8 spectators die after off-road race driver loses control

LUCERNE VALLEY, Calif. - The crowd at the off-road race was almost close enough to touch the trucks as they hurtled and bounced over the desert sand, close enough for one mistake to end eight lives.

Hundreds of thrill-seeking fans watched in horror Saturday night as one racer took a jump at high speed, hit his brakes on landing and rolled his white truck sideways into spectators, sending bodies flying on a section of track with no guardrails to keep the crowd back. Eight people were killed and 12 were hurt at the California 200, a race in the Mojave Desert about 100 miles northeast of Los Angeles.

"You could touch it if you wanted to. It's part of the excitement," said Niky Carmikle, 19, who stood sobbing over a makeshift memorial on the spot of the crash yesterday. Her boyfriend, Zachary Freeman, 24, of Ventura, was killed. "There's always that risk factor, but you just don't expect that it will happen to you."

California Highway Patrol Officer Joaquin Zubieta said Brett M. Sloppy, 28, of San Marcos, was behind the wheel of the truck, that alcohol was not a factor in the crash and there were no plans to arrest him. Zubieta said state vehicle codes don't apply because the race was a sanctioned event held with the approval of the federal Bureau of Land Management, which owns the land used for the race.

Tens of thousands of people were spread out along the 50-mile track, but the site of the crash, a stretch known as the "rock pile," is one of the most popular areas to gather, witnesses said. Some said they got within 4 feet of the unmarked track, watching trucks fly over a series of jumps.

The driver "hit the rock and just lost control and tumbled," said Matt March, 24, of Wildomar, who was standing next to the jump. "Bodies went everywhere." March said he and several other fans lifted the truck, which came to rest with its oversized wheels pointing toward the sky, and found four people lying unconscious underneath.

Carmikle had gone to the bathroom when the crash happened. When she came back, Freeman and his best friend, Dustin Malson, 24, of Ventura, were dead.

It took rescue vehicles and helicopters more than half an hour to reach the location, accessible only by a rutted dirt road. Six people died at the scene and two others died after being taken to a hospital, authorities said.

Sloppy, the driver, wasn't hurt. It was not clear why he lost control of the truck, a modified Ford Ranger with "Misery Motorsports" painted on the doors.

Those killed included Brian Wolfin, 27, Anthony Sanchez, 23, and Aaron Farkas, 25, of Escondido; Danica Frantzich, 20, of Las Vegas; and Andrew Therrin, 22, of Riverside. The eighth victim's name was not released.