AP: Drag racer killed at Auto Club Speedway
From the Associated Press:
Authorities say a drag racer was killed when his custom car smashed into a trailer at more than 100 miles an hour at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana.California Highway Patrol Officer Jeff Briggs says the crash occurred Saturday in the pit area while 53-year-old Ronald F. Marcum was conducting a transmission-brake test on his dragster. Briggs says the vehicle's transmission suddenly engaged and Marcum was propelled into the parked trailer and killed.
No one else was hurt.
Briggs says National Hot Rod Association rules require transmission-brake tests to be conducted with a vehicle's tires off the ground, but Marcum failed to follow these procedures.
Sad as this is, I'm surprised this is actually the first death at the public drags. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure there are "procedures," but when there are professionals doing this and losing their lives, it's logical to think that amateurs would have a far higher death rate.