Driver dies after crash at racing clinic in New Jersey

WALL – A 21-year-old Middletown woman participating in a novice three-quarter midget racing program at Wall Stadium Speedway died after her car hit the second turn wall early Saturday afternoon.

Amanda Gambacorto of the Belford section of Middletown was pronounced dead at Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune at 1:26 p.m., Capt. Steve Jones of the State Police said.

Gambacorto's car was following another racer right before she slammed head-on into the wall, Jones said. No other vehicle was involved in the crash, he said. Police received a call at approximately 12:30 p.m. about the accident.

State Police were at the track investigating the crash Saturday afternoon. Jones said no additional details would be released Saturday.

A friend of Gambacorto's family said the family was too distraught to discuss the young woman.

Gambacorto worked as a marketing assistant and communications intern at Stony Brook University, in Stony Brook, New York, where she attended school. She was double-majoring in environmental humanities and philosophy, according to her LinkedIn page

She also shucked clams and tended bar at Moby's Lobster Deck in Highlands over the past few summers.

Jay Cosgrove, owner of Moby's, recalled Gambacorto as "bubbly and friendly" with customers and co-workers.

"She was a good, hardworking girl and smart. She had a lot of friends and a lot of big plans for her life," he said.

The news of her death hit them in the middle of a busy work day.

"It hasn't set in yet," he said.

Jones could not say whether Gambacorto was a novice driver. She was behind the wheel of a three-quarter midget, 75 percent of the size of a full midget — an open-wheel miniature race car, about 8 to 9 feet in length, weighing about 650 pounds.

She was taking lessons from the Green Flag Driving Experience that runs on-track instruction for beginners at the speedway, Jones said. A call to the company was not immediately returned.

The three-quarter midgets "are small-scale race cars with a very high power-to-weight ratio, which use four-cylinder engines," the company's website reads.

The cars can go faster than 90 mph on the banked oval asphalt track, according to the racetrack's website.

The racetrack had a beach luau-themed stock car event planned for Saturday night, which was canceled.

"With heavy hearts we have canceled tonight's racing events Aug. 16, 2014," the Wall Stadium Speedway website stated.

Racing officials declined to comment at the scene.

The racetrack has motorsports events on Saturdays during the summer months. It is located on Route 34 in Wall, north of the Garden State Parkway Exit 98 and Interstate 195 Exit 35B.

The fatal accident follows the racing tragedy involving stock car racer and NASCAR team owner Tony Stewart.

Stewart, the iconic and often combative 43-year-old driver and owner, struck Kevin Ward Jr., 20, on Aug. 9 with his sprint car during a yellow flag at Canandaigua Motorsports Park in upstate New York.

Ward, who walked down the track after he and Stewart had collided earlier to bring out the caution flag, died as a result of the contact, which some say Stewart could have avoided.

Ontario County (New York) Sheriff Philip Povero said Tuesday the investigation will take at least another two weeks.

This isn't the first death at the Wall Speedway.

In April 2002 Legends driver Mike DeSantis, 53, was killed when his car hit the wall between the first and second turns.

INEX, the sanctioning body for Legends car racing, which stands for inexpensive racing, withdrew its sanctioning after the crash but renewed it when the speedway placed metal guard rails over the 53-year-old wooden rails.

Huba, Christie and Serrano write for the Asbury Park Press