Overacker’s Fatal Stunt Catches Drivers Off-Guard

In the tight-knit community of drivers who compete at Ventura Raceway, Robert Overacker was considered somewhat of a loner, a man who raced aggressively, yet fairly.

Few people, even those who worked on their cars virtually side by side with him, knew of his flair for the dramatic, a trait that ultimately led to his death.

Overacker, 39, drowned Sunday after riding a Jet Ski over Niagara Falls. Law enforcement officials said his watercraft plunged 180 feet and crashed into the water after a parachute that was supposed to save him failed to open.

The stunt, police said, apparently was designed to call attention to the plight of the homeless. Stickers that read “Save The Homeless” decorated both sides of the Jet Ski.

“I’m very surprised that I would even know him on a limited basis and not know that he was into something like [stunts],” said Paul Moore, who has won four consecutive Street Stock championships at Ventura.

Overacker, a Camarillo resident who is survived by his wife Laurie, made his final appearance at the quarter-mile clay oval Sept. 23, just one week before his fatal plunge. Apparently, none of his competitors knew of his plans to jump the falls.

“When I talked to him about careers, he indicated [only] that he sold classic British cars,” Moore said.

Track champion Greg Voigt, whose pit space was next to Overacker’s at Ventura during the past season , remembers Overacker as “a good guy” and “a good racer.”

“He always raced clean and fair,” Voigt said. “What happened is really a shame.”

Overacker raced Mini Stocks at Ventura in 1992, then switched to pavement racing in a Sportsman car at Saugus Speedway in ’93 and ran Street Stocks at Saugus in ’94. He returned to Ventura for the past season and finished 16th in the points standings among 37 Street Stock drivers.

Charlie Utts, another former Ventura Street Stock champion, said Overacker was a talented driver who never recovered from the late start he got in the season.

“He didn’t have time to get comfortable in the car, do testing, or any of the other things you have to do to be successful,” Utts said.

One thing that stood out, in Utts’ view, was Overacker’s lack of fear.

“I saw that he wasn’t scared of much,” Utts said. “The speed wasn’t what was worrying him. It was getting the car to handle right.”

Said Moore, who finished behind Overacker in a July heat race: “When the car was running good, he was a charger.”

In his last race at Ventura, Overacker displayed a flair for showmanship after crashing in an eight-lap heat race.

After hitting the grandstand wall head-on, Overacker immediately leaped from his car and jumped on its roof to wave to the crowd.

Race promoter Jim Naylor recalls Overacker expressing his love of speed and danger. Nevertheless, the details of Overacker’s fatal accident took him by surprise.

“I was terribly shocked and terribly saddened for the family,” Naylor said. “I never knew he’d do this, not in a million years.”