2 Amateur Racers Die in Crash at Speedway
The La Jolla men were driving the course during a club day at the Fontana racetrack.
By Martin Henderson, Times Staff Writer
Two San Diego County men died when the Porsche they were racing crashed and caught fire Thursday morning at California Speedway in Fontana, authorities said.
Benjamin Miles Keaton, 39, and his passenger, Corey Nicholas Rudl, 34, both of La Jolla, died from injuries after Keaton lost control of a 2005 Porsche Carrera GT.
The car left the track, careened onto a grassy area and struck a barrier. The engine compartment then caught fire, according to a San Bernardino County sheriff's report.
On-site medical personnel, the same used for NASCAR and Indy Racing League events at the speedway, responded at 10:40 a.m. and quickly extinguished the fire, sheriff's officials said.
Rudl, who worked in Internet marketing, was pronounced dead at the scene; Keaton was airlifted to Loma Linda University Hospital, where he died about an hour later, according to the San Bernardino County Coroner's Office.
-This is so weird. My obvious thoughts for the family and friends of Corey Rudl at their sad loss at the death of one so tragically young, are mixed with feelings of wonder at how a multi-millionaire was still, obviously, mortal like the rest of us, when somehow you always half-expect the mega-rich to be able to buy their way out of everything.
