The Press Democrat Editorial Board has called for an investigation into the deaths of racers Charlotte Kainz, age 20, and Kyle McGrane, age 17, after they crashed in two separate races during last weekend’s AMA Pro Racing/DMG dirt track event held on a horse racing track at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds in Santa Rosa, California.
An editorial published on the Press Democrat website yesterday quoted racer Jake Mataya as telling a reporter, “In my opinion, there shouldn’t even have been a race on that track at all.” The editorial also quoted a letter written by professional racer Cory Texter as saying, “It’s just not a track we should race at in the future,” citing extremely dusty track conditions that the editorial said “hindered visibility.”
Riders complained that event organizers got behind on track preparation and that instead of spending the time to improve track conditions, AMA Pro officials rushed the program to meet an arbitrary deadline related to the 2016 season awards event scheduled for that evening.
The editorial stated, “We’re not persuaded the county should ever host this event again, but if it does, the (Sonoma County Fairgrounds) board needs to raise the bar on racer safety as well (as) demand new protocols for when tragedies like this strike.”
Read the editorial here:
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/opinion/6140152-181/pd-editorial-why-were-races