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Two men die in crash on Buttonwillow track
Convertible sports car flips during midday drive-around in non-racing event
By MARK BARNA, Californian staff writer
e-mail: mbarna@bakersfield.com
Posted: Sunday September 26th, 2004, 9:30 PM
Last Updated: Sunday September 26th, 2004, 9:42 PM
Two men were killed Sunday at Buttonwillow Raceway when their convertible
sports car overturned while motoring on the track during a non-racing event.
The driver, Ronald Burnett, 46, of Cypress, died while being transported by
helicopter to Kern Medical Center, said Kelly Cowan, deputy coroner of the
Kern County Sheriff's Department. The passenger, Ronald Yates, 70, of Mohave
Valley, Ariz., was pronounced dead at the scene.
Both men were wearing a seat belt and helmet, Cowan said.
The accident occurred during a mid-day drive-around in which visitors pay a
fee to motor their cars on the Buttonwillow Raceway track. Burnett was
driving an Austin Healy, a convertible that racers at the track said was a
street vehicle with no roll bar or other safety accouterments found on race
cars.
Buttonwillow Raceway officials were not available late Sunday afternoon for
comment on the wreck.
Bakersfield residents Martin and Twila Willey, there to race their Formula V
car, were having lunch in the racers parking area when the accident
occurred. They were about a quarter-mile from the accident site, which is
near a remote stretch of track called Lost Hill, known to racers as Magic
Mountain.
"I just heard an ambulance and everyone started running," Twila WIlley said.
After the rise and fall of Lost Hill, the track straightens out, then is
followed by a sharp C-turn called the Sweeper. It is this general area where
the accident occurred, Twila Willey said. Martin Willey said he typically
motors around the Sweeper at 70 mph in his Formula V.
Willey said he feels safe on the track because his race car has roll bars,
and he wears a seat belt and a helmet. But he acknowledges that things can
go wrong quickly.
"It's a dangerous sport," he said.
Convertible sports car flips during midday drive-around in non-racing event
By MARK BARNA, Californian staff writer
e-mail: mbarna@bakersfield.com
Posted: Sunday September 26th, 2004, 9:30 PM
Last Updated: Sunday September 26th, 2004, 9:42 PM
Two men were killed Sunday at Buttonwillow Raceway when their convertible
sports car overturned while motoring on the track during a non-racing event.
The driver, Ronald Burnett, 46, of Cypress, died while being transported by
helicopter to Kern Medical Center, said Kelly Cowan, deputy coroner of the
Kern County Sheriff's Department. The passenger, Ronald Yates, 70, of Mohave
Valley, Ariz., was pronounced dead at the scene.
Both men were wearing a seat belt and helmet, Cowan said.
The accident occurred during a mid-day drive-around in which visitors pay a
fee to motor their cars on the Buttonwillow Raceway track. Burnett was
driving an Austin Healy, a convertible that racers at the track said was a
street vehicle with no roll bar or other safety accouterments found on race
cars.
Buttonwillow Raceway officials were not available late Sunday afternoon for
comment on the wreck.
Bakersfield residents Martin and Twila Willey, there to race their Formula V
car, were having lunch in the racers parking area when the accident
occurred. They were about a quarter-mile from the accident site, which is
near a remote stretch of track called Lost Hill, known to racers as Magic
Mountain.
"I just heard an ambulance and everyone started running," Twila WIlley said.
After the rise and fall of Lost Hill, the track straightens out, then is
followed by a sharp C-turn called the Sweeper. It is this general area where
the accident occurred, Twila Willey said. Martin Willey said he typically
motors around the Sweeper at 70 mph in his Formula V.
Willey said he feels safe on the track because his race car has roll bars,
and he wears a seat belt and a helmet. But he acknowledges that things can
go wrong quickly.
"It's a dangerous sport," he said.
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