The promoter of the California 200 off-road race where eight spectators died says in company safety rules that fans must stay at least 100 feet away from the course. But video of Saturday’s crash and the promoter’s other races show crowds regularly lining the track, just feet away from speeding off-roaders.
Saturday’s nighttime race through federal desert land in California’s Lucerne Valley also failed to adhere to a requirement in its contract with the Bureau of Land Management to keep spectators 50 feet away from the racing off-roaders. The company, Mojave Desert Racing of El Monte, Calif., did not return calls seeking comment.
The federal agency on Monday said it has launched an “official national review” of the accident and BLM safety policies for permitted off-road races on federal land under its jurisdiction. Along with the current investigation by the California Highway Patrol, federal law enforcement investigators also will join the inquiry, said Jan Bedrosian, the bureau’s spokeswoman in California.
Eight spectators were killed and 10 others seriously injured when driver Brett Sloppy of San Marcos, Calif., lost control of his modified Ford Ranger pickup after going airborne on a crowd-pleasing hill known as the “rock pile.” The truck rolled into the crowd, which had crept within a few feet of the track, just minutes after the race began.
An off-road promoter not involved in the California 200 said the spectators never should have been allowed to be that close, and that the organizer of the race should have known the potential for disaster.
“It’s an extreme sport, so people want to get close. But people gravitating to a corner? Dude, are you kidding me? Why don’t you just let your kid play on the freeway?” said Don Wall, president of Snore Racing in Las Vegas. “I would have stopped the race.”
Wall said that at his off-road races, including the Battle of Primm in Nevada and the Midnight Special in Ridgecrest, Calif., his crew will put up fences, post do-not-enter signs and in some cases install concrete barriers to keep crowds away from hazardous spots on the course. He also tries to funnel crowds to straightaways, where crashes are less likely.
“You have to do that. But even then, people will drive through a fence to get to an area,” Wall said. “People just believe on public land, ‘It’s mine, I’ll do what I want.’ No. There are rules, and why do we have rules? Because people will get wiped off the face of the planet.”
