List of Daytona International Speedway fatalities

List of Daytona International Speedway fatalities

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Name	Date of accident	Vehicle	Sanction	Event	Session	Course of events	References

Marshall Teague	February 11, 1959	Car	USAC	Speed record attempt	Testing	Teague conducted test runs preparing for a speed record attempt in a "Sumar Special", a reconfigured Indy car with a canopy and streamlined fenders, classified as Formula Libre; when he entered the west turn, the high-speed aerodynamic lift caused his racer to spin and flip end-over-end, throwing Teague, still strapped to his seat, from the car.

George Amick	April 4, 1959	Car	USAC	Daytona 100	Race	Exiting the west turn, Amick's "Bowes Seal Fast" Indy car smashed into the outer guard rail on the backstretch straightaway, overturned, and traveled upside down before coming to a standstill in the infield.

Byrne E. Taylor	June 14, 1959	Boat	APBA	Southeastern States outboard championships on Lake Lloyd	Heat race	Approaching the west turn, Taylor's C racing runabout spun, flipped and ejected him into the water where he was hit by an onrushing competitor.

Martin Every	June 18, 1960	Car	American Motors passenger car test	Testing	Leaving the east turn, Every lost control of his Rambler, apparently due to a blown tire, and overturned. The 23-year-old amateur driver died at Halifax Hospital about an hour later.

Habe Haberling	February 21, 1961	Car	NASCAR	250-mile race	Practice	Having entered the east turn, Haberling's Modified Chevrolet spun sideways, veered down the banking, and ran it up again before rolling over several times and coming to a stop near the infield grass.

Billy Wade	January 5, 1965	Car	Goodyear tire test	Testing	Wade was approaching the west turn when his Mercury blew a tire. After ramming and sliding along the outer retaining wall, the car skidded down to the apron, ran up the turn, crashed into the wall sideways and jerked to a halt.

Don MacTavish	February 22, 1969	Car	NASCAR	Daytona Permatex 300	Race	Coming out of the east turn, MacTavish hit an opening in the outside wall covered by metal guard rail, shearing off the front of his Sportsman Mercury Comet, which was then struck by Sam Sommers.

Wayne Harris Bartz	March 12, 1969	Bike	76-mile novice lightweight race	Heat race	Riding a Suzuki, Bartz crashed into two downed bikes on the east turn. He was flung through the air and slammed on the ground.

Tab Prince	February 19, 1970	Car	NASCAR	125-mile race	Race	A blown engine caused Prince's Dodge Charger Daytona to slide sideways as it was going into the west turn where it was t-boned by Bill Seifert.

Rusty Bradley	March 14, 1971	Bike	AMA	Daytona 200	Race	Bradley lost control of his Kawasaki in turn one of the road course, his helmeted head hitting the track. The 21-year-old college student died of skull injuries in Halifax Hospital several hours later.

David Pearl	July 31, 1971	Car	SCCA	Central Florida meet — Paul Whiteman Trophy	Race	Coming to a halt in the center of the track after spinning out, Pearl's Brabham BT29 was broadsided by Milo Vega on the west infield turn of the road course.

Friday Hassler	February 17, 1972	Car	NASCAR	125-mile race	Qualifying Race	Hassler was involved in a multi-car pileup on the backstretch. His Chevrolet hit a wall, spun, and was struck by Jimmy Crawford, Hassler being knocked back into the wall.

Don Williams	February 17, 1979	Car	NASCAR	Sportsman 300	Race	Coming out of Turn Two, Williams, who was driving a Sportsman Chevrolet Chevelle, was involved in a multi-car pileup, incurring permanent brain damage, which left him in a semicomatose state until his death on May 21, 1989.

Ricky Knotts	February 14, 1980	Car	NASCAR	125-mile race	Qualifying Race	Going into Turn One, Knotts, driving an Oldsmobile, made contact with Slick Johnson, crashed into the outside wall, collided with Blackie Wangerin, and skidded across the track and the infield grass before slamming into a concrete wall passengerside.

Bruce Jacobi	February 17, 1983	Car	NASCAR	UNO Twin 125	Qualifying Race	Caught by a gusty headwind exiting Turn 2, Jacobi drifted towards the wet infield grass where his Pontiac became airborne and somersaulted until its remains came to a stop near a dirt bank.

Francis Affleck	February 7, 1985	Car	ARCA	Daytona ARCA 200	Practice	Entering the backstretch, Affleck's Ford started to spin and flipped several times. Due to a failure of the window net, he was partially ejected, sustaining head and neck injuries.

Charles Ogle	December 15, 1985	Car	Pontiac race car test	Testing	A tire failure led to Ogle's Dash Series Pontiac Sunbird digging into the infield grass near the bus stop chicane and becoming airborne.

Joe Young	February 13, 1987	Car	NASCAR	Komfort Koach 200	Race	Involved in a multi-car pileup, Young's Dash Series Chevrolet Cavalier was slowly sliding backwards between Turns 3 and 4 when hit almost head-on by Duell Sturgill with the impact ripping apart the front end of Young's car.

James Kolman	December 27, 1987	Kart	WKA	Enduro World Championships	Practice	About to enter the infield section of the road course, Kolman, driving a Yamaha kart in the S Lite Class, left the course and hit a barrier.

