High-speed driver dies after crashing while racing | College News
A veteran high-speed driver has died after dropping control of his vehicle while driving at almost 300 miles per hour Sunday during the 2025 Bonneville Speed Week occasion in northwestern Utah.
Chris Raschke, 60, was handled by medical professionals, but died at the scene of the accident at the Bonneville Salt Flats, close to Wendover, Utah, according to a press release by occasion organizer Southern California Timing Assn.
“When you lose anybody in the community, it’s always tough,” race director and SCTA board president Keith Pedersen advised The Times on Tuesday. “And somebody as well-liked and known as Chris, that makes it even tougher.”
In addition to being a “very accomplished race car driver,” Pedersen stated, Raschke was also “very, very friendly, very competitive. But he’s also the type of person that if you needed a part or something, he would give it to you and say, ‘Yeah, just bring it back when you’re done.’”
According to Raschke’s Speed Demon bio web page, he was “the first official employee at Ventura Raceway in the early 80’s” and over the years turned concerned in virtually all points of motor sports activities.
Also an worker of ARP Auto Parts, which makes fasteners and different merchandise for race automobiles, Raschke labored as half of the Speed Demon crew for more than a decade before changing into a driver for the group.
At final yr’s Speed Week, Raschke topped out at 446 mph, which Pedersen stated was the quickest measured mile at the occasion. This yr, he was driving the most recent iteration of his group’s vehicle, the Speed Demon 3. Pederson confirmed that Raschke’s final recorded velocity during Sunday’s race was 283 mph.
A Facebook post from the Speed Demon group account said: “At this time, we ask everyone to please respect Chris’s family, friends, and the Speed Demon team. We are deeply devastated.”
The Tooele County Sheriff’s Office is investigating Raschke’s death, with help from the SCTA. Sgt. Dan Lerdahl advised The Times that the crash is being considered as an accident, although it’s unclear at this level whether or not the trigger was “a roadway issue, a mechanical issue or just a freak thing.”
Racing was suspended following Rashke’s crash but resumed Monday. Pedersen stated canceling the occasion, which runs through Friday at the at the Bonneville Salt Flats, was never actually a consideration.
“We’ve been doing Speed Week for 77 years, and over those years, there have been other fatalities out here. And it’s always a tragedy,” Pedersen stated. “But we typically regroup. … We grieve and we race. Chris would have wanted us to race, and we’re continuing to do that.”
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