List of Daytona International Speedway fatalities


has seen 40 on-track fatalities since its opening in 1959: 23 car drivers, twelve motorcyclists, three go-kart drivers, one powerboat racer, and one track worker. The most notable death may have been that of Dale Earnhardt, who was killed on the last lap of the Daytona 500 on February 18, 2001.
NameDate of accidentVehicleSanctionEventSessionCourse of eventsReferences
February 11, 1959CarUSACSpeed record attemptTestingTeague conducted test runs preparing for a speed record attempt in a "Sumar Special", a reconfigured Indy car with a canopy and streamlined fenders, classified as Formula Libre; when he entered the west turn, the high-speed aerodynamic lift caused his racer to spin and flip end-over-end, throwing Teague, still strapped to his seat, from the car. He was killed instantly.
April 4, 1959CarUSACDaytona 100RaceExiting the west turn, Amick's "Bowes Seal Fast" Indy car smashed into the outer guard rail on the backstretch straightaway, overturned, and traveled upside down before coming to a standstill in the infield. He died instantly.
June 14, 1959BoatAPBASoutheastern States outboard championships on Lake LloydHeat raceApproaching the west turn, Taylor's C racing runabout spun, flipped and ejected him into the water where he was hit by an onrushing competitor. The 53-year-old physician was pronounced dead of a broken neck on arrival at Halifax Hospital.
June 18, 1960CarAmerican Motors passenger car testTestingLeaving the east turn, Every lost control of his Rambler, apparently due to a blown tire, and overturned. The 23-year-old amateur driver died at Halifax Hospital about an hour later.
February 21, 1961CarNASCAR250-mile racePracticeHaving entered the east turn, Haberling's Modified Chevrolet spun sideways, veered down the banking, and ran it up again before rolling over several times and coming to a stop near the infield grass. Haberling was killed instantly.
January 5, 1965CarGoodyear tire testTestingWade was approaching the west turn when his Mercury blew a tire. After ramming and sliding along the outer retaining wall, the car skidded down to the apron, ran up the turn, crashed into the wall sideways and jerked to a halt. Wade was pronounced dead on arrival at Halifax Hospital from internal and head injuries.
February 22, 1969CarNASCARDaytona Permatex 300RaceComing out of the east turn, MacTavish hit an opening in the outside wall covered by metal guard rail, shearing off the front of his Sportsman Mercury Comet, which was then struck by Sam Sommers. MacTavish was killed instantly.
March 12, 1969Bike76-mile novice lightweight raceHeat raceRiding a Suzuki, Bartz crashed into two downed bikes on the east turn. He was flung through the air and slammed on the ground. The 30-year-old motorcyclist died of massive injuries in the speedway hospital a short time later.
February 19, 1970CarNASCAR125-mile raceRaceA blown engine caused Prince's Dodge Charger Daytona to slide sideways as it was going into the west turn where it was t-boned by Bill Seifert. Prince died of a broken back and compressed spinal cord.
March 14, 1971BikeAMADaytona 200RaceBradley lost control of his Kawasaki in turn one of the road course, his helmeted head hitting the track. The 21-year-old college student died of skull injuries in Halifax Hospital several hours later.
July 31, 1971CarSCCACentral Florida meet — Paul Whiteman TrophyRaceComing to a halt in the center of the track after spinning out, Pearl's Brabham BT29 was broadsided by Milo Vega on the west infield turn of the road course. The 30-year-old university graduate was dead on arrival at the track hospital, having suffered a broken neck and a fractured skull.
February 17, 1972CarNASCAR125-mile raceQualifying RaceHassler was involved in a multi-car pileup on the backstretch. His Chevrolet hit a wall, spun, and was struck by Jimmy Crawford, Hassler being knocked back into the wall. He was dead of neck and head injuries.
February 17, 1979CarNASCARSportsman 300RaceComing out of Turn Two, Williams, who was driving a Sportsman Chevrolet Chevelle, was involved in a multi-car pileup, incurring permanent brain damage, which left him in a semicomatose state until his death on May 21, 1989.
