Car flips over fence at Ky. racetrack, sending several spectators to hospital

Several spectators were hurt Friday night when a race car crashed into the crowd at Ponderosa Speedway in Junction City.

“A car did flip over the fence,” track owner Ryan Willis said Saturday afternoon. “The very top of the fence caught it.”

Three people were injured, but “nothing critical,” Willis said.

“We’re still waiting to hear back from the EMS,” he said. Willis said one of the people appeared to have only scratches and bruising.

Willis said the car that crashed “just slid off” another car and went at least 15 feet into the air as it flipped.

The driver was not hurt and planned to race again Saturday night at a different track, Willis said.

Willis said the fence will have to be repaired before racing can resume on the Lincoln County dirt track, where racing is held on Friday nights.

In this July 17, 2015 photo, cars race on a dirt track at the Ponderosa Speedway in Junction City, Ky. The Speedway, in operation since 1972, is among a handful of dirt racetracks sprinkled across Kentucky where weekend drivers, their crews and families can test their mechanical and driving skills. (AP Photo/David Stephenson)

Ponderosa Speedway has been in business since 1972.

“It’s some freaky thing that’s never happened” before, Willis said. “It’s a dangerous sport.”