Fan Killed By Flying Tire At NHRA Event In Arizona

A woman was killed Sunday at the NHRA Lucas Slick Mist Nationals outside Phoenix when she was struck by debris from an accident involving Top Fuel driver Antron Brown.

Brown was racing Troy Buff when, apparently, Brown lost a cylinder coming out of the start. The left-rear wheel and tire came off. The car then flipped onto its right side, slid across the track and hit and climbed the left-lane retaining wall. There was a flash of flame from spilled fuel as the car came to a stop.

There was also a danger of oil from Brown's car creating an additional spark if it was to add to the gasoline, but luckily, that did not occur.

According to a witness, the woman was watching video monitors of the event when the tire hit her.

“I saw the fire come down into the stands,” said Anthony Bailey. “I saw some other parts come into the stands, too. After that, it was a lot of panic. There were a lot people running around, not knowing what to do.”The NHRA said Brown was uninjured in the accident.

"We're racers and we race and I'm ok," Brown said in a statement released by his team, Don Schumacher Racing. "It all happened so quickly and I want to thank the NHRA Safety Safari for being there so quickly to help get me out of the car and also the track medical team for tending to me so quickly."

The release said Brown went to Chandler Regional Hospital for further observation.

Here's KTVK's coverage of the event in Chandler
((HT: AZFamily.com))


Here's coverage from ABC15 in Phoenix with Eric English...


Here's the release from the NHRA...

A woman who was struck by a tire earlier today at the NHRA Arizona Nationals at Firebird International Raceway was pronounced dead at Good Samaritan Hospital this evening. The tire became detached from Antron Brown's dragster following an incident during the first round of eliminations. Brown was not injured.

NHRA is investigating the incident. The entire NHRA community is deeply saddened by today's incident and sends its thoughts and prayers to the woman's family and friends.