Tough news out of Pocono, as the same storm that shut down the race after 98 of a scheduled 160 laps also sent down a lightning strike that killed 1 and injured 9 fans just outside the track.
Shortly after 7:30 ET, Pocono Raceway officials announced that a fan was pronounced dead on arrival at a local hospital. Details have not been released.
Jeff Gordon, the race's winner, recalled seeing lightning strikes right after the race ended, including the one that may have injured the fans. "I'm pretty sure I know which one it was," he said. "We were walking down pit road, the umbrellas weren't doing any good, there was a huge, huge crack from lightning. You could tell it was very close. That's the thing that's going to take away from the victory, is the fact that somebody was affected by that."
NASCAR fans have been struck by lightning at tracks in the past. Three fans suffered minor injuries during a thunderstorm in Daytona in 2004. And in 1983, two spectators were killed and six injured during a storm at Dover.
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