Filed under: Motorsports
Racer dies at Altamont 24 Hours of LeMons
Jalopnik reports that one of the competitors at the 24 Hours of LeMons race at Altamont has tragically died in an accident on the course. At present, the identity of the victim, who was driving the #39 Volvo 242 Turbo pictured above, has not been released. According to Jalopnik's Murilee Martin, who is reporting on-site from LeMons and also competing in the event, the #39 car collided with a wall at high speed, and rescue personnel cut off its roof to extract the driver. Following the incident, LeMons organizers reportedly called off the rest of Saturday's racing. We don't know what's planned for Sunday, and recommend you check Jalopnik for updates. Autoblog extends its heartfelt condolences and prayers to the fallen racer's family, friends and teammates.
UPDATE: It has now been made known that the driver who passed away is Mr. Court Summerfield, age 47, of Alameda, CA. Mr. Summerfield reportedly died of a heart attack at the wheel of the car, which CHP determined to be mechanically sound. Again, we extend our deepest condolences to Mr. Summerfield's wife, Vickie, and their family and friends.
UPDATE 2: Murilee shares some final thoughts.
[Sources: Jalopnik, San Francisco Chronicle, The Truth About Cars]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Franz 1:18AM (5/11/2008)
Shame.
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klitorisaurus 1:25AM (5/11/2008)
Wow that does suck. In a volvo no less? Ironic. I hope this doesn't derail the future of LeMons though. I think the series is an excellent idea and I hope it catches on around the country.
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John Johnson 1:25AM (5/11/2008)
Always tragic to see a racer go down. Thoughts and prayers to the family.
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spdracerut 1:48AM (5/11/2008)
I'm speechless.... I have two groups of friends in the race. My condolences to everyone.
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mal_tiempo 3:50AM (5/11/2008)
R.I.P.
Was looking forward to funny coverage of this one...
How's Cali buddy?
andy 1:56AM (5/11/2008)
if the driver hasn't been name, then its pretty poor show for websites to be showing the car involved. Not how friends and family will want to find out :(
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Phillip 3:51AM (5/11/2008)
They'd find out faster then the pictures that got out. Not everybody relies on the internet for communication, remember, telephones.
Life Flight was called out, but once it got to the track, it circled around, and returned back, that's when most assumed it was fatal. Apparently, the cause is seemingly not due to the race. Witnesses state that the car just plowed into the wall at full force, no braking or steering to intervene. Weather or not that means it was an outside health issue, nobody knows at this point, and it I'll leave it at that.
Tomorrow the drivers will return to the track said one of the V8olvo (Jalopnik) drivers, so I'd assume the race will continue on tomorrow.
On a side note to any commenters here that don't know much about the race, it's a grass-roots style race where the car and anything performance orientated is on a strict $500 limit. Things not included are safety equipment like roll cages, tires, brakes, and the like. Tech inspection is very strict about what passes, so please no rickshaw comments about the cars' safety.
God be with the Family, friends, and fellow racers.
Phillip 3:52AM (5/11/2008)
*Things not included in the $500 budget... (safety bits)*
Yar 4:57AM (5/11/2008)
My greatest condolences.
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Mobius_1 6:57AM (5/11/2008)
R.I.P.
Let's hope the racing continues, and make the race a good one in his honour
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Kyle Swift 9:06AM (5/11/2008)
My condolences to everyone.
That is some really scary stuff right there. My buddies and I were in the 24 Hours of LeMons at Flat Rock, MI last year. Worst we had was someone flipping over.
Thoughts and prayers go out to the family of the driver.
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B 9:13AM (5/11/2008)
My condolences, hopefully this one mishap wont affect the sport as well.
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nexus 9:37AM (5/11/2008)
Tragic indeed. Be safe out there drivers.
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Derek 10:17AM (5/11/2008)
Maybe we can finally get rid of this demo-derby race. It always pains me to see the number of semi decent late model cars that are destroyed just for a few laughs.
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Pete 11:01AM (5/11/2008)
You sir are an idiot.
gerald 3:37AM (5/12/2008)
Most of the cars in this race would just end up on some used car lot and be totaled by some dumb teenager. At least in the LeMons, the cars can go out with some decency.
DriverG 12:34PM (5/11/2008)
I find it hard to imagine that any racing facility will be willing to take on the risk of hosting this event again. Although many of the teams are well-prepared, you just can't get around the fact that racing junkers that were originally designed with no pretense of being competitive automobiles is inherently dangerous, no matter how much work is put into them.
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doug 2:18PM (5/11/2008)
As unfortunate as this incident is, it's not the first time that someone has died racing cars on a race track, and I'm sure there are lots of safety forms and releases to be signed before you're allowed to compete in these events.
So I'll be surprised to find out that race tracks suddenly stop allowing private race events to take place because something unpleasant like this happened.
Like Phillip said, there is no scrimping on the safety enhancements of these cars, so to state that it's unsafe to race cars that weren't originally intended as racers is just silly and shows no understanding of the true nature of most people's participation in motorsport.
Add a helmet, cage, harnesses, and full race brakes and tires to any vehicle that's been race-prepped and you have... a race car. Doesn't matter what the original shell started life as.
Additionally, and this is just speculation at this point, but it seems like there may be unrelated health problems that are the cause of this death, the pictures of the front of the car post-crash do not show much damage to the hood - there seems to be at least as much crimp to that hood in the "prior to the crash" action shot so I wonder if the wall did not cause this fatality.
Condolences to the family and teammates.
doug 2:27PM (5/11/2008)
Photos I referred to:
Prior to the crash:
http://cache.jalopnik.com/assets/resources/2008/05/242-Volvo-Gulf-Oil-39.jpg
Hood after the crash:
http://jalopnik.com/photogallery/24HoursLeMonsCrash/1001434232?viewSize=thumb1280x1280
DriverG 2:40PM (5/11/2008)
The problem with 24 Hours of LeMons is that it may be the victim of it's own success. This isn't bracket racing at the local drag strip. LeMons gets international coverage and attention which exposes it to much greater scrutiny than it would otherwise receive, regardless of the cause of the injuries.