Race Car Driver Kills Cousin

Chase Johnson, 17, lost control of his sprint car and slammed into two people during warm-up laps, killing both

Race Car Driver Kills Cousin, A 17-year-old race car driver accidentally struck and killed his teenage cousin and an elderly man during warm-up laps at a California raceway on Saturday.

A sprint car driven by Chase Johnson hit his relative, Marcus Johnson, and Dale Wondergem Jr., 68,  as they were on pit row at Marysville Raceway Park some 40 miles north of Sacramento, said Race track announcer Steven Blakesley.

Wondergem owned a car at the track but not the one involved in the crash.

Johnson has been racing for three years at the Petaluma Speedway, where he's won multiple races and was last year's series champion.

His father, grandfather and great-grandfather were also champion drivers in Petaluma, where the family owns a muffler shop, said Ron Lingron, the track announcer at Petaluma Speeday.

'They're the first family of the Petaluma Speedway,' Lingron said Sunday. 'There's not a better kid you're going to find in the racing community than Chase Johnson. To have something like this put around his neck is a tragedy.'

Venue promoter Paul Hawes told the Marysville Appeal-Democrat that the car crashed during warm-up before the race and ran into pit row at high speed.

The raceway was hosting the California Sprint Car Civil War Series on the opening day of its season.
The deadly collision took place just after 6pm during warm-up laps ahead of the race which was scheduled for 7.30pm.

Blakesley told ABC News 10 that Johnson’s car had an apparent mechanical failure and did not make the corner at turn 1.

The vehicle going about 90 miles per hour went up a ramp to the pit area, hit a stack of tires and settled on top of a cement barrier.

The car continued on the partition for 100 feet, hitting a golf cart and two people walking in the pits before coming to a stop another 50 feet away, CBS Sacramento reported.

According to the announcer, one of the victims is the driver's 14-year-old cousin, and the other is a 68-year-old man who owned several of the cars in the race.

The Yuba County Sheriff's officials said the older of the two victims was pronounced dead at the scene , while the boy was taken to a hospital where he passed away from his injuries shortly after.
The 30 race teams who were set to compete Saturday night have agreed to donate their combined entrance fees totaling about $10,000 to the families of the victims, Blakesley said.

On its Facebook page, the Marysville Raceway Park posted: ‘Our thoughts and deepest prayers go out to everyone. Out of respect we will not elaborate on details. We ask everyone to respect each other and the families.’

According to his official website, Johnson, a senior at Petaluma High School, is a fourth generation race car driver who has been competing since age four.

The Penngrove, California, resident has been in 503 races so far in his career. In the three years that he has been in sprint car racing, the teenager won two Rookie of the Year awards.