The open wheel experiences didn't require shifting (although you could) because you were pushed to start from behind by an ATV and then did one or two upshifts and stayed in like 4th the whole time. The NASCAR experience was actually most involving as you had to occasionally shift and just getting in that tight sucker was hard. Speedway spokesperson David Talley said it was the first death at the track that he could recall in recent years, adding that Phalen had taken a class prior to getting into the car and was in radio contact with instructors while driving.Ĭlick to expand.I can't speak for her but I can tell you how events like these are run as I have done one event with a CART replica on the Chicago Speedway (meanwhile gone), one with a IRL replica (akin to the Andretti experience) on the Joliet speedway and a NASCAR experience at the Disney oval in Orlando. Racing at the track was suspended Friday, but resumed Saturday. Race track officials did not say how fast Phalen was driving when she smashed into the inside wall, but said race cars often reach speeds of up to 120 miles per hour on the two-mile course. Phalen was participating in the Mario Andretti Racing Experience Driving 101 class, which teaches the public the basics of open-wheel racing by allowing them to drive replica Indy cars, according to the San Bernardino County Coroners Office. Paramedics took Phalen to Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Fontana, where she was pronounced dead. Friday, the Fontana Herald News reported. Idiot.Ī 24-year-old Los Angeles woman was killed in a crash during a simulated Indy race at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, it was reported today.Īshley Sara Phalens vehicle struck the inside wall at a high rate of speed and overturned at about 9:30 a.m. Note the Speedway's claim of no fatalities in recent years.

Here's the full text of one of the articles claiming a 120MPH limit.

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