60岁的克里斯·拉施克（Chris Raschke）驾驶火箭式赛车在博纳维尔盐滩举办的"极速周"赛事中创下时速283英里（约455公里）的纪录。
赛事组织方称，一名车手在犹他州著名的博纳维尔盐滩参加竞速活动时，驾驶名为“速度恶魔”的火箭式车辆试图创造陆地速度纪录，时速达283英里（455公里），后因失控于周日不幸身亡。
据南加州计时协会称，车手克里斯·拉施克（Chris Raschke）在行驶约2.5英里时失控，虽经现场医疗人员救治，仍因伤势过重身亡。该协会自1940年代末起一直主办著名的极速赛车赛事“速度周”。
数十年来，博纳维尔盐滩平坦如镜的白色地表吸引了全球各地的赛车手前来挑战陆上极速纪录，也令摩托车与汽车爱好者趋之若鹜。这片位于盐湖城以西约100英里（160公里）的史前湖床遗迹，还曾作为《独立日》和《世上最快的印地安摩托》等电影的取景地。
“赛车运动本质上就是一项危险的运动。”丹尼斯·沙利文说道。他是一位汽车制造商兼赛车手，曾驾驶1927年款T型街头跑车创下陆地速度纪录，并担任犹他州盐滩赛车协会主席。“受伤甚至死亡都是这项运动的一部分，但这种情况并不常见。”
沙利文表示，赛车运动还有严格的安全要求——例如更坚固的防滚架、专用轮胎和更多灭火器——这些都有助于保护车手。
沙利文回忆称，盐滩赛道上最近一次赛车死亡事故发生在2016年，当时著名陆地极速摩托车手萨姆·惠勒在测试高性能摩托车时，车辆以200英里/小时（321公里/小时）的速度发生甩尾并腾空翻转，导致其不幸身亡。
邦纳维尔盐滩于1914年举办了首场赛事，拥有约7英里（11公里）的赛道，其下方的含水层能为赛车轮胎降温。与其他赛道不同，这里没有看台设施，观众需站在距赛车0.2英里外的区域。拉斯克在行驶约2.5英里时失去了对车辆的控制。
目前尚不清楚拉施克（Raschke）试图达到何种速度。
执法机构发言人丹·勒达尔中士表示，协会和图埃勒县警长办公室正在调查这起死亡事件。勒达尔称：“我们确认这是一起意外事故。”
现年60岁的拉施克（Raschke）驾驶着一辆名为“速度恶魔”（Speed Demon）的流线型赛车——这种细长、符合空气动力学设计的车辆专为高速行驶打造。他已在赛车运动领域深耕四十余载。
据"Speed Demon"赛车团队官网所述，拉施克（Raschke）上世纪80年代初曾效力于文图拉赛道，参与迷你改装组三轮车和汽车赛事，师从知名引擎制造商期间掌握了赛车制造与维修技术，后加入"Speed Demon"车队成为职业车手。赛车协会主席兼"极速周"赛事总监基思·佩德森（Keith Pedersen）表示，拉施克在赛车界备受尊敬，同时任职于一家专业生产赛车紧固件的企业。
佩德森表示："他是顶尖选手之一，参加过各类赛车比赛。"
赛事周活动于周六开始，将持续至周五。
Chris Raschke, 60, was going 283 mph in his rocket-like car at the Speed Week racing event at the Bonneville Salt Flats
A driver going 283 mph (455 km/h) trying to set a land speed record during a racing event at Utah s famed Bonneville Salt Flats died on Sunday after he lost control of his rocket-like vehicle called the Speed Demon, organizers said.
Driver Chris Raschke lost control about two and a half miles into a run and was treated by medical professionals at the scene, but died from his injuries, according to the Southern California Timing Association, which has organized the popular land-speed racing event known as Speed Week since the late 1940s.
For decades, the flat, glasslike white surface of Bonneville has drawn drivers from all over seeking to set new land speed world records and motorcycle and car fans to watch. A remnant of a prehistoric lakebed, the salt flats that are about 100 miles (160km) west of Salt Lake City have also been a backdrop for movies such as Independence Day and The Worlds Fastest Indian.
Motorsports is inherently a dangerous sport, said Dennis Sullivan, a car builder and racer who set a land speed record in his 1927 Model T street roadster and serves as president of the Utah Salt Flats Racing Association. People get hurt. People get killed. Thats just the nature of the sport. It doesnt happen a lot.
Sullivan said motor sports also have stringent safety requirements C such as stronger roll bars, special tires and more fire extinguishers C that help protect drivers.
The last racing death Sullivan recalled at the flats came in 2016 when Sam Wheeler , a renowned land speed motorcycle racer, crashed at 200 mph (321 km/h) when the high-performance bike he was testing fish-tailed and went airborne.
The Bonneville Salt Flats, which had its first race in 1914, have about 7 miles (11km) for racing and an aquifer underneath that cools the tires of the cars. Its unlike other race venues in that it doesnt have stands. Spectators must stand two-tenths of a mile away from the cars. Raschke lost control of the vehicle about two and a half miles into a run.
Its unknown what speed Raschke was trying to reach.
The association and the Tooele county sheriffs office are investigating the death, said Sgt Dane Lerdahl, a spokesperson for the law enforcement agency. We know it was an accident of some sort, Lerdahl said.
Raschke, 60, was the driver of a streamliner C a long, narrow, aerodynamic car made to run at high speeds C known as the Speed Demon. He had worked in motor sports for more than four decades.
According to the Speed Demon racing teams site, Raschke worked at the Ventura Raceway in the early 1980s, raced three-wheelers and cars in the mini stock division, learned to fabricate and maintain race cars when working with an acclaimed engine builder, and later became a driver for the Speed Demon team. Keith Pedersen, the associations president and Speed Week race director, said Raschke was a respected driver within the racing community and also worked for a company that makes fasteners for race cars.
He is one of the big ones. He had done all sorts of racing, Pedersen said.
The Race Week event began on Saturday and runs through Friday.
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