Posted on 10/24/2004 4:17:38 PM PDT by sonsofliberty2000
MARTINSVILLE, Va. - A plane owned by the Hendrick Motorsports organization crashed Sunday on its way to a NASCAR (news - web sites) race, killing all 10 people aboard, federal officials said.
Eight passengers and two pilots died in the crash, a spokesman with the National Transportation Safety Board (news - web sites) said.
A spokesman for a funeral home where the bodies were being taken said the dead included four relatives of team owner Rick Hendrick, including his son and brother.
our sympathies and prayers to the families
This is a devestating blow to Rick Hendrick personally, he has lost his son, brother and granddaughters less than 6 months after losing his father, the team has lost a driver, executive, engine builder and other key personel.
A tragic day for all racing fans.
awful...
Sad.
Saw this on Yahoo just as you posted.
This must have happened before the race some 6-8 hours ago.
Sad!
Ping the list please.
I was outside the Martinsville Speedway at the time of the crash (10 miles west of the crash site). It was extemely overcast and foggy all morning and into the afternoon. The usual fly-over which accompanies many NASCAR events did not occur (should have taken place around 12:45 pm). Either the poor weather or emergency situation with the missing plane was the reason.
heard this on the news...
Prayers for the families..
that should have read "10 miles to the east of the crash site"
When Connie Caletta's freight plane crashed last week, that one was no surprise. He's got all kinds of relics in the air. He's got the only flying Honza Jet I know of.
Prayers to all those involved.
From NASCAR.com
MARTINSVILLE, Va. (AP) -- MARTINSVILLE, Va. (AP) -- A plane owned by the Hendrick Motorsports organization crashed on its way to a NASCAR race Sunday and all 10 aboard were killed, federal officials said.
Ricky Hendrick Credit: Autostock
Eight passengers and two pilots died in the crash, a spokesman with the National Transportation Safety Board said.
A spokesman for a funeral home where the bodies were being taken said the dead included four relatives of team owner Rick Hendrick -- his son, twin daughters and brother.
Harry Litten, manager Moody Funeral Service in Stuart, said the state police had given him this list of those on the Beech 200:
Ricky Hendrick, Rick Hendrick's son and also a NASCAR driver; John Hendrick, Rick Hendrick's brother and president of the organization; Kimberly and Jennifer Hendrick; Joe Jackson; Jeff Turner; Randy Dorton, the team's chief engine builder; Scott Latham, a pilot for NASCAR driver Tony Stewart; and pilots Dick Tracy and Liz Morrison.
Randy Dorton Credit: Autostock
Keith Holloway, a spokesman for the NTSB, said investigators were on their way to the crash site but could not begin their examination until Monday.
A spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administation, Arlene Murray, said the plane took off from Concord, N.C., and crashed in the Bull Mountain area about seven miles west of the Martinsville airport at about 12:30 p.m.
Virginia State Police Sgt. Michael Bailey said rescue workers could not immediately reach the crash site because of the rough terrain.
NASCAR has spoken with Rick Hendrick, NASCAR spokesman Jim Hunter said.
John Hendrick Credit: Autostock
"We're just saying extra prayers right now,' he said.
Hendrick owns the teams of Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Terry Labonte and Brian Vickers in the Nextel Cup Series.
Johnson won Sunday's race at Martinsville Speedway.
NASCAR learned of the plane's disappearance during the race and withheld the information from the Hendrick drivers until afterward, Hunter said. All the Hendrick drivers were summoned to the NASCAR hauler immediately after the race and Johnson was excused from Victory Lane.
Hendrick has been on a season-long celebration of its 20th anniversary in NASCAR's top series. The organization has won five of the series' top titles, three truck series titles, and one Busch series crown.
VIDEO
NASCAR Responds
Hunter addresses the disappearance of a Hendrick Motorsports plane
The team has over 100 Cup series wins, making Hendrick just the second team owner in NASCAR's modern era to surpass that mark.
Hendrick employs more than 400 workers at the Charlotte-based Motorsports compound, which includes race shops and a 15,000-square-foot museum and team store.
Community
Send condolences to Hendrick Motorsports
He recently began grooming his son, Ricky, for a larger role with the company.
Ricky began his career driving a Busch car for his father, but retired in 2002 because of a shoulder injury suffered in a racing accident.
His father then made him the owner of the Busch car Vickers drove to the series championship last season, and Kyle Busch currently pilots.
Deputies barricaded the entrance to the Hendrick shop in Charlotte, allowing only team employees to enter the compound. Twenty or so people could be seen in the parking lot inside.
One small bouquet of flowers had been placed at the entrance gate.
ping
May God help them in their time of need.
You should have an aviation blog, blackdog. You'd pull half a million hits a day once word got around.
Prayers to the Hendricks family...can't imagine losing a son.
Flying them little airplanes is a good way to get yourself killed.
Sorry, posted that before I learned Hendrick lost his daughters too. An unspeakably terrible tragegy.
I'm almost certain we'll learn that the size of the airplane had nothing to do with this tragedy.
How awful! Did Hendrick have only the three children? I cannot imagine...
The girls were actually his nieces.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.