Calif. woman killed in crash at Mario Andretti racing event

In 1999 our Mark Cipolloni (above) drove the same cars at Fontana in what was a precursor to the Mario Andretti Driving Experience called Driving 101 and it was sanctioned by CART. It was a push start back then.

A woman crashed a replica Indy race car into a wall at a high rate of speed and died while taking part in the Mario Andretti Driving Experience at a Southern California motor speedway.

The San Bernardino County coroner's office says 24-year-old Ashley Phalen of Los Angeles was killed early Friday when her vehicle slammed into a wall and overturned at the Auto Club Motor Speedway in Fontana. She died at a nearby hospital.

Phalen was participating in what is described on andrettiracing.com as the "World's Fastest Racing Experience." The website says people can drive a race car with 600 horsepower for an eight-minute session and reach speeds up to 160 mph.

An after-hours phone message for the Andretti Driving Experience wasn't immediately returned.