(Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)
In a new tribute/report titled "The Man That Was ‘Mask’," Sherdog adds some backstory to the tragic death of TapouT founder Charles Lewis Jr. As it turns out, Lewis was as sober as Jeffrey Kirby was drunk, and the street-racing theory is probably off-base as well. Here’s what we know now:
[Lewis] was on his way home from the gym with his girlfriend Lacey at 1 a.m., the only time he could fit working out into a hectic schedule. Lewis took pride in his deceiving physique, and many questioned if he was really 45 years old, even after officials confirmed it.
That night, Lewis and Lacey had decided to drive by a condominium apartment they had been looking into purchasing over the next few days. It is believed Lewis’ fire-engine red Ferrari occupied the middle lane when Jeffery Kirby and his companion came up along the left side in a white 1977 Porsche. At the scene, black skid marks snake up onto the median’s curb right as the road bends slightly, then drag for 500 or more feet across the three lanes. They indicate Kirby’s car bounced off the road’s island divider before t-boning into Lewis’ vehicle’s backend, sending the Ferrari into a 180-degree spin. The car traveled backwards before the driver’s side wailed directly into a cement light pole, slicing it into two parts.
It was the first time in a few months that Lewis had had the opportunity to enjoy the luxury ride he’d purchased over a year ago. The car had slept at a friend’s showroom until Lewis had been asked to bring it to a photo shoot that day for Dub magazine. High speeds didn’t seem unfathomable under the circumstances, though friends said they couldn’t see Lewis engaging in a dangerous street race for superiority. Lewis didn’t know Kirby, nor was Lewis believed to be drinking at the time. Lewis never touched alcohol, as many will attest.
A criminal trial for Kirby is tentatively scheduled for next month.
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commentsFor that car to be completely cut in half means he was flying down the streets, racing or not. Especially given the fact that there are skid marks for almost 1/8 of a mile before impact!?!?! Top speed is almost 200mph for this car and 0-60 is reached 3.5 sec. In other words, it doesnt take very long before you start going VERY fast!
That car looks as though it was a unibody Honda which chassis are joined together down the middle of the car!
There are reasons why people race or test the performance of their vehicles on closed coarses. For one, the tracks are built, managed and maintained to specs, and still people lose control and wreck their rides! There are soo many humps, bumps, dips and uneven areas on the streets that in high speeds it wouldnt take much to send your auto veering off coarse. When you add medians and sidewalks to the situation, well.....
And this was car built for high performance driving, just imagine with these kids doing this same chit with hondas and mustangs!
Its sad, Mask seemed like a good guy in the TapOut shows helping up and coming fighters.
RIP
Hyped up in his super sports car that he never drove in over a year of purchasing? His balls were tingling and anus puckering to see what it could do. So what if he wasnt drinking. I street race without ever drinking.
He was street racing, or atleast speeding at an excessive speed.
ON A LIGHTER, LESS DEPRESSING NOTE..
Tim Sylvia got his ASS KICKED by none other than kane from wwe. thats right. kane took him down and worked some ground and pound, breaking big timmys nose in the process.
but of course this is the outcome seeing as street fights cant go to a decision..
No, that doesn't sound like street racing at all
I love Tapout, and it is sad that Mask is gone, but 1 + 1 doesn't equal 4.
fuck a rich man.
fuck a dead man......
Fuck a Evan Tanner too.
Just makes this another sad day it appears Mask wasn't even racing just a straight victim of a drunken rich fucker. Stupidass alcoholics who get repeats DUIs should be banished to the eternal glory hole spot in jail.
R.I.P. Mask Taken way to early
I hope you become a statistic of a random act of violence.
I WOULD LIKE TO HEAR THE RESULTS OF A TOXICOLOGY REPORT, JUST TO SET THINGS IN STONE..FOR ALL THE REST OF THE SHIT TALKERS.
LEGALIZE MARIJUANA. ALCOHOL IS WORSE
I'm extra bitter about this. Repeat drunk drivers who kill someone else should be tortured and shot and then all of their money given to the victims family.
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