Motorsport: IndyCar driver Paul Dana died yesterday when his race car, traveling close to 200mph, crashed into the back of another car during a practice run at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Dana (30) hit a car driven by Ed Carpenter after the latter spun, hit the wall and nearly come to a stop.
Both drivers were taken to hospital, where Dana was later pronounced dead.
"Trauma personnel worked on Paul and then pronounced him dead at the hospital a little before noon," a spokesman said.
Carpenter is in stable condition.
Dana, a former motorsport journalist, was part of the team owned by TV talk show host David Letterman and Bobby Rahal.
He was in his second year in the championship and had qualified in ninth position for Sunday's Toyota Indy 300 - the first race of the new season.