BONNEVILLE SALT FLATS, Utah — Chris Raschke, who was attempting to break a speed record at the Bonneville Salt Flats, has died.
An investigation has been launched into what caused the vehicle that Raschke was piloting to go airborne, The Washington Post reported.
His vehicle, called the Speed Demon 3, was going 283 mph, The Associated Press reported.
Raschke lost control about two and a half miles into the event.
First responders treated Raschke at the scene, but he later died of his injuries.
The record for Bonneville Speed Week is 446.716 mph over five miles, set last year by Raschke. He also had a 459.734 mph exit speed record.
The racer was remembered by Fox Sports drag racing analyst Brian Lohnes, who wrote, according to Hot Rod, “Chris Raschke was admirable in all the best and truest senses of the word. He was a pillar of an industry, he was a skilled operator of one of the fastest wheel driven cars in history, and he was, like so many of us, fully consumed with cars and the universe around them.”
The Bonneville Salt Flats have been the site of racers since the early 1900s and is located about 110 miles west of Salt Lake City.
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