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N0KFQ > TODAY 26.07.10 20:13l 52 Lines 2361 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 12951_N0KFQ
Read: VE7HFY GUEST
Subj: Today in History - Jul 26
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Sent: 100726/1752Z @:N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA #:12951 [Branson] FBB7.00i $:12951_N
From: N0KFQ@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
To : TODAY@WW
Jul 26, 1998:
Three race fans killed at Michigan Speedway
The U.S. 500, the most prestigious race in the Championship Auto
Racing Teams (CART) series, dissolves into tragedy on this day
in 1998, when three fans are killed and six others wounded by
flying debris from a car at Michigan Speedway in Brooklyn,
Michigan.
CART (later known as Champ Car) was an open-wheel racing circuit
created in the late 1970s by racing team owners frustrated with
the direction of the existing United States Automobile Club
(USAC). Open-wheel cars, built specifically for racing, are
sophisticated vehicles built for speed, with small, open
cockpits and wheels located outside the car's main body. In CART
races, as well as those of its rival open-wheel circuit, the
Indy Racing League, drivers often achieved speeds of up to 230
mph in the straightaways. (In comparison, drivers in National
Association for Stock Car Racing--better known as NASCAR--events
reach some 200 mph.)
While rounding the fourth turn at Michigan Speedway (a two-mile
oval) in the 1998 U.S. 500, driver Adrian Fernandez lost control
of his car and crashed into one of the raceway's retaining
walls. The car broke apart, and the right front tire and part of
the suspension flew over the 15-foot-high wall and into the
stands. Traveling nearly 200 mph, the debris hit fans in the
eighth and 10th rows. Two people were killed instantly; another
died moments later, and six others received minor injuries. To
the outrage of Sports Illustrated reporter Rick Reilly, who
wrote a scathing editorial about the incident in the magazine,
race officials didn't stop the event, which was won by the young
Canadian driver Greg Moore. (In a tragic twist of fate, Moore
died in October 1999, after a fatal crash in the CART season
finale, the Marlboro 500, in California.) In August 1998,
Michigan Speedway announced that it would extend the protective
fencing around all of its grandstand sections to a total of
around 17 feet in an effort to prevent further accidents.
The CART circuit changed its name to Champ Car in 2004. Four
years later, plagued by financial troubles, the Champ Car World
Series declared bankruptcy and merged with the Indy Racing
League.
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