OCALA — Authorities say a 15-year-old girl who died in a crash while racing at Bubba Raceway Park near Ocala suffered a broken neck and severe head injuries.
Niokoa Johnson died in March while driving a race-ready Nissan Sentra. Marion County Sheriff’s officials recently released the accident report, which noted it was the first time she’d driven the race car.
Johnson was the only driver on the track when the crash occurred. She apparently lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a concrete barrier driving about 40 mph.
The report states the girl was wearing her five-point seat-belt harness. Her father Richard Johnson told the Ocala Star-Banner that Johnson wasn’t wearing a HANS device, which would’ve stabilized her head.
He said the device is not a requirement for small tracks like the one his daughter was racing on.
