'He was our world': Peoria auto racing community mourns driver killed in work accident

PEORIA — Brad Willis Jr. was a warrior behind the wheel at Peoria Speedway while, off the track, he was driven as a father, friend and part of a family with a proud legacy in central Illinois racing.

A shop foreman the last two years at Mackinaw Valley Powder Coating, Willis died in seconds on Wednesday at age 42 when he was reportedly pinned against a wall by a semi-truck in an accident at the business.

The family — both his personal one and the one that is the racing community — mourn his loss.

"Surreal," said Crystal Ray, Willis Jr.'s sister. "He was our world, we are a very close family."

East Peoria native Willis Jr. also owned and operated BeWill Property Services. He also worked as a service technician for Kroger and MacGray, and as a mechanic for Erxleben.

"Brad was always very motivated," said his mother, Vickie. "An easy-going guy, always trying to help other people. He was very competitive on the track. But he was a person who always wanted to make things better for other people."

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Growing up on pit row

Brad Willis Sr. was an established, respected driver at Peoria Speedway, and in 2009 was inducted into the Peoria Oldtimers Racing Club Hall of Fame. He had his son, Brad Jr., at his side through the years.

Brad Jr. essentially grew up at the track, where he made a lifelong friend, Steve Shannon, the son of Peoria racing legend Herb Shannon. The two boys were together, behind the scenes, at the dirt track on Farmington Road.

"We were down there our whole lives, grew up at that track," said Shannon, who now lives in Tennessee, on Friday. "As we got older, we got closer and closer. For quite a few years we did quite a bit together.

"He really loved baseball. Played it a lot. He was a very inspirational guy, loved his daughter and devoted himself into making himself better for her. He was great around my son. You could see a special person in him, and I think he hoped that would be reflected in the people he knew around him."

'He went Dukes of Hazzard on it'

One year, the Peoria Speedway re-designed its track.

"He got out there on that track and went all Dukes of Hazzard on it," said Crystal Ray.

"He just kept on driving, circling the track from the outside on the other side of the wall."

"They re-shaped the track at Peoria, but they left the walls at 4 feet high," said Bryon Ray, Crystal's husband and a fellow Speedway driver who competed with Willis. "He was the first one out on the track and went barreling into Turn 3 and right over that wall and on out of the track.

Ray and the Willis men, Sr. and Jr., started racing together in 2010 at tracks in Lincoln, Farmer City, Peoria and elsewhere, running pro late model class cars and what would have been considered, at Peoria Speedway, the steel block car class.

"Brad Jr. was aggressive, he would drive hard to make others drive harder," Ray said. "I couldn't beat him. But that was OK. Because he's actually the reason I met my wife. I played little league ball with him growing up, got to know him through racing, and kept that friendship going. Eventually, he introduced me to Crystal."

As Willis Jr. got older and his racing career expanded, his best friend in the sport was Gary Cook Jr., and he made another friend in Modifieds racing, Jason Wagner.

A shining moment at the wheel

Brad Willis Sr. died in 2017 and his son was devastated. It was perhaps the landmark moment of Brad Jr.'s career when, two weeks after his father's death, he won a Modified class race at Spoon River Speedway.

Willis Jr., climbed out on top of his car, checkered flag in hand, turned his eyes skyward and pointed in honor of his father.

"We have that picture," Vickie Willis said. "It was his proudest moment. His dad raced and Brad grew up with the race cars and it was just a way of life for him.

"In 2000, he got his own car. And he raced until his dad died in 2017. That was it for him."

As news of Willis' death spread this week, former drivers, race teams, family members, work acquaintances and customers left their thoughts on the Peoria Speedway and on the online obituary, where countless pictures have been uploaded in more than 250 messages.

A show of respect

Willis is survived by his mother, Vickie, his sister, Crystal (Bryon) Ray, nephews Wyatt and Chase Ray, several aunts, uncles, and a score of cousins. And he leaves a daughter, 13-year-old Rhyan.

The Peoria Speedway organized a donation bucket at the drivers' check-in table at Saturday's races on the track.

During an intermission, those drivers will go up into the grandstand with helmets in hand, and ask spectators to donate, as well. The collections are for Rhyan Willis, for whom the track would like to help raise money for school supplies and clothes.

"It is with great sadness we lost one of our own … to a freak accident," the Peoria Speedway said in a statement. "Brad Jr. grew up at the Peoria Speedway watching his dad race. Later becoming a racer with his dad Brad Willis Sr. … He was an amazing father, son, brother, uncle, and friend. … Our thoughts and prayers are with the entire Willis family during this time."

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One last finish line

Bradley Earl Willis Jr., over the years, raced in the Pro-Late Model, Late Model, and Modified divisions at the Peoria Speedway, Spoon River, Lincoln, Farmer City, and other Midwest race racks in his familiar No. 6w car.

He was an advocate for health and fitness, loved the outdoors and time with his family, and was devoted to his daughter.

The family will host a visitation from 2-4 p.m. Sunday, with a service at 4 p.m. at the Davison-Fulton Bartonville Chapel (1203 W Garfield Ave., Bartonville, Illinois 6).

Cremation will be accorded, and a burial of the urn will be at Lutheran Cemetery in Peoria at a later date.

Memorials may be made to the St. Jude Midwest Affiliate in honor of his cousin, Maddison Harmon. Words of comfort can be shared with the family online at Davison-Fulton-BartonvilleChapel.

"I guess if I was to sum him up, he was a guy with a lot of challenges, met them all, fought them and never backed down," Bryon Ray said. "He had the courage to fight anything that came at him.

"And the gentleness and wisdom to help people."

Dave Eminian is the Journal Star sports columnist, and covers Bradley men's basketball, the Rivermen and Chiefs. He writes the Cleve In The Eve sports column for pjstar.com. He can be reached at 686-3206 or deminian@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @icetimecleve.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Bradley Willis Jr.: Peoria auto racing community mourns loss of ex-Speedway driver