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Tony Roper
Roper in 1997
Born	Anthony Dean Roper (1964-12-13)December 13, 1964 Springfield, Missouri, U.S.
Died	October 14, 2000(2000-10-14) (aged 35) Fort Worth,Texas, U.S.
Cause of death	Neck injury from racing accident in theO'Reilly 400 atTexas Motor Speedway
NASCARO'Reilly Auto Parts Series career
19 races run over 2 years
Best finish	41st (1999)
First race	1999Diamond Hill Plywood 200 (Darlington)
Last race	2000Touchstone Energy 300 (Talladega)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 3 0
NASCARCraftsman Truck Series career
60 races run over 5 years
Best finish	16th (1998)
First race	1995Sears Auto Center 125 (Milwaukee)
Last race	2000O'Reilly 400 (Texas)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 8 0

Anthony Dean Roper (December 13, 1964 – October 14, 2000) was an American professionalstock car racing driver. A competitor in theNASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, he died after suffering injuries in a racing accident atTexas Motor Speedway.

Roper was born inSpringfield, Missouri, toDean Roper and Shirley Medley. Growing up, his family was heavily involved in auto racing, as his father was a noted competitor inARCA and other stock car racing series. Roper started racing in 1986. For the next six years, he raced inIMCA Modifieds andlate models on Midwest dirt and asphalt tracks. In 1992, he finished in second place for theAmerican Speed Association Rookie of the Year Award. He started racing in theNASCARCraftsman Truck Series in 1995, and theBusch Series in 1999.

At the Craftsman Truck SeriesO'Reilly 400 atTexas Motor Speedway on October 13, 2000, Roper was involved in an accident when he attempted to passSteve Grissom andRick Ware. Roper's Ford made contact with Grissom's front bumper causing it to take a sudden hard-right turn, which then caused the truck to impact the concrete wall of the tri-oval. An unconscious, unresponsive Roper was extricated from his truck, taken to the infield care center at TMS, and subsequently airlifted to Dallas'sParkland Memorial Hospital. Roper was determined to have a severe neck injury which prevented the flow of blood to his brain.^[1][2] He was put on a ventilator, and succumbed to the injury the day after the race, aged 35.^[1]

Roper was the third NASCAR driver to perish from racing related injuries in 2000, the first two beingAdam Petty andKenny Irwin Jr., respectively.^[1] It was the second fatality in the Craftsman Truck Series, the first being that ofJohn Nemechek in 1997.^[1] Roper's was the first racing fatality recorded at Texas Motor Speedway.

A funeral service for Roper was held at theFair Grove High School gymnasium, where he graduated from. More than 600 people attended.

Tony's father,Dean Roper, died in a crash just a year later (his death was caused by aheart attack, not the crash itself), on August 19, 2001. Both Tony and his father Dean died in racing accidents within ten months of each other.^[3]

Roper was one of three drivers to be killed in the 2000 NASCAR season alone, after Busch Series driverAdam Petty and Winston Cup Series driverKenny Irwin, Jr. lost their lives at New Hampshire due tobasilar skull fractures. Despite these incidents, NASCAR did not immediately mandate a head restraint like theHANS device to protect drivers; afterDale Earnhardt waskilled at Daytona and a later crash in an ARCA race at Charlotte took the life of Blaise Alexander, drivers were required to wear a restraint to protect themselves.^[4]

The Tony Roper Scholarship Fund was founded after Roper's death. As of now, it is still running to this day.^{[citation needed]}

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time.Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

• Tony Roper driver statistics at Racing-Reference
• Tony Roper's fatal crash onYouTube

• 1964 births
• 2000 deaths
• Sportspeople from Springfield, Missouri
• Racing drivers from Missouri
• NASCAR drivers
• American Speed Association drivers
• Racing drivers who died while racing
• Sports deaths in Texas
• Filmed deaths in motorsport

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