A driver going 283 mph attempting to set a land velocity report throughout a racing occasion at Utah’s famed Bonneville Salt Flats died Sunday after he misplaced management of his rocket-like car known as the Velocity Demon, organizers mentioned.
Driver Chris Raschke misplaced management about two and a half miles right into a run and was handled by medical professionals on the scene, however died from his accidents, in line with a assertion from the Southern California Timing Affiliation, which has organized the favored land-speed racing occasion generally known as “Velocity Week” because the late Forties.
For many years, the flat, glasslike white floor has drawn drivers from throughout looking for to set new land velocity world information and bike and automotive followers to observe.
A remnant of a prehistoric lakebed, the salt flats which are about 100 miles west of Salt Lake Metropolis have additionally been a backdrop for motion pictures like “Independence Day” and “The World’s Quickest Indian.”
“Motorsports is inherently a harmful sport,” mentioned Dennis Sullivan, a automotive builder and racer who set a land velocity report in his 1927 Mannequin T road roadster and serves as president of the Utah Salt Flats Racing Affiliation. “Individuals get harm. Individuals get killed. That is simply the character of the game. It would not occur quite a bit.”
Sullivan mentioned motor sports activities even have stringent security necessities – resembling stronger roll bars, particular tires and extra hearth extinguishers – that assist defend drivers.
The final racing dying Sullivan recalled on the flats got here in 2016 when Sam Wheeler, a famend land velocity bike racer, crashed at 200 mph when the high-performance bike he was testing fish-tailed and went airborne.
Rick Bowmer / AP
The Bonneville Salt Flats, which had its first race in 1914, have about 7 miles for racing and an aquifer beneath that cools the tires of the vehicles. It is not like different race venues in that it would not have stands. Spectators should stand two-tenths of a mile away from the vehicles.
Raschke misplaced management of the car about two and a half miles right into a run. It is unknown what velocity Raschke was aiming to achieve. The affiliation and the Tooele County Sheriff’s Workplace are investigating the dying, mentioned Sgt. Dane Lerdahl, a spokesman for the regulation enforcement company.
“We all know it was an accident of some type,” Lerdahl mentioned. For many years, individuals have used the flat, glasslike floor at Bonneville Salt Flats, 100 miles west of Salt Lake Metropolis, to set velocity information, generally topping 400 mph. Velocity Week has lengthy been a draw for bike and automotive followers.
In keeping with the Southern California Timing Affiliation, 18 information have been set on Sunday morning, 7 by vehicles and 11 by bikes throughout a complete of 261 runs.
Raschke, 60, was the driving force of a streamliner – a protracted, slim, aerodynamic automotive made to run at excessive speeds – generally known as the Velocity Demon. He had labored in motor sports activities for greater than 4 a long time.
Keith Pedersen, the affiliation’s president and Velocity Week race director, mentioned Raschke’s dying was a serious loss for the racing neighborhood, CBS affiliate KUTV reported.
“It is way more of a camaraderie and neighborhood, and that builds a variety of friendships and belief,” Pedersen informed the station. “He is an enormous a part of it, and he shall be sorely missed.”
In keeping with the Velocity Demon racing crew’s web site, Raschke labored on the Ventura Raceway within the early Nineteen Eighties, raced 3-wheelers and vehicles within the mini inventory division, realized to manufacture and preserve race vehicles when working with an acclaimed engine builder and later grew to become a driver for the Velocity Demon crew.
Pedersen mentioned Raschke was a revered driver inside the racing neighborhood and in addition labored for a corporation that makes fasteners for race vehicles.
“He is without doubt one of the huge ones. He had finished all kinds of racing,” Pedersen mentioned.
The Race Week occasion started on Saturday and runs by Friday.
