Texas drag race driver slams into spectators, killing 2 kids
KERRVILLE, Texas — A driver lost control during a Texas drag racing event on an airport runway and slammed into a crowd of spectators, killing two children and injuring eight other people, authorities said.
A 6-year-old boy and an 8-yearold boy were killed in the crash Saturday afternoon at an event called “Airport Race Wars 2” at the Kerrville-Kerr County Airport, police said in a news release. The organized event was attended by thousands and involved drivers speeding down a runway as they competed for cash.
The driver “lost control and left the runway, crashing into parked vehicles and striking spectators who were observing the races,” Kerrville police said.
The injured victims were taken to various hospitals, including a 46-year-old woman who was listed in critical condition. The majority of the other injuries were not believed to be life-threatening, although the condition of a 26-year-old man was unknown, authorities said. A 4-yearold boy and a 3-month-old girl were taken to a hospital for precautionary evaluations.
Authorities have not released the identities of the two children who were killed at the event about 60 miles northwest of San Antonio.
The Kerrville Convention and Visitors Bureau’s website promoted the event as an “action packed, family-friendly day” in which fans could watch the “fastest drag cars compete for over $8000 in total prizes.”
Upward of 3,500 people were in attendance, according to Louis Amestoy, a freelance journalist who was at the event.
The race was an eighth of a mile long, and water-filled plastic barriers lined the course. But Amestoy said they didn’t extend past the finish line, leaving no protection between spectators and cars as they were slowing down at the end of the race.
Spectators could get within about 15 feet of the track, and many watched the race from lawn chairs in the absence of stands. Organizers reminded people to stay in the grass and off the asphalt, Amestoy told The Associated Press in a phone interview.
The driver was nearing the end of the strip when the car veered off course, Amestoy said.
FORMULA ONE
AUSTIN, Texas — Max Verstappen held off Formula One title rival Lewis Hamilton over the final thrilling laps of the U.S. Grand Prix on Sunday to win his eighth race of the season and double his lead in the championship standings.
Verstappen, who entered the Circuit of the Americas with a six-point lead over Hamilton in the standings, now leads the seven-time champion by 12 points with five races remaining.
Hamilton in his Mercedes was bearing down on Verstappen over the final 18 laps and had cut the Red Bull driver’s lead to less than 1 second by the final lap. But he couldn’t make the pass at the end and settled for second.
Verstappen, the 24-year-old Dutchman chasing his first championship, now has some breathing room heading into Mexico City, a high-altitude stronghold for Red Bull.
Hamilton, a five-time winner at COTA who couldn’t catch Verstappen in the end, is seeking a record eighth F1 title.
“Congratulations to Max, he did a great job today. It was such a tough race,” Hamilton said. “Got a good start and gave it absolutely everything, but in the end of the day, they just had the upper hand this weekend.”
As the popularity of Formula One explodes in the U.S., the championship rivals delivered a dramatic finish under a blazing Texas sun in front of an estimated crowd of 140,000.
It was one of the largest sporting events since the start of the pandemic and drew the rich and famous to the Austin circuit.
Sunday was the final race in the Circuit’s original 10-year contract, but the U.S. Grand Prix is on the 2022 race calendar. Track President Bobby Epstein has said he expects to get a new long-term deal from F1.
“It’s amazing to be here, but also to see so many (fans) around the track,” Verstappen said before stepping to the podium as fans rushed on the track. “Hopefully we can do this for many years to come.”
GOLF
CHIBA, Japan — Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama had three birdies in five holes on the back nine and eagled the 18th for good measure for a five-stroke victory at the PGA Tour’s Zozo Championship.
It was Matsuyama’s first PGA Tour win in his native Japan, although he’s only had one previous attempt.
In 2019, Tiger Woods won the inaugural Zozo Championship, the first PGA Tour event in Japan, and last year the tournament was moved to California due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.
Matsuyama finished with a 65 and a 15-under total of 265 at Narashino Country Club. It was his seventh PGA Tour victory.
If there was any doubt, Matsuyama hit a three-wood to about 12 feet with his second shot on the par-5 18th and made the eagle putt.
Asked when he thought he had won his home tournament, Matsuyama said through an interpreter: “Probably my second shot at 18, that was probably the clincher.”
“It was one of my biggest goals to win in front of the Japanese fans here in this country as well,” he added. “So happy that I’ll be able to accomplish that. Also, in 2019 Tiger won the Masters and went on to win the Zozo Championship, so I’m glad that I would be able to emulate that as well.”
Americans were tied for second at 10-under: Brendan Steele shot 66 and Cameron Tringale 69.
BUSAN, South Korea — Jin Young Ko birdied her first playoff hole
with fellow South Korean player Hee Jeong Lim to win the BMW Ladies Championship.
The LPGA Tour said Ko is projected to become world No. 1 with the win, overtaking American Nelly Korda.
Ko was No. 1-ranked from July 20, 2019, to June 27, 2021, a streak of 100 consecutive weeks, and was also world No. 1 for 12 weeks in early 2019. It was Ko’s 11th career LPGA win.
“I wasn’t too conscious, actually, of the ranking,” Ko said. “I always feel if your game is in good form and you keep at it, you can reach that ranking . . . I felt if I kept at it and worked hard this year I might have a chance within this year.”
Lim led by four strokes going into the final round, but Ko’s 8-under 64 moved her to 22-under 266, level with Lim after her final-round 68.
It was Ko’s first playoff in an LPGA tournament.