On Saturday night, the sport suffered perhaps its worst crash in decades when eight spectators were killed and 12 injured in a race in the Mojave Desert called the California 200. Shortly after the start of the 200-mile race, one of the competing trucks sailed off a rock pile and rolled into a crowd.
As dozens of people ran and screamed, the truck landed upside down in a column of dust. The driver was not hurt and some witnesses, according to The Associated Press, said he had to flee to escape angry spectators, although others disputed that account.