15 year old died in an accident at a local race track

I wonder (Pure speculation here) if she was just wearing a helmet "donut" and not a Head and Neck restraint.

Very sad.

RIP

Why is everyone jumping on the fab and safety. From the one pic linked above the cage doesn't looked to have failed. We have no idea what happened. She could have passed out or had a heart attack that caused the crash, she might not have been wearing a HANS and had a sudden stop, some part of the cage bellow what can be seen may have failed and punctured her body. We have no idea.

I'm also not a fan of the 'should have autocrossed first' mantra either. Thousands of kids start in Karts with cage etc. In Europe thousands of teens start straight in road racing tin tops or single seaters and they aren't dying.

Something went wrong, it's horrible and tragic, but as was said above it's no more or less tragic that she was a 15 year old girl than if she had been a 14 year old boy or a 79 year old grand mother. The worst thing may be if it was mom or dad who had been the supporter of this and the other not so keen, this could be fatal for their relationship when they really need each others support and love right now.

In reply to Adrian_Thompson:

Because it happened at a circle track so they are knuckle dragging savages.

A lot of my friends started in stock cars, most faster then the car pictured. Sometimes things go worng and people get hurt or killed even doing everything right.

Richie Evans. Neil Bonnet....

It is very sad indeed. Keep in mind that hitting the end of pit road or other concrete barrier in any series is not good. It's really one of the worst accidents you can have, and it has unfortunately taken more than one life. I feel for her family and friends.

As to the series safety, we do not know what measures they have taken or what personal safety gear she was wearing, so anything we say is pure speculation.

I will say this though. When we first started in Nascar, and this was pre-Earnhardt fatality, their safety left a lot to be desired. At Daytona the fuel man smoked like a chimney, and we were made fun of for wearing fire suits on pit road. A single layer suit was all that was required of the driver, and no gloves or shoes were mandated. And this was the big leagues, not a regional series.

Since his death though, they've come a long way. And I think some of the local tracks also stepped it up. It's difficult to say what this track in terms of safety, but like I said earlier, there's not much worse than what happened to this girl. Very sad.

I am by no means saying that autocross - rallycross - karting is the only route to driving. I feel that SEMI CONTROLLED SEAT TIME is the best route. I have seen horrible accidents in every series of racing I have been associated with (Autocross, Rallycross, Road Racing, Asphalt Circle Track, NMRA Mud Racing, NHRA Drag Racing) and the only consistent is not being prepared for the one time in ten million occurrence that becomes tragic.

The conversation that I had with Maddison, Jaime and Dave all centered around the fact that Maddison has not even passed driver training in school and has ZERO seat time in anything other than a Honda Odyssey ATV. IF they want to buy her a race car it is up to them, and that is what they have done. I can sleep knowing that I said my peace. I hope the best happens for them and they have started a path for a nice young girl to be a champion.

Back to the topic of the original post. I can only say that there is tragedy here and we all see it. Looking at the few pics available here and on Facebook it appears that the vehicle impacted the passenger front of the vehicle at a moderate rate of speed. That is the only deductions that can be made, period.

Rest In Peace.