Son Of Street Racing Icon Charged In Houston Injury Crash

Ronald Gray Pace III has been formally charged for his involvement in an injury accident resulting from an illegal street race held on a Houston, Texas-area road the night of March 17th.

Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, Assistant District Attorney Sean Teare, and Sheriff’s Department Capt. Quincy Whitaker announced the criminal charges in a press conference held on Tuesday. Pace is the son of “Barefoot” Ronnie Pace, a native Texan who has made a number of appearances on the reality television program Street Outlaws.

Pace faces two counts of felony street racing causing serious bodily injury, and faces two to 20 years in prison.

Photos credit: Harris County’s Sheriff’s Office

Two men were seriously injured when they were stuck by Pace’s fourth-generation Camaro as it raced down Houston Oaks Drive, located in a business park in the Northwest corner of the city. Pace’s wayward car struck two young men — Terry Golden being one of those men. The car then struck a parked pickup truck before coming to rest in a business parking lot.

“I saw the car coming, I ran, and still got hit. The shoulder came out broke, the hip got replaced, the left ankle and two discs in my back cracked,” Golden told ABC13. “I wish I wasn’t there, I should have gone home, to be honest with you.”

HCSO Racing Video

WARNING GRAPHIC: The son of racing legend, Barefoot Ronnie Pace, is charged with two counts of racing causing serious bodily injury. Barefoot Ronnie is featured on the Discovery Channel's Street Outlaws. This video shows Ronald Gray Pace III allegedly driving his red camaro into two onlookers. The two men survived but, suffered broken bones and brain bleeding.

Posted by Josh Marshall KHOU on Tuesday, April 16, 2019

The accident took place over the course of the weekend in which the Houston Raceway Park hosted its annual TX2K, a legally-sanctioned racing event that brings high-horsepower domestic and import vehicles from all over the country to the Houston area. With street races and related accidents and traffic stops traditionally above average during TX2K, the Houston Police Department and the Harris County Sheriff’s Office increased its presence around the city and county, including issuing a “no refusal weekend,” during which motorists could not refuse breathalyzer or blood draws for alcohol impairment.

At the culmination of this criminal charge, we plan to destroy this car in a very public fashion, to show everyone that not only will you face charges and penitentiary time if you hurt or kill someone, but you will lose these racing machines. – Sean Teare, Harris County Assistant District Attorney

In all, 23 arrests were made in relation to street racing during the four day period of March 14-17.

“To counter criminals, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office each year plans enforcement initiatives aimed at stopping these people before they hurt someone. We publicize the work in the news media and on social media, hoping that street racers will get the message and stay off our roads,” stated Gonzalez.

“Street racing is a very big deal in Harris County. And on this weekend, ever year, we’re talking about our efforts beforehand and the tragedies that come from this,” said Teare. “We have at least two fatalities on this weekend directly attributable to street racing.”

“We have video, have pictures. These injuries are horrific,” said Teare of the case. “In fact, I am shocked that these two young men were able to survive. And sadly, and in most of the times, they don’t survive when pedestrians are struck by cars like this. And this car is specifically designed for racing. It has no business being on the roads of our streets or any other community. We have that car — the car is in the custody of the Sheriff’s Department, and that car will not be turned back over so it can be cannibalized and used again. At the culmination of this criminal charge, we plan to destroy this car in a very public fashion, to show everyone that not only will you face charges and penitentiary time if you hurt or kill someone, but you will lose these racing machines.”

“TX2K is an event for car racing enthusiasts. They come, and it’s a sanctioned event and it’s well-organized. And it’s on a track,” Gonzalez added. “We want people to come and celebrate that, but we come to remind people about illegal street racing, and beyond just this event — it happens on a regular basis on our county roadways and it really needs to stop. We’ve seen so many people injured. This stuff can kill, it’s irresponsible, it’s illegal, we’re going find you and we’re going to arrest you and try to put an end to this.”

According to a report from ABC13, Pace turned himself in at court this morning. The other racer involved in the accident left the scene and has not been positively identified, although through the use of video and eyewitness reports, the District Attorney’s office believes it is nearing an arrest.

“In any racing case, you’re going to have two people that were racing,” Teare said. “That other person, we believe we have a good identification on. And I wouldn’t say that this is the sum total of the charges that will come about in this case. Our goal is to hold everyone accountable for these kinds of cases.

“This isn’t a controlled track, this isn’t a movie set. They’re just on the side of the road, and when these people take off at those speed and lose control, everybody around gets hit. People die. Those are the repercussions that everyone that decides to try to go out to these meets needs to focus on,” Teare added. “The actual drivers, those are the people that we’re focusing on. And you don’t have to be, as the other driver will soon find out, the striking car to face the exact same punishment range in these types of cases. If you are participating in a race and someone dies or gets seriously hurt, that is a second-degree felony.”

About the author

Andrew Wolf

Andrew has been involved in motorsports from a very young age. Over the years, he has photographed several major auto racing events, sports, news journalism, portraiture, and everything in between. After working with the Power Automedia staff for some time on a freelance basis, Andrew joined the team in 2010.
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