A driver died on Sunday after crashing while trying to establish a ground speed record at an annual event in Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, the organizers of the event said.
Chris Raschke, 60, died after the accident around 3:03 pm MT, officials of the Association of Southern California, who runs the event, said in a statement.
The accident occurred after the organizers said that Raschke “lost control of their land speed vehicle approximately 2 1/2 miles.” It happened during the “Speed Week” annual, which opened on Sunday.
Bonneville’s floors have approximately 12 miles long and 5 miles wide and are formed by sodium chloride, or table salt, according to the Federal Land Administration Office, which supervises it.
The area is used for ground races on land, among other purposes, he says. The drivers in the Bonneville event can reach speeds of more than 300 mph.
Raschke was a driver of the Demon Speed team in Ventura County, California, and piloted the Demon Speed Stellingriner, says the team on its website. He started working in Motorsports in the 1980s, he said.
“We are deeply devastated,” said the team on social networks on Sunday.
The American Hot Rod Foundation was one of those who also cried the death of Raschke. He said that, according to the reports, he was traveling through the 300 mph neighborhood when the accident occurred.
“For those who knew him in salt, he was someone who found the perfect balance of friendly and competitive. Never a habitual combination and one who talks about the quality of his character,” the association said in a statement. “We send our deepest sympathies to Chris’s family and friends.”
The floors are located about 120 miles west Salt Lake City, on the western edge of the Great Salt Lake Basin, says the BLM on its website. They are remains of Lake Bonneville.
The cause of the accident is under investigation, said the association of times of southern California.
