Driver trying to set speed record at Utah salt flats race dies after losing control

Chris Raschke, 60, was going 283 mph in his rocket-like car at the Speed Week racing event at the Bonneville Salt Flats

A driver going 283 mph (455 km/h) trying to set a land speed record during a racing event at Utah’s famed Bonneville Salt Flats died on Sunday after he lost control of his rocket-like vehicle called the Speed Demon, organizers said.

Driver Chris Raschke lost control about two and a half miles into a run and was treated by medical professionals at the scene, but died from his injuries, according to the Southern California Timing Association, which has organized the popular land-speed racing event known as Speed Week since the late 1940s.