A viewing was held Tuesday, October 16 at Lemmon Funeral Home in Dulaney Valley, Maryland for racer Scott Gowland, killed in a crash at Summit Point Raceway on Saturday, October 13.

Another viewing is scheduled for Wednesday, October 17 from 2:00-4:00 p.m. and again from 7:00-9:00 p.m.

A funeral is scheduled for Thursday, October 18 at Nativity Catholic Church in Lutherville, Maryland.

According to racer Bob Robbins, Gowland got into a tankslapper and lost control exiting turn 10 on the first lap of the first race of the day, Heavyweight Sportsman Expert, crashed and slid into the pit wall on the inside of the racetrack. Robbins was also in the race.

The event was sanctioned by CCS, and was the final event scheduled for the CCS Mid-Atlantic Region this season.

Gowland owned the Speedwerks/Cyberlogtech endurance team, which is leading the WERA National Endurance Series Lightweight Superbike class with one race remaining in the series, October 26 at Road Atlanta.

Gowland was survived by his parents, John and Renee Gowland; his fiance Olcan Cetinkaya; and his sisters Michele and Ashley and brother Adam.

Expressions of sympathy may be directed in Scott Gowland’s name to VMI Annual Giving, P.O. Box
932, Lexington, VA 24450 or Valley Forge Military Academy and College, Institute Advancement Department, 1001 Eagle Road, Mellon Hall, Wayne, PA 19087-3695.

Robbins forwarded the following personal reaction to Gowland’s death, along with a response he got from an eyewitness he (Robbins) had raced with earlier in the day (and who apparently saw Robbins’ account on a BBS):

“The weekend started out to be a beautiful one on Saturday the 13th with mid-70s temp and lots of sun. In the opening lap of the first race, HW Sportsman, Scott Gowland of Lutherville, Maryland got into a wobble down the front straight, was thrown off, hit by his bike and slid head-first into the tires along the wall. He was killed instantly and reports were that the bike actually hit him before he hit the wall. It happened right at the end of the wall where people do timing.

“I was in the same race and did a crazy wheelie on the start that snapped my front seat mounts off and I paraded around back to the pits. I saw the red flag and was thinking, ‘Cool, I can strap it down and go back out for the re-start,’ not having any idea what just happened. (When we found out what had happened) we almost packed up and went home, but everybody talked about it and when they re-started two hours later, we went back out and ran four races, calling it quits and going home Saturday night.

“It was a real sobering experience, but we all agreed that it was a freak thing and for each time this happens, hundreds of us walk away from similar crashes.

“Watching his friends load his stuff was something I’ll remember for a long time to come.

“Bob Robbins”



Robbins’ account drew the following response:

“Bob, unfortunately I saw the whole thing, I came out of turn 10 and he was about 10-15 bikelengths ahead. I noticed his pipe and tail section starting to wiggle, then it got worse. I saw the marks left by the front tire, oscillating back and forth, getting progressively worse. Then it spit him off and he and the bike slid off at a shallow angle toward the pit lane wall. Then a cloud of dust and tires flying. I went all the way over to the left side, the only thing to rebound across the track was the the bike’s windshield, which slid across just behind me. The wall does taper out toward the track for the last 20 feet at a shallow angle to make room for pit-out, but that doesn’t matter if the bike hit him first.

“I didn’t see what caused the head shake, but it seemed like he may have panicked and chopped the throttle or grabbed the front brake, rather than staying on the gas. The track on the outside of the turn 10 exit seems to drop slightly onto the curb before the curb rises back up. Maybe he caught that edge and got into the wobble. Don’t know if he had a steering damper or if it would have helped. I’m certainly always going to have one on my bike.

“Rich Kabara #168 (Purple SV)

“Bob, we duelled at the end of GTL and I almost got you at the finish.”