel's talent was often eclipsed by his fiery temperament, over aggressive and impatient driving, and unsportsmanlike conduct, leading to several on and off track altercations with other competitors. In a 2011 interview with Fox Sports's Steve Byrnes, Hmiel admitted "I'll run you over to win the race. I'd run you over to run 7th."

A turning point in Hmiel's life came in July 2007, when he was involved in a bar fight that led to an infection in his hand due to teeth being lodged in it. He competed in all three national touring divisions of the United States Auto Club in the USAC Silver Crown Series, the USAC National Sprint Car Series, and the USAC National Midget Series. In 2009, Hmiel earned his first USAC sanctioned win in the Sprint Car division at Iowa Speedway and scored a then career best dirt track finish of second in the Four Crown Nationals at Eldora Speedway. Hmiel earned post season honors as USAC's "Most Improved Driver." He was also named the Rookie of the Year in the 2009 Chili Bowl Midget Nationals in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In 2010, he earned his first career Midget Series victory at Hickory Motor Speedway less than an hour from Mooresville, North Carolina, where he currently resides. The momentum from that victory carried on to other divisions. In the Sprint Car division, he broke the world speed record for a non winged Sprint Car at Iowa Speedway, winning the pole with an average speed of 146.444 miles per hour. In addition to the speed record, he earned three victories, all on pavement, at O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis (twice) and Salem Speedway. In the Silver Crown division, he earned his first career series win and first dirt track win in the Hoosier Hundred race at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. During the season Hmiel became the first driver to win the Hoosier Hundred, Rich Vogler Classic, and Pat O'Connor Memorial, the three premier USAC midget car races, in the same season. but a back injury kept him from competing in the race.

NASCAR Busch Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 Pts Ref 2002 Innovative Motorsports 47 Pontiac DAY TAL DAY 16th 3416 Chevy CAR LVS DAR BRI TEX NSH CAL RCH NHA NZH CLT DOV NSH KEN MLW CHI GTY PPR IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV KAN CLT MEM ATL CAR PHO HOM 2003 48 Pontiac DAY TAL DAY 15th 3160 Chevy CAR LVS DAR BRI TEX NSH CAL RCH GTY NZH CLT DOV NSH KEN MLW CHI NHA PPR IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV KAN CLT MEM ATL PHO CAR HOM 2004 GIC Mixon Motorsports 24 Chevy DAY CAR LVS DAR BRI TEX NSH TAL CAL GTY RCH CLT DOV NSH KEN 44th 868 Michael Waltrip Racing 99 Chevy NZHQL† Akins Motorsports 38 Dodge MLW DAY CHI NHA PPR IRP MCH BRI CAL RCH DOV KAN CLT MEM Braun Racing 32 Chevy ATL PHO DAR HOM 2005 DAY CAL MXC LVS ATL NSH BRI TEX PHO TAL43 DAR RCH CLT43 DOV NSH KEN MLW DAY CHI NHA PPR GTY IRP GLN MCH BRI CAL RCH DOV KAN CLT MEM TEX PHO HOM 42nd 1228 † Qualified for Michael Waltrip

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Pts Ref 2004 Billy Ballew Motorsports 15 Chevy DAY ATL MAR MFD CLT DOV TEX MEM MLW KAN KEN GTW MCH IRP NSH BRI RCH NHA LVS CAL TEX MAR PHO DAR HOM 13th 2954 2005 DAY CAL ATL MAR GTY MFD CLT DOV TEX MCH MLW KAN KEN MEM IRP NSH BRI RCH NHA LVS MAR ATL TEX PHO HOM 42nd 513