posted 06-03-2005 03:07 PM         

10:41 a.m. June 3, 2005

FONTANA – Two San Diego County men were killed when their Porsche crashed and burned at the California Speedway, authorities said.
The 2005 Porsche Carrera GT went out of control, left the inside track and careered onto the grass, hit a barrier and caught fire at 10:40 a.m. Thursday, San Bernardino County officials said.

The passenger, Corey Nicholas Rudl, 34, died at the scene. The driver, Benjamin Miles Keaton, 39, was airlifted to Loma Linda University Hospital, where he died about an hour later, according to the county coroner's office.

The La Jolla men were not burned but died of crash injuries, Supervising Deputy Coroner Randy Emon said.

Both men were wearing helmets and safety belts but the car was doing more than 100 mph when it crashed, authorities said.

"The driver's side was in good shape, but the passenger side was obliterated," Emon said.

The accident occurred while the track was being rented by the San Diego chapter of the Ferrari Owners Club, speedway spokesman Dennis Bickmeier said.

Clubs commonly use the speedway when professional races aren't going on, he said.

The men are the fourth and fifth fatalities at California Speedway since it opened in 1997.

Fontana is 55 miles east of downtown Los Angeles.

posted 06-03-2005 05:20 PM         

The ferrari that he hit was comming out of the pits, looks like he hesitated so he could check that the track was clear and then went, but a GT traveling at 150+ is real hard to judge distances on.

The drivers side compartment held up fine judging by the pictures but at 150mph or so its a blood vessel issue I would bet.

posted 06-03-2005 08:09 PM         

quote:

---

Originally posted by Pantera:
Wow, I would have thought that a new porsche would be pretty safe in an accident. How sad.

---