TOOELE COUNTY, Utah, Aug. 18, 2017 (Gephardt Daily) — The Tooele County Sheriff’s office has released the identity of a man killed in a crash at the Bonneville Salt Flats Speedway Wednesday.
Christopher Clay, 65, of Rohnert Park, Calif., a passenger in a Ford pickup truck that collided with a minivan, died at the scene, the Sheriff’s Office said.
The accident occurred at about 8:45 a.m. on an access road near the race site. The pickup truck and a van, both carrying members of support crews for racers, collided head-on.
The pickup truck had three other passengers; the van was carrying two people. Of the five injured, two have life-threatening injuries and one is in serious condition. The three hurt worst were transported by medical helicopters to the University of Utah Hospital. The five who were injured also are from California, officials said.
This accident follows one Tuesday in which racer Jerry K. Wortman was injured when he lost control of his vehicle while traveling at more than 180 mph.
Wortman, 78 and from Big Sky, Montana, also was transported to the University of Utah Hospital. JoAnn Carlson, event spokeswoman, said Wednesday that she had no update on Wortman’s condition.
Speed Week is a competition in which racers try to break existing speed records. More than 400 drivers are involved this year, and hundreds of spectators and support crews drive to the site daily, or camp on the mud flats that surround the salt flats.
