Kevin Draper, a longtime friend of Kebin Kinsley and crew member on Kinsley’s Gas Monkey Garage Dragster, was killed Thursday on Highway 287 in front of the Texas Motorplex near Ennis, reportedly struck by a driver fleeing from police in a high-speed chase.
Draper, who was riding a motorcycle, was airlifted to Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas. There he died during emergency surgery.
Kinsley said his team was “broken up” but that Draper would have wanted them to compete. He said they were dedicating their performance this weekend to Draper’s memory.
Draper, of Waco, was a Vietnam War veteran of the U.S. Navy, who survived esophageal cancer attributed to his contact with the toxic herbicide / defoliant Agent Orange.
He recently sold his Majestic Turbocharger business and was dividing his energy, helping Kinsley work on his dragster several nights a week at the shop in Kennedale and building (along with friend Benny Bridger) a land-speed vehicle for running at the Bonneville Salt Flats.
Kinsley said he and Draper has talked about Kinsley driving that car – a 600-horsepower, open-wheel blown-fuel Lakester – at Bonneville.
Draper is survived by his wife, Linda.
The John “Bodie” Smith-led team had another unfortunate piece of news Friday when Kinsley made his first qualifying attempt.
His dragster got off the starting line cleanly but suffered a massive engine explosion about midway through the run. He pulled the car to the wall and got it stopped, but the fire continued to burn, causing massive damage for the crew to try to fix before the evening session or Saturday’s two final qualifying chances.
