A community in California is mourning after a freak accident ends with a race car driver killing his cousin. The incident happened Saturday at the Marysville Speedway and Press Democrat shared the details on March 17.
Marcus Johnson, 14, was killed when he was hit by a sprint car that went out of control and left the track. Chase Johnson, 17, was driving the race car that killed his cousin when it missed the first turn and crashed through a barrier. Another bystander, Dale Richard Wondergem Jr., 68, died at the scene. Marcus Johnson was taken to Rideout Hospital and died there.
The Johnson family is, of course, absolutely devastated by the incident. Marcus Johnson was in the pit area at the time of the crash, though apparently he was not a crew member. The entire Johnson family has a long history of race car driving, and Chase Johnson has been racing for three years.
Marcus is being mourned and celebrated by his school, Rincon Valley Middle School. He is remembered as a great basketball player and the school principal remembers him as “an incredibly well-loved young man” who was “honest, caring and genuine.”
An announcer who witnessed the accident said he thought it seemed like a throttle problem, but investigators are still sorting through the details. A large crowd was on-hand and the accident happened when Chase Johnson was doing warm-up laps. The community is clearly devastated by the accident that unbelievably left a race car driver killing his cousin along with Wondergem, an owner of another one of the cars.
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