Ohio race car driver dies at Lawrenceburg Speedway

LAWRENCEBURG, Ind. (WXIX) - A sprint car racer is dead after a crash Saturday night at the Lawrenceburg Speedway.

Speedway officials say Justin Owen, 26, was competing in the USAC AMSOIL sprint car international championship when his racer crashed, causing it to flip multiple times.

The race was canceled after the deadly crash.

Owen, a Harrison, Ohio native, was the reigning track champion at the Lawrenceburg Speedway, scoring two feature wins and the title in 2022. He had competed for more than a decade.

Speedway officials say it was his first crown at the 3/8-mile dirt oval in southeastern Indiana, where he was a regular competitor in the sprint car division for many seasons.

Owen won in the season-closing Dick Gains Memorial during his Lawrenceburg championship season in 2022. In 2019, Owen received three victories, one with the Buckeye Outlaw Sprint Series at Pennsylvania’s Lernerville Speedway, one at the Indiana Paragon Speedway, and another at Lawrenceburg’s Night of Champions event.

“USAC expresses its deepest condolences to Justin’s family, team, and many friends throughout the racing community,’ Lawrenceburg Speedway stated in a Facebook post.

Saturday was opening night for the race track.

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