http://www.nathanrettig.com/index2.html

Rising Heartland Race Star Dies in ATV Accident
By: Kate Scott

SIKESTON, MO -- It's the kind of news we hate to report, but this week we've had to do it twice. Another ATV ride turns deadly for a Heartland child.

Thirteen-year old Nathan Rettig, of Sikeston, died Friday morning of head and neck injuries, after flipping an all-terrain vehicle on a dirt track near his home.

Rettig will not only be missed by his family and friends, but also by racing fans around the Heartland. Even at the tender age of 13, he was one of the best young race car drivers in the Heartland. He had a bright future ahead of him. But sadly, Rettig's career and his young life have ended too soon.

Rettig wasn't old enough to drive out on the street, but he was at ease climbing behind the wheel of a late-model dirt car. He loved to cruise around the race track in #94, whether he was competing in Southeast Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, or even Arkansas. Rettig started racing competitively when he was only five. He was twelve when Heartland News caught up him with him in July of 2003, and we were just as impressed with his skill, as were his many fans in the stands.

But on Friday morning, Rettig's race came to an end...not in a dirt car, but on the dirt track in his neighborhood just outside of Sikeston. Missouri Highway Patrol investigators say Rettig was with his friends, riding an adult-sized ATV, when he decided to jump a wooden ramp. "He had his helmet on, he had his safety equipment on, and he even had a chest protector on," says Cpl. Greg Kenley. "But apparently when he hit the ramp, he went too high in the air. When he came back down to the ground, he was upside down, and the four-wheeler landed on top of him...Really, the only thing he did wrong is he attempted a maneuver that he could not do safely at too great a speed."

Rettig was taken to Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston, where he died about an hour later. It's a tragic end to a life that went by too fast.

There's no word yet on when Nathan Rettig's funeral services will be held. We are told they'll be at the Nunnelee Funeral Chapel in Sikeston.

Rettig even had his own website at www.nathanrettig.com. You can see there just how many races he'd already won, and how bright his future looked. That's how his

sunshine14T
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Posts: 2
(4/11/04 8:57 am)
67.128.228.53
Reply | Edit | Del Re: Loss of another young racer...
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Dad and I got the chance to watch Nathan race several times last year. The last time being at KLMS where he won. I believe it was special event where Mark Faust won the late model race. Dad and I stayed to watch the trophy presentation so we could watch that talented young boy, step out of the car. Dad and I looked at each other and said, "He's the same size of Dylan", my son. This boy had such talent and grace on the track and I can't imagine what his family is feeling. My prayers and thoughts are with them. Truly a sad weekend for the racing community.

NATHAN RETTIG