2010 California 200

The 2010 California 200 was the 8th round of the 2010 CANAC Series season, which took place at the Auto Club Speedway in California. It is best remembered for the tragic death of Jason Halley on lap 81, one of just two fatalities in SMA history.

## Background:

The race was held at Auto Club Speedway, a two-mile (3.2km) low-banked D-shaped superspeedway in Fontana, California. This was the first ever CANAC Series race at this track, meaning it was also the first ever SMA event at this venue. The track is owned and operated by International Speedway Corporation (ISC).

The California 200 was the 8th round of 17 races in the 2010 SMA CANAC Series. It was the 5th consecutive oval race, the final in that streak, with a race at Mosport Park two weeks following. Darius Winkel entered the race with the points lead. It consisted of a single 100-lap (200-mile) race.

## Practice:

Two practice sessions were held before the race on Sunday - one on Friday afternoon, and one post-qualifying on Saturday evening. Fastest in opening practice was Aron Van Damm, ahead of McKirdy, Ash, Foix, and LeCroix. Only 31 cars set times in second practice, and Taylor Ash timed in quickest, ahead of Peters, Foix, Van Damm, and Winkel. Both sessions were frequently interrupted by single-car spins, with these cars not used to racing at such high speeds, leading to far greater aerodynamic sensitivity than teams and drivers had expected.

## Qualifying:

Single-car qualifying began at 1 p.m. on Saturday. Aron Van Damm took pole, with Jake Peters III also on the front row. Taylor Ash was third, Martin Tempel fourth, and Jordain LeCroix fifth. Rounding out the top 10 were Chris Julich, David Fitzpatrick, Ewan McKirdy, Josh Dowell, and Darius Winkel. 33 drivers entered the race, two less than the series cap of 35, meaning there were no DNQs.

## Race Summary:

The race was broadcast live in Canada on TSN, and was available to watch in America on the ESPN website. The field, led by Aron Van Damm, took the green flag at 2:16 p.m. EST. The race did not last long before a yellow - on lap 8, Joseph Burke lost control in turn 1, and collided with the outside wall. Van Damm led the field back to the restart, before the caution immediately came back out after Brian Hughes and J.C. Dumoulin collided. Much of the field took the opportunity to pit, giving Ryan Berwick the lead on the restart. He was quickly swallowed up, and Aron Van Damm returned to the lead by lap 20. On lap 31, Darius Winkel came to pit road for an unscheduled stop. He would return to the pits two laps later, and go straight behind the wall - he had lost power steering. Between laps 30 and 35, those who had not pitted under the previous two cautions were forced to pit road for green flag pit stops, trapping them laps down. Caution number three flew on lap 40 for a spin for Taylor Ash - Antoine Foix collided with Jordain LeCroix trying to avoid the spin, giving Foix severe damage. Van Damm led the restart, but lost the lead on lap 47 to Gabriel Dumoulin. His lead was short-lived, and on lap 51 Max Dupont took the lead. He led through to lap 55, when another green flag pit cycle commenced. Pierre Serrin, Ray Melton Jr., and Ryan Berwick all had turns leading, but by lap 71 Max Dupont was back leading. Four cars closed up for the lead - Dupont leading polesitter Van Damm, as well as Christophe Péraud and David Fitzpatrick. Van Damm was able to retake the lead on lap 76.

### Accident:

On lap 81, Ray Melton Jr. was running close to the wall when he broke loose in turn 3/4. As he spun down, he hit first the right-hand door and then the right-rear wheel of Jason Halley's #23. Halley was turned sideways and struck the outside wall with the left-front corner at 140 mph. This contact spun Halley's car around, striking the wall once again with the left-rear, before being struck by Alec Ritchie's #43 in the driver-side door. It was likely this hit that did the most severe injuries to Halley. Halley's car spun twice more following this collision, before sliding to a stop on the paved inside apron on the exit of turn 4. Whilst the car was smoking considerably, there was no fire.

Medical response could have been better - most immediate attention went to Alec Ritchie, who's #43 was smouldering in the infield grass. Some 60 seconds passed before Halley's car was attended, at which point a medical crew was immediately called over. Halley was cut from his car and immediately airlifted to Loma Linda University Medical Center. During this flight, the race, which had been red-flagged, was resumed.

### Continuation:

The race restarted with 16 laps to go, and all cars fuelled up for the run to the finish. Van Damm slid wide on the restart, and he ran side by side with Christophe Péraud down the backstretch. Ewan McKirdy pulled it three wide heading into turn 3, and David Fitzpatrick almost took it four wide, instead tucking in behind Péraud. Péraud led at the line being pushed by Fitzpatrick, who cut low and took the lead for himself into turn 1. From there, Fitzpatrick was able to pull clear. Péraud never dropped more than 0.8 seconds back, but also never got back within half a second, giving David Fitzpatrick a clear run for his first, and only, career CANAC Series victory.

## Post-Race:

With the on-track excitement over, thoughts returned to Jason Halley, who's condition had worsened over the conclusion. No celebration or ceremonies were held for Fitzpatrick's victory, and the majority of drivers gathered around the media room waiting for updates. One notable exception was Max Venthem, who had somehow cut his hand late in the race and lost a fairly significant amount of blood over the final 8 laps. He was in the infield care center being patched up.

At 5:23 p.m. EST, an announcement was made by CANAC Series directing official Rick Braylett. Jason Halley had been pronounced dead sixteen minutes earlier, predominantly from a basilar skull fracture, alongside other internal injuries. Halley had been halfway through his first full-time season, and had a best finish of 13th at Vancouver. He was a relatively promising driver, although was already 31 by the time of his debut.

Post-race, all flags at the circuit were lowered to half-mast, and a memorial service was held in an infield building. Despite Halley's low profile within the field, his death still shook many, and most drivers refused to give interviews post-race. Those who did were clearly emotionally moved, and paid tribute to Halley and his family, offering only muted views of their achievements that day.

The race gave Aron Van Damm the points lead by just 3 points over Antoine Foix. In fact, the top seven in points were separated by a margin of just 25.