Paul Lewis and Steve Peddicord, when not racing, take photographs for fun at PBIR. Little did they know that this photo would be the last one taken of Jerry Baxter, who was fatally injured on this run.

Drag racers by nature know the danger present in their sport every time they get behind the wheel.

Tim Nimmo, a 25-year racing veteran, faced the danger first hand this past Saturday at Palm Beach (Fla.) International Raceway.

Nimmo was racing his dragster against Jerry Baxter, who was piloting a race-modified Corvette-looking machine, during first-round eliminations of the Super Pro class.

Nimmo and the 61-year-old Baxter, who is from Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., were racing down the quarter-mile dragstrip about 4 p.m. Eastern Time when Baxter crashed at the end of the track. Baxter was flown to St. Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm Beach, but later died from his injuries.  Following the accident, all racing was stopped at PBIR for the day.

The events that transpired during that side-by-side race are still fresh in Nimmo’s mind. According to Nimmo, Baxter had around an 8.50-second dial-in and his dial-in was 7.20.

“I got on the brake and took the win light and the next thing I know, he (Baxter) goes flying by me; he never stops,” said the 45-year-old Nimmo, who is from Lake Worth, Fla. “He just keeps on going, going and going. I was going about 185 mph and I was trying to get my dragster stopped. Then, as I continued down the track, I didn’t know where he went. I couldn’t see him and I knew he went by me full throttle at around 150 to 160 mph just past the finish line.”

Nimmo says when he went down through the gravel pit, past the safety net, past more gravel and to the berm at the end of the track, and he still didn’t see Baxter.

“I had parked my car and things were happening so fast, I really didn’t have time to think,” Nimmo said. “I went over the embankment (at the end of the track) and there’s standing water behind the embankment, like a canal. I looked down there and I see a little bit of the car and just the top of his head because half of his helmet was in the water (face down). I still had my helmet and I firesuit on and I went down there (into the water) and grabbed him and titled his head back. I was saying ‘hey buddy,’ ‘hey buddy’ to try to get him to wake up, and I never got any response or anything. He was still strapped into the driver’s seat and he had his seat belts on, but I didn’t know where the roof of his car was or any of the other parts of the car. I just waited for the safety crew (paramedics) to get there and when they got down there, I just stayed there in the water and kept his head up in the water, while they cut him out of the car. Once they (the safety crew) got him to the top of the berm, I walked away.”

Palm Beach County Sheriff’s spokesman Dep. Eric Davis said Tuesday the Palm Beach Sheriff office detectives are investigating the death as procedure dictates and the case is going to the medical examiner’s office for cause of death.

“You really don’t want something like this to be a part of  the sport, but you really can’t think about it either,” Nimmo said. “Racing is a very safe sport and anything can happen. You can drive down the road and get hit. Things just happen. I also think all racers out there would’ve done the same thing I did (to help him).”