February 14, 1980CarNASCAR125-mile raceQualifying RaceGoing into Turn One, Knotts, driving an Oldsmobile, made contact with Slick Johnson, crashed into the outside wall, collided with Blackie Wangerin, and skidded across the track and the infield grass before slamming into a concrete wall passengerside. Knotts was dead of head injuries.
February 17, 1983CarNASCARUNO Twin 125Qualifying RaceCaught by a gusty headwind exiting Turn 2, Jacobi drifted towards the wet infield grass where his Pontiac became airborne and somersaulted until its remains came to a stop near a dirt bank. Jacobi suffered head injuries and remained semicomatose until his death on February 4, 1987.
February 7, 1985CarARCADaytona ARCA 200PracticeEntering the backstretch, Affleck's Ford started to spin and flipped several times. Due to a failure of the window net, he was partially ejected, sustaining head and neck injuries. He was pronounced dead at Halifax Medical Center shortly after the crash.
December 15, 1985CarPontiac race car testTestingA tire failure led to Ogle's Dash Series Pontiac Sunbird digging into the infield grass near the bus stop chicane and becoming airborne. The car landed on its roof and only stopped sliding near an infield embankment. Ogle succumbed to his head injuries at Halifax Medical Center eleven days later.
February 13, 1987CarNASCARKomfort Koach 200RaceInvolved in a multi-car pileup, Young's Dash Series Chevrolet Cavalier was slowly sliding backwards between Turns 3 and 4 when hit almost head-on by Duell Sturgill with the impact ripping apart the front end of Young's car. The 38-year-old auto mechanic was dead of multiple internal injuries.
December 27, 1987KartWKAEnduro World ChampionshipsPracticeAbout to enter the infield section of the road course, Kolman, driving a Yamaha kart in the S Lite Class, left the course and hit a barrier. A short time later, the 25-year-old computer employee was pronounced dead at Halifax Medical Center.
February 27, 1988BikeCCSLightweight Superbike/SuperTwin racesPracticeExiting the infield section of the road course, Glenn was killed in a crash with his Kawasaki EX500. The 38-year-old hobby motorcyclist was pronounced dead of massive head injuries at the infield care center.
December 27, 1989KartWKAEnduro World ChampionshipsRaceStarting in the Sprint Sit-Up class, Robertson and several other drivers were involved in a crash. The 26-year-old racer died of massive head and chest injuries.
February 11, 1990CarARCADaytona ARCA 200RaceBetween Turns 3 and 4, Johnson lost control of his Pontiac Grand Prix, which was sliding sideways when hit by David Simko's car and thus deflected into the outside wall from where it rebounded into the path of an oncoming spinning car before being broadsided by another one near the infield. Johnson sustained a basal skull fracture, a crushed chest, and other internal injuries. He died at Halifax Medical Center three days later.
February 12, 1993CarNASCARFlorida 200RaceEntering Turn One, the right rear of Booher's Dash Series Chevrolet Beretta clipped the left front of Carl Horton's car, which sent Booher head-on into the outside wall. Coming down across the track, he was struck in the right front by Rodney White. Booher was pronounced dead of massive head and internal injuries at Halifax Medical Center.
March 7, 1993BikeAMADaytona 200RaceExiting the infield course, Adamo's Ducati 888 went straight into a stack of hay bales before striking a retaining wall and guardrail. The crash was caused by front brake failure. The 36-year-old motorcycle parts shop owner was dead of massive head injuries.
February 11, 1994CarNASCARDaytona 500PracticeBonnett's Chevrolet Lumina swerved when coming off Turn 4, slid onto the apron, went up the banking, and crashed into the wall nearly head-on. Bonnett was pronounced dead of massive head injuries at Halifax Medical Center a little later.
February 14, 1994CarNASCARDaytona 500PracticeEntering Turn 2, Orr's Ford Thunderbird spun onto the apron, went up the banking, flipped over, and hit the wall roof-first. The crash, in which Orr was killed instantly, was triggered by a broken mounting stud, a part that holds the shock absorber to the car.
January 31, 1997CarIMSATwo-Hour Endurance ChampionshipRaceHaving entered the bus stop chicane, Himes's Honda Civic del Sol SI, instead of turning right, hit a tire wall head-on. The 42-year-old driver, who had retired from working in the computer chip manufacturing industry, was pronounced dead of severe trauma at Halifax Medical Center several hours after the crash.
