A sprint car flipped over the catch fence and out of Volusia Speedway Park injuring three spectators Sunday night, according to the Volusia County (Fla.) Sheriff’s Office.
3 injured after sprint car flips into spectator area
The accident occurred during a Word of Outlaws race at a Florida dirt track.
Photo by Todd Warshaw/Getty Images for Kasey Kahne Racing
All three victims were transported to Halifax Health Medical Center, two as trauma alerts, with one flown by a helicopter. Two of the injured remained hospitalized. Michael Brooks, 68, is in extremely critical condition, and Kelly Kovski, 35, in stable condition, according to the sheriff’s office report obtained by SB Nation. The third victim, identified by the track as Gary Streek, has already been discharged.
The accident occurred in the DIRTcar Nationals World of Outlaws race at the half-mile dirt track located in Barberville, Fla. Video shows Dale Blaney’s car began tumbling after contact with Rico Abreu and Jason Sides, and then flipped over protective fencing in Turn 2 and into a spectator area nears the pits. None of the drivers involved were injured.
Emergency personnel on the scene immediately began administrating medical treatment, according to a DIRTcar Nationals statement posted. After an 80-minute stoppage, the race resumed, according to the World of Outlaws Twitter feed.
Kovski was in the pit area serving as crew chief for NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Justin Allgaier, who was racing a dirt modified Sunday night. Allgaier announced in a statement he won’t be racing at Volusia the remainder of the week.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the members of our racing family injured Sunday night, and we are encouraged by the reports of the excellent care they are receiving at Halifax,” Volusia Speedway Park CEO Brian Carter said “We have implemented additional safety measures and are very proud of our emergency medical personnel and their response to the incident.”
This was the second time in five days a sprint car flipped out of the track. On Wednesday, Jason Saldana’s car cleared a fence and went into the grandstand, breaking a portion of wooden grandstand seating in the same area as Blaney’s car landed. No injuries were reported.
Tracks officials announced the pit area closest to the racing surface outside of Turn 2 will be closed for the remaining six nights of racing this week.
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