good thing you cant rent fuel cars for fun...

[Rick Rzepka]

Tourist crashes, dies at DIS: A 60-year-old man crashed and died while driving at the Daytona Beach International Speedway as part of the Richard Petty Driving Experience, authorities and family members said today. Robert Boswell was taking part in the Richard Petty Driving Experience, a program where fans pay to get behind the wheel of a NASCAR car, said his son Greg Boswell. The crash occurred about 5 p.m. Sunday, police said. Bowden was taken to Halifax Health Medical Center where he was declared dead at 7pm/et. "He was driving at the time he died," Greg Boswell said. Police released Boswell's name, but they are not commenting on the investigation because it is still active, said Daytona Beach police spokesman Jimmie Flynt.(Daytona Beach News Journal)(2-4-2008)

 

[Horsepower & Heels]

Wow. That's a bad deal. I always wondered how they managed the risks of letting inexperienced fans drive 150mph.

 

[Toejam]

That's not the first time, back in '01-'02ish it happened at Charlotte. Not sure of the details, but I wonder how many on the Nascar boards are demanding the Richard Petty experience be shut down???

 

[Rick Rzepka]

That's not the first time, back in '01-'02ish it happened at Charlotte. Not sure of the details, but I wonder how many on the Nascar boards are demanding the Richard Petty experience be shut down???

feb 4 2003, LAS VEGAS -- A man in town for a business convention died of natural causes while driving at a racing school named for Richard Petty.
Philip Jerome Malarkey's death at Las Vegas Motor Speedway was attributed to coronary atherosclerosis, a common cause of heart attacks, the coroner's office said Tuesday.
Malarkey, 58, of Arnold, Md., paid several thousand dollars to participate in the Richard Petty Driving Experience.

 

[mike cummings]

About 9 years ago I was technical manager at NASCAR Silicon Motor Speedway which was a racing simulator company NASCAR Silicon Motor Speedway - Racing so real you can feel it. . We had a customer die while driving the simulators when he had a massive heart attack during the simulation. Each customer had to sign a release before they could race the simulator and the release advised pregnant women, people with bad heart conditions, people prone to motion sickness to use the simulators at their own risk.

 

[clwill]

I used to own part of a stock car racing school in WA state. We had a girl smack the wall and die. Seems she got her foot caught between the gas and brake.

Was a complete nightmare. The family had been into racing for years and insisted they understood, promised they wouldn't sue. Until an ambulance chaser showed up. Dragged on for years, cost the insurance company a boatload. Still gives me shivers...

 

[.]

I used to own part of a stock car racing school in WA state. We had a girl smack the wall and die. Seems she got her foot caught between the gas and brake.

Don't these people know how to turn off the ignition? It always baffles me when you read stories about some idiot that drove her car for 2 miles because the pedal was stuck. Hello...turn off the damn key, moron!

 

[clwill]

Don't these people know how to turn off the ignition? It always baffles me when you read stories about some idiot that drove her car for 2 miles because the pedal was stuck. Hello...turn off the damn key, moron!

Was a 1/8 mile circle track, she came off a corner a little hot, apparently went for the brake, hit the gas which just increased the slide, and she slammed into the grandstand wall. Happened in a second or two, no time for the red switch. Died instantly. Really quite tragic.

 

[Joker]

Sad story Chris. I can imagine that was a nightmare to deal with. I did the Petty Experience back in 99 and had a blast. It was awesome and we only did 180mph. How close they get to the wall is unbelievable. I cant imagine it with 42 other cars around you at 200 mph plus. I just did the ride-along but it was well worth it.

