Sprint car hits wall, goes airborne and crashes into 2 spectators at NH dirt racetrack

Car goes airborne at NH track, hurting 2 in pit

CONCORD, N.H. — A car racing on a dirt track went airborne and crashed into the pit area, hitting two men who suffered broken bones and other injuries.

Mike Rivers, the owner of Big Daddy’s Speedbowl, said the accident happened just before 10 p.m. Sunday during a Sprint Cars of New England race in Wentworth. He estimated the car was going 80 mph on the quarter-mile dirt oval.

“It actually got into the wall and took a very violent turn to the right, and when it did, it left the ground,” he said Monday.

The car did not hit a wall or fence, he said.

Neither of the men suffered life-threatening injuries, Rivers said. One was expected to be released from the hospital Monday; the other was scheduled to have surgery on a broken leg. The names of the victims and driver, who was unhurt, have not been released.

“He’s very shook up about the whole thing,” Rivers said of the driver.

The Speedbowl opened in the 1960s as a one-fifth-mile dirt oval. It was turned into a quarter-mile oval in the 1970s and has operated under several names and owners since.

“The place where these people were standing, they’ve been standing at this racetrack in that same spot for over 40 years. But then again, these race cars are going faster than they used to,” Rivers said. “It’s a very unfortunate accident.”