LONG POND - One fan was killed and nine others injured Sunday after being struck by lightning in the midst of a violent thunderstorm that overwhelmed Pocono Raceway just after the conclusion of NASCAR's Pennsylvania 400, track officials confirmed.
The victim, whose name was not released pending the notification of family, was pronounced dead at Pocono Medical Center by emergency room director Dr. Peter Favini, raceway president and CEO Brandon Igdalsky said. Nine others remained hospitalized at various area hospitals, one critically.
"Unfortunately, a member of our raceway family here, a fan, has passed away," Igdalsky said. "On behalf of myself and my entire family and everybody here, really heartfelt thoughts."
Track spokesman Bob Pleban said one of the injured fans remained in critical condition at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest. Two others were taken to Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center in Wilkes-Barre, one with a moderate injury and the other with a minor one. Another fan with a minor injury was taken to Pocono Medical Center, and five others were treated and released at the raceway.
The strikes occurred at two different locations: One near Gate 3, an entrance that permits fans to enter the track between turns two and three, and another in a parking lot just behind the grandstands near the third turn.
The incidents put a damper on a wild weather day at Pocono, where a thunderstorm brought an end to the race after just 98 of 160 laps. The race started more than 90 minutes late after a series of storms blew through early on Sunday afternoon, and by the time the race became official after passing its halfway point following the 80th lap, it was clear the race had little chance to be run in full.
The National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm warning at 3:50 p.m., less than an hour after the race began. By 4:12, the National Weather Service changed the watch to a warning, cautioning against dangerous winds and large hail, along with cloud-to-ground lightning.
The raceway didn't make a formal warning about the incoming weather to the announced crowd of 85,000 until shortly after the race officially ended at 4:55 p.m., Pleban said. The track's Twitter feed encouraged fans to seek shelter at 4:21 p.m.
No mandatory evacuation was issued Sunday. Pleban said the track does have an emergency evacuation plan in place.
After receiving the track's warning via its Twitter feed, NASCAR fan Kyle Manger left his seats with his friend just before the chaos ensued about 5:15 p.m.
With thunderstorms bearing down for most of the afternoon and the race red-flagged, fans were warned that their seats in the grandstand might not be the safest place to be. So, they decided to heed the warning and leave when the drizzle started.
"Me and my buddy were just getting into the car, and it was getting really nasty," Manger, New Jersey, said. "I looked straight up into the windshield, and the vision was very poor. Then I noticed this big bolt of lightning 20 feet in front of us. Once it cleared up, I saw this tent that just got destroyed and two male bodies on the ground. The ambulances came and took them away quickly."
Manger said one of the injured men near the 8-by-8-foot blue tent was breathing when rescue crews helped him into the ambulance, but the other did not appear to be. The rain and a massive rescue effort, led by crews from at least five ambulances, snarled traffic trying to leave the raceway.
"At first, I was like, 'Oh my God, did you see how close that lightning got?' " Manger said. "But then when the visibility cleared up, you just saw people scrambling all over. It was absolute chaos."
NASCAR star Jeff Gordon, who won his sixth career race at Pocono with the help of a daring pass on the final green-flag lap, received word that there were injuries as a result of lightning strikes during his post race press conference and expressed concern for the victims.
"I'm pretty sure I know which (strike) did it," Gordon said. "We were walking down pit road, the wind was swirling, the water was pooling up under us and this huge, huge crash of lightning came. You could tell it was pretty close. That's the thing that's going to take away from this victory a little bit, that someone was affected by it."