A few more details have emerged this morning after last night's deadly crash at a sprint car race in California that claimed the lives of two spectators.
CNN reports that the crash occurred during the warmup laps about an hour before the race was set to begin at the Marysville Raceway Park north of Sacramento. Two spectators were killed when one of the sprint cars flew off the track and into the pits — a 68-year-old man who died at the scene and a 14-year-old boy who died at a hospital, sheriff's officials said. Their names have not been released.
Sheriff's deputies told TV station KCRA that it remains unknown why driver Chase Johnson's car went off the track. Johnson, 17, was not injured.
But sprint car announcer Steven Blakesley attended the race as a spectator, and he told reporters that it appeared Johnson's throttle got stuck, causing him to lose control in a corner.
"He hit the left side of an opening (of the wall) near the pit area, he hit two big tractor tires which sent him airborne," he told reporters. Blakesley told the Associated Press that Johnson's car was going about 90 mph when it failed to make the turn.
The race was the opening day of the California Sprint Car Civil War Series. The race was postponed after the crash. We'll update this story as we get more information.
Photo credit KCRA via CNN