I-500 will continue, organizers promise

The snowmobile that killed Allyn Burke at Saturday's I-500 was travelling almost 100 miles an hour, Monday-morning news reports indicate.

Burke (shown), the 24-year-old youth co-ordinator at Sault Ste. Marie (Ontario)'s Enterprise Centre, was watching her boyfriend race from a snow berm separating the track from the pit area.

According to coverage by Alexa Capeloto in this morning's Detroit Free Press, sled 86's front ski then caught on a telephone pole, whipping the snowmobile around until it slammed into Burke and two other bystanders.

This year's I-500 was a day of carnage in which the accidents started just three seconds into the race and continued until Burke had died and others had suffered one broken ankle, one torn hamstring, one fractured leg, one bone chip in an elbow, and one leg torn up (and almost severed) by a snow machine.

The race was delayed after Burke was sent to War Memorial Hospital, but wasn't formally called off until hospital officials warned that its emergency room was unable to handle any more trauma cases.

Any further injuries at the track, the hospital said, and the victims would be sent to Canada for treatment.

Group prayer at the casino

The Associated Press is reporting that race organizers have vowed to continue the event with added safety precautions.

Co-organizer Jan Bailey is quoted as saying that "NASCAR didn't stop when Dale Earnhardt got killed."

"We do what we do, we do the best we can, and we keep going," Bailey told the Detroit Free Press.

News reports indicate that Bailey and other organizers gathered Saturday night at Kewadin Casino for what was described as a "subdued" awards ceremony.

They then held a group prayer and discussed their intention to make next year's event safer.

Additional coverage

Earlier article on SooToday.com Detroit Free Press Associated Press Soo Evening News #1 Soo Evening News #2 Marquette Mining Journal