A driver died Sunday after he crashed while he was trying to set a land speed record at an annual event on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, event organizers said.<\/p>\n
Chris Raschke, 60, died after the crash at around 3:03 p.m. MT, officials with the Southern California Timing Association, which runs the event, said in a statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n Organizers said the crash happened after Raschke \u201clost control of his land speed vehicle at approximately the 2 1\/2 mile.” It occurred during the annual \u201cSpeed Week,” which opened Sunday.<\/p>\n The Bonneville Salt Flats are about 12 miles long and 5 miles wide and are made up of sodium chloride, or table salt, according to the federal Bureau of Land Management, which oversees it.<\/p>\n The area is used for land speed racing, among other purposes, it says. Drivers at the Bonneville event can reach speeds of more than 300 mph.<\/p>\n Raschke was a driver with the Speed Demon team in Ventura County, California, and piloted the Speed Demon streamliner, the team says on its website<\/a>. He began working in motorsports in the 1980s, it said.<\/p>\n “We are deeply devastated,” the team said on social media<\/a> Sunday.<\/p>\n The American Hot Rod Foundation was among those also mourning Raschke’s death. It said he was reportedly traveling in the neighborhood of 300 mph when the crash occurred.<\/p>\n