Race fan describes horror during attack
By Tim Packman, Turner Sports Interactive
September 18, 2001
9:55 AM EDT (1355 GMT)
CONCORD, N.C. -- As many Americans watched the horrors of Tuesday’s terrorist attack unfold, they were shielded as they viewed storylines through screens on computers and televisions.
But some, like NASCAR fan Chris Roche, were unfortunately part of the terror.
Roche has worked for Salomon Smith Barney, a financial company, for the past three years while attending New York Law School at night. His office was located in World Trade Center No. 7, which was adjacent to the twin towers that collapsed. WTC No. 7 collapsed Tuesday evening , having suffered damage during the attacks that morning.
Roche reported to work on Tuesday morning -- his second day working at building No. 7.
"My brother Sean and I were lucky enough to survive this ordeal," Roche said. "Sean was exiting the WTC PATH (public transportation) terminal on his way to the New York Stock Exchange where he works. The first plane flew over him and into 1 WTC. I was on the 30th floor of No. 7 WTC working for Salomon Smith Barney when that first plane hit.
"Sean ran to the NYSE and took cover."
Having been exposed to a recent terrorist incident while overseas, Roche knew it was time to run at the first sign of trouble.
"I had a previous encounter with terrorism in Tel Aviv, Israel, in June where a disco was blown up about a half mile from my hotel," he said. "The Israelis told me that the Arabs will set off a small bomb and attract a crowd, usually kids and rescue workers, and then they set off another one.
"When we were going down the stairs at WTC 7 last Tuesday, I was sure it was a bomb (I did not find out about the planes until later) and I was sure there would be more. The Trade Center is too big for just one, and the Arabs learned only one did not work in 1993.
"When I heard the first boom, I started to leave the building then went back to get my book bag at my desk. Even though I knew I could be in danger, I thought I may need them in the near future."
From there, Roche and others started to descend the stairs finally making their way to the lower levels. Once there, what should have been a normal exit from the building became a dramatic turn instead.
"When we got to the Atrium, everyone was calm. When you are that close to the tower, you can't see all the way up because you have a diagonal view. But, I knew the windows were blown out because I saw paper coming down.
"I took the escalator to the street level, and I was only one of maybe fifty people who were making a concerted effort to get out. I wanted to go back and check on the others, but all the escalators had been turned toward a downward position, so that was the only way I could go.
"The security guards blocked off the revolving doors leading to the streets and they were chasing anyone who was trying to rush them."
It was at this point the second plane crashed into the other tower. Roche describes what he felt and how he reacted.
"The weirdest things go through your mind," Roche continued. "The building shuddered violently, and shrapnel began to hit the roof of the glass Atrium. The second impact threw shrapnel directly on top of us because that was the North Tower that just got hit and No. 7 WTC was attached to it. So in essence, we were lucky that they hit the South Tower first."
Roche became a NASCAR fan within the last four years and is an avid viewer of Winston Cup events on television.
While the shrapnel was coming down upon him and others, a very familiar voice came into his head spurring him into action.
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Darrell Waltrip
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"When I heard shrapnel hitting, I actually heard Darrell Waltrip's voice in my head as I was running," Roche said. "He was saying, 'I got to go!' And then the voice directed to the security guard was saying, 'You're holding me up, bud!' just like when DW talked about what he used to say to himself when he was driving. I remember him telling us those things on the telecasts earlier this year.
"I was in the middle of a terror zone, and DW was in my mind, how weird is that?"
At that point, Roche and others made a decision that saved their lives. With more noise and activity starting to take place at ground level, they knew it was indeed time to go.
"About 20 of us bum rushed a side door on one side of a lobby and we were not sure where it led," Roche said. "But, it led us to a loading dock where we jumped off and ran out onto Vesey St, which runs east-west adjacent to the towers. I didn’t want to over run the women that were with us, so I tried to stay back some to make sure they kept moving along, too.
"Once we got out, there was glass and debris in the street and I made a sharp turn and went north up Greenwich Street. I was carrying my book bag for law school. As I was running, it flew open and my books scattered onto Chambers St. These are heavy casebooks like Constitutional Law and Property.
"I actually stopped to pick them up. A woman stopped to help me looking at me the whole time like I was nuts for stopping to pick them up, but she helped me anyhow."
Because there was no way to communicate to his family that he was OK, at that point, he headed to the familiar grounds of the New York Law School.
“It’s about an eight-minute walk from the World Trade Center to the school,” he said. “My parents and brothers were in a panic for two hours because I could not get a phone to work anywhere. I went to the school and sent an e-mail to my best friend’s mom asking her to call my parents.
“Once I did that, I left the school and headed north. But, one block later they said that area was no longer safe because the second tower had crumbled.
“I thought there were bombs going off all over Broadway, so I headed west. I did not have a clear view of the towers, but I heard people yelling that it was going down and that people were jumping out of No. 1 WTC, but I turned away.
“I did not want to see that for the rest of my life. We lost friends, and I almost lost myself and my brother.”
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Richard Petty
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With his office building collapsed and his school closed as a result of what took place in New York, the Ricky Rudd fan has found toughness in his association with racing.
“I do not have a normal life to go back to, but believe it or not, the toughness that NASCAR has showed me through tragedy has helped,” he said.
“Richard Petty said after this year’s Daytona 500 in reference to what happened to Dale Earnhardt, ‘Never put a question mark where God puts a period.’
“I have thought about that a lot the last few days.”
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