March 4, 1997BikeBMW Battle of the LegendsPracticeA collision involving several motorcycles caused Reiman to be thrown from his bike on the infield section of the road course. The 58-year-old Harley-Davidson dealer was pronounced dead at Halifax Medical Center.
October 31, 1997BikeNASBLightweight Sport Bike/GT3 racePracticeComing out of the infield section of the road course, Matteson crashed on his Yamaha 400. The 24-year-old motorcycle mechanic was declared brain dead at Halifax Medical Center in the afternoon of the same day.
March 2, 2000BikeCCSPracticeRiding a 600cc Kawasaki, Tatro crashed into the outside retaining wall on the high bank off turn four. A short time later, the 22-year-old amateur rider died of head injuries and multiple trauma at Halifax Medical Center.
February 18, 2001CarNASCARDaytona 500RaceGoing into the final turn, the rear of Earnhardt's Chevrolet Monte Carlo made contact with Sterling Marlin's front bumper, which caused Earnhardt to briefly slide towards the apron before shooting up the banking. His car was hit passengerside by an oncoming Ken Schrader so that the two cars were deflected towards the outside wall, which Earnhardt hit at a sharp angle. Their cars slid down the track, coming to a halt on the infield grass. Earnhardt died instantly, but wasn't pronounced dead until his arrival at Halifax Medical Center, killed by a basilar skull fracture.
March 11, 2001BikeAMABuell Pro Thunder SprintRaceEntering the bus stop chicane, Piz's Ducati 748 collided with Kiyoshige Watanabe's crashed bike, was lifted up, and sent Piz into the tire barrier to his right. The 45-year-old privateer was pronounced dead of internal injuries at Halifax Medical Center.
October 19, 2001BikeCCSGTOPre-racePracticing a start on his Yamaha YZF-R6 on pit road, Stratton hit and hurt an official, and veered into the wall. The 35-year-old rider was pronounced dead at Halifax Medical Center.
December 30, 2001KartWKADunlop Tire National Road RacingRaceDavis, a 17-year-old go-kart racer, was either killed by suddenly veering sideways and hitting a wall on the infield road course or by being bumped from behind and thrown from his Yamaha Sportsman Lite vehicle in Turn 4.
October 18, 2003BikeCCS/FUSAFall Cycle Scene racePracticeSlowing down at the exit of Turn Four, Cassell's Lightweight/ThunderBike Ducati was rammed and run over by Jeff Tatham, who couldn't evade him. The 28-year-old rookie was pronounced dead at Halifax Medical Center.
February 8, 2004CarIPOWERacingIPOWER Dash 150RaceWeaver was picking up debris on Turn 2 during a caution period when he was struck by Ray Paprota's Dash Series Pontiac Sunfire. Once Paprota spotted the track worker, he hit his brakes, but went into a lateral slide and caught Weaver with the rear of the passenger side. The 44-year-old supervisor of track crews was killed instantly. His death was ruled an accident by the Daytona Beach Police Department.
February 3, 2008CarRichard Petty Driving ExperienceRacing schoolBoswell, slumped over the steering wheel and driving erratically, skidded down the Turn 2 embankment and hit a retaining wall. A medical examiner found that the 60-year-old man had suffered a heart attack.
August 9, 2009CarSCCACentral Florida meet — Daytona Double SARRCRaceBurgess managed to drive his flaming GT-2 Porsche 944 into the pits, but by the time the fire was extinguished the 54-year-old facilities director had sustained severe burns, succumbing at an Orlando hospital 15 days later.
October 17, 2013BikeTeam Hammer Advanced Riding SchoolRacing schoolAfter Shaw, a 65-year-old driving school instructor, and Desy, his 45-year-old student, had collided on an oval turn, they were admitted to Halifax Health hospital where they succumbed to their injuries on the same day.
October 17, 2013BikeTeam Hammer Advanced Riding SchoolRacing schoolAfter Shaw, a 65-year-old driving school instructor, and Desy, his 45-year-old student, had collided on an oval turn, they were admitted to Halifax Health hospital where they succumbed to their injuries on the same day.