Racer Suffers Serious Burns at Perris Auto Speedway

By Martin Henderson

A man participating in a race at Perris Auto Speedway suffered serious burns Saturday night, according to a fire spokesman on Sunday.

He was driving a motorhome in the Democross main event, which is one of the featured races as part of the half-mile speedway's "Night of Destruction 4."

Commonly referred to as the PAS, Perris Auto Speedway reported on its Facebook page Sunday morning the driver was in stable condition and had been transported to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center. The site praised the track's emergency workers for their response. 

An observer reported on Facebook that the driver had third degree burns on his back, legs and left arm, and that he was placed into a medically induced coma.

According to accounts of the event on Facebook, the driver was on fire when he crawled from the motorhome he was racing and then rolled on the ground. 

"That was something small that turned ugly real fast," posted Brent Surman. 

"Was the scariest thing I've ever seen at the PAS ... and I've been going there since the first race," posted Bobbi Burk.

Firefighters received a call at 10:21 p.m. Saturday and went to the PAS, located on Lake Perris Drive, Riverside County Fire Department spokesman Mark Annas said.

Annas did not disclose the identity of the driver or the extent of the injuries. 

The Democross event includes competitors driving around the course while navigating obstacles, such as large tires placed on the raceway. Robert Lawson was the event winner. 

Among the events at Night of Destruction are figure 8 races, some of which include race cars pulling trailers. 

No person answered the phone at the raceway offices today.

—City News Service contribute to this report