IN BRIEF : Driver Killed at Mich. Speedway

A 33-year-old race driver died this morning after his car crashed during the feature event at the Kalamazoo Speedway, authorities said.

Jerry Landon of Freeport was pronounced dead at 1:45 a.m. at Bronson Methodist Hospital, apparently of head injuries, police and hospital officials said. His car crashed into a cement retaining wall at the speedway during the Mini-Champ race Sunday after it was believed to have touched wheels with another car, Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Deputy Rick Lewis said.

Landon was the third member of his family to die in auto-related accidents, said Mick Schuler, promoter and announcer at the Speedway.

In 1956, his father, Wayne Landon, was racing at the Hastings Speedway when a wheel came off his car, flew into the stands and killed his daughter, Rita, Schuler said. A few years ago, another son of the elder Landon was struck by a car and killed as he put gas in a car along a highway, Schuler said.