Randy Glenn	February 27, 1988	Bike	CCS	Lightweight Superbike/SuperTwin races	Practice	Exiting the infield section of the road course, Glenn was killed in a crash with his Kawasaki EX500. The 38-year-old hobby motorcyclist was pronounced dead of massive head injuries at the infield care center.

Dale Robertson	December 27, 1989	Kart	WKA	Enduro World Championships	Race	Starting in the Sprint Sit-Up class, Robertson and several other drivers were involved in a crash. The 26-year-old racer died of massive head and chest injuries.

Slick Johnson	February 11, 1990	Car	ARCA	Daytona ARCA 200	Race	Between Turns 3 and 4, Johnson lost control of his Pontiac Grand Prix, which was sliding sideways when hit by David Simko's car and thus deflected into the outside wall from where it rebounded into the path of an oncoming spinning car before being broadsided by another one near the infield.

Joe Booher	February 12, 1993	Car	NASCAR	Florida 200	Race	Entering Turn One, the right rear of Booher's Dash Series Chevrolet Beretta clipped the left front of Carl Horton's car, which sent Booher head-on into the outside wall.

James Adamo	March 7, 1993	Bike	AMA	Daytona 200	Race	Exiting the infield course, Adamo's Ducati 888 went straight into a stack of hay bales before striking a retaining wall and guardrail.

Neil Bonnett	February 11, 1994	Car	NASCAR	Daytona 500	Practice	Bonnett's Chevrolet Lumina swerved when coming off Turn 4, slid onto the apron, went up the banking, and crashed into the wall nearly head-on.

Rodney Orr	February 14, 1994	Car	NASCAR	Daytona 500	Practice	Entering Turn 2, Orr's Ford Thunderbird spun onto the apron, went up the banking, flipped over, and hit the wall roof-first.

Michael Himes	January 31, 1997	Car	IMSA	Two-Hour Endurance Championship	Race	Having entered the bus stop chicane, Himes's Honda Civic del Sol SI, instead of turning right, hit a tire wall head-on.

Roger Reiman	March 4, 1997	Bike	BMW Battle of the Legends	Practice	A collision involving several motorcycles caused Reiman to be thrown from his bike on the infield section of the road course.

Chad Matteson	October 31, 1997	Bike	NASB	Lightweight Sport Bike/GT3 race	Practice	Coming out of the infield section of the road course, Matteson crashed on his Yamaha 400. The 24-year-old motorcycle mechanic was declared brain dead at Halifax Medical Center in the afternoon of the same day.

Chris Tatro	March 2, 2000	Bike	CCS	Practice	Riding a 600cc Kawasaki, Tatro crashed into the outside retaining wall on the high bank off turn four. A short time later, the 22-year-old amateur rider died of head injuries and multiple trauma at Halifax Medical Center.

Dale Earnhardt	February 18, 2001	Car	NASCAR	Daytona 500	Race	Going into the final turn, the rear of Earnhardt's Chevrolet Monte Carlo made contact with Sterling Marlin's front bumper, which caused Earnhardt to briefly slide towards the apron before shooting up the banking.

Dirk Piz	March 11, 2001	Bike	AMA	Buell Pro Thunder Sprint	Race	Entering the bus stop chicane, Piz's Ducati 748 collided with Kiyoshige Watanabe's crashed bike, was lifted up, and sent Piz into the tire barrier to his right.

Stuart Stratton	October 19, 2001	Bike	CCS	GTO	Pre-race	Practicing a start on his Yamaha YZF-R6 on pit road, Stratton hit and hurt an official, and veered into the wall.

Michael Davis Jr.	December 30, 2001	Kart	WKA	Dunlop Tire National Road Racing	Race	Davis, a 17-year-old go-kart racer, was either killed by suddenly veering sideways and hitting a wall on the infield road course or by being bumped from behind and thrown from his Yamaha Sportsman Lite vehicle in Turn 4.

Bryan Cassell Jr.	October 18, 2003	Bike	CCS/FUSA	Fall Cycle Scene race	Practice	Slowing down at the exit of Turn Four, Cassell's Lightweight/ThunderBike Ducati was rammed and run over by Jeff Tatham, who couldn't evade him.

Roy Weaver III (Marshal)	February 8, 2004	Car	IPOWERacing	IPOWER Dash 150	Race	Weaver was picking up debris on Turn 2 during a caution period when he was struck by Ray Paprota's Dash Series Pontiac Sunfire.

Robert Boswell	February 3, 2008	Car	Richard Petty Driving Experience	Racing school	Boswell, slumped over the steering wheel and driving erratically, skidded down the Turn 2 embankment and hit a retaining wall. A medical examiner found that the 60-year-old man had suffered a heart attack.

Alan Burgess	August 9, 2009	Car	SCCA	Central Florida meet — Daytona Double SARRC	Race	Burgess managed to drive his flaming GT-2 Porsche 944 into the pits, but by the time the fire was extinguished the 54-year-old facilities director had sustained severe burns, succumbing at an Orlando hospital 15 days later.

Eric Desy	October 17, 2013	Bike	Team Hammer Advanced Riding School	Racing school	After Shaw, a 65-year-old driving school instructor, and Desy, his 45-year-old student, had collided on an oval turn, they were admitted to Halifax Health hospital where they succumbed to their injuries on the same day.

Rick Shaw

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