Driver hurt in explosion at upstate NY drag strip

Published August 17, 2014 8:05pm ET



WEST LEBANON, N.Y. (AP) — A drag-race driver has been airlifted to a hospital after his car’s engine exploded in the pit area of a drag strip near the Massachusetts border.

Lebanon Valley Dragway track manager Wayne DelMonte says the driver was evacuated by helicopter after the motor exploded at about 1:30 p.m. Sunday as it was being tuned up for a race. Three pit crew members refused medical treatment.

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DelMonte declined to name the driver. He said all the injuries were non-life threatening. The driver’s condition was not immediately available.

State police had no immediate information about the accident.

The incident occurred one weekend after a 20-year-old driver was hit and killed at an upstate New York track about 200 miles west by a car driven by NASCAR champion Tony Stewart.

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