14 DAY TRIAL // A race car accident involving two vehicles at the Marysville Raceway Park in California has left two people dead in one of the cars.
According to Sky News, a driver has been killed in the crash and the teenage driver of the second vehicle has escaped the collision unharmed.
While 68-year-old Dale Wondergem Jr. from Grass Valley was registered as an owner of a race car, he was not driving his own vehicle at the time of the incident.
Both him and his passenger, 14-year-old Marcus Johnson, incurred critical injuries. He died on the spot, and Johnson was transported to Rideout Hospital in Marysville. Medical staff were not able to save him and he was pronounced dead not long after being brought in.
Fox 40 reports that Chase Johnson of Penngrove, the 17-year-old driver of the other car and Marcus' cousin has not been injured.
The crash occurred during a warm-up tour before a California Sprint Car Civil War Series event on Saturday, at approximately 6 p.m.
Six or seven vehicles were on the track when Chase Johnson smashed into a wall then hit Wondergem's car, before capsizing and ending up on its side.
Steven Blakesley, an announcer at the track speaking for race organizers, has detailed that Johnson's vehicle has incurred technical difficulties around the first turn.
News 10 quotes a spokesperson for the Yuba County Sheriff's Department, describing that no other drivers or spectators have been injured during the incident.
$10,000 (€7,700) in entry fees have been donated to the families of the deceased, and other events in the series have been called off.
"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," Marysville Raceway Park reps write on Facebook.