Cause of Fatal Irwin Crash Unknown

July 9 -- — NASCAR racer Kenny Irwin was driving 150 mph when he crashed into the wall at New Hampshire International Speedway and was killed, officials said today.

Irwin, 30, crashed while practicing for a Winston Cup race Friday afternoon, just yards from where Adam Petty was killed two months ago at the Loudon, N.H. track. He was pronounced dead of multiple injuries hours later at nearby Concord Hospital.

Irwin’s car struck the wall and flipped over when he was entering the third turn at a speed of 150 mph during practice for the New England 300. On May 12, also a Friday afternoon, Petty died while practicing in his Busch Series car when he crashed at nearly the same spot on the 1.058-mile track.

Stuck Throttle

Although there was no official word on what caused the accident, a single car running straight into a wall often is a result of a throttle stuck in the open position.

Drivers Dale Jarrett, Mark Martin and Ward Burton say flat tracks with longstraightaways and very sharp turns like those in Loudon andMartinsville, Va., pose the biggest problems if the throttlesticks. With little or no banking, a driver can’t run uphill toslow the car and minimize contact with the wall.

“I think it needs to be addressed,” Burton said.

Kevin Triplett, NASCAR’s director of operations, said that whilean investigation was under way, “we just haven’t found anythingyet.”

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Speedway officials had no comment regarding the racing surface,spokesman Fred Neergaard said.

Former Rookie of the Year

Irwin, the 1998 Rookie of the Year, was in his third full season of Winston Cup, after spending the first two years of his career in Robert Yates’ No. 28 Fords.

He posted two top-five and six top-10 finishes in his second season on the Winston Cup circuit, when he finished 19th in points. That was a marked increase over his first year on the circuit, when he finished 28th overall.

The Indianapolis native was formerly a star on the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, where he also was named Rookie of the Year.