 

[Mike]

60-year-old crashes, dies at DIS in RPDE car: A 60-year-old Apopka man died after he crashed while driving a Richard Petty Driving Experience car at the Daytona Beach International Speedway, authorities and family members said today. Robert Boswell was taking part in the Richard Petty Driving Experience, a program where fans pay to get behind the wheel of a NASCAR car, said his son, Greg Boswell. The crash occurred about 5 p.m. Sunday, police said. Robert Boswell was taken to Halifax Health Medical Center where he was declared dead at about 7 p.m. An autopsy report released this afternoon showed he died of a heart attack and not from the crash. Chris McKee, director of media relations for the Richard Petty Driving Experience, said Boswell had completed lap three at 125 mph when he slowed to take Turn 1. He began to drive erratically around turn one, jerking at the wheel, said an instructor who was driving ahead of Boswell. He then slumped over and steered the car into the concrete retaining wall on the inside of Turn 2, McKee said. Speedway officials said this was the first Richard Petty Driving Experience death at Daytona. However, McKee said this is the third death of a driver among all participating tracks. The two earlier deaths were later determined to be the result of medical conditions and not mechanical failure, McKee said.(Daytona Beach News Journal)(2-4-2008) Comment here

 

[Sean D, shondoo]

I went through Roy Hill's Pro Stock deal back in the mid-nineties and also had an experience I will never forget.

To hear things like this are tragic, but the possibility of this kind of thing just comes with the turf. Whether the cause was a crash or a heart related deal, the threat serious injury or death is very real with this kind of adventure. But from my experience these things are pretty well disciplined (especially Roy's!) and you knowingly sign the necessary waivers before ever going in, so I certainly don't see any reason for experiences like this to be shut down. You go into it as a grown adult, make whatever decisions you make during the process, and whatever happens, happens. Hopefully it's all good.

Very tragic to hear, nonetheless.

Sean D

 

[Don]

Tourist crashes, dies at DIS: A 60-year-old man crashed and died while driving at the Daytona Beach International Speedway as part of the Richard Petty Driving Experience, authorities and family members said today. Robert Boswell was taking part in the Richard Petty Driving Experience, a program where fans pay to get behind the wheel of a NASCAR car, said his son Greg Boswell. The crash occurred about 5 p.m. Sunday, police said. Bowden was taken to Halifax Health Medical Center where he was declared dead at 7pm/et. "He was driving at the time he died," Greg Boswell said. Police released Boswell's name, but they are not commenting on the investigation because it is still active, said Daytona Beach police spokesman Jimmie Flynt.(Daytona Beach News Journal)(2-4-2008)

Heart Attack...not his driving killed him

 

[TOOLMAN]

Tourist crashes, dies at DIS: A 60-year-old man crashed and died while driving at the Daytona Beach International Speedway as part of the Richard Petty Driving Experience, authorities and family members said today. Robert Boswell was taking part in the Richard Petty Driving Experience, a program where fans pay to get behind the wheel of a NASCAR car, said his son Greg Boswell. The crash occurred about 5 p.m. Sunday, police said. Bowden was taken to Halifax Health Medical Center where he was declared dead at 7pm/et. "He was driving at the time he died," Greg Boswell said. Police released Boswell's name, but they are not commenting on the investigation because it is still active, said Daytona Beach police spokesman Jimmie Flynt.(Daytona Beach News Journal)(2-4-2008)

RICK, THE GUY HAD A HEART ATTACK BEFORE ENTERING TURN AND HIT THE WALL.

*I'D LIKE TO RENT A PRO STOCK

 

[Nitrohaulic]

I used to own part of a stock car racing school in WA state. We had a girl smack the wall and die. Seems she got her foot caught between the gas and brake.

Was a complete nightmare. The family had been into racing for years and insisted they understood, promised they wouldn't sue. Until an ambulance chaser showed up. Dragged on for years, cost the insurance company a boatload. Still gives me shivers...

How much do you want to bet the lawyers got them to sue because they used "The insurance company will be the one to pay, not the company" reasoning on them?

 

[clwill]

How much do you want to bet the lawyers got them to sue because they used "The insurance company will be the one to pay, not the company" reasoning on them?

Oh, the family told us that quite explicitly. And our insurance tripled.

 

[Outlaw Eric]

I did the Petty Experience back in 99 and had a blast. It was awesome and we only did 180mph. How close they get to the wall is unbelievable. I cant imagine it with 42 other cars around you at 200 mph plus.

Justin,

Did you have to do any kind of physical in order to drive?

If over 50 (55?) do they require EKG?

If not, they probably should... That is what it takes to license with the XHRAs.

EDB