Rookie Driver Dies in Indy Car Crash

Rookie Indy car driver Jeff Krosnoff of La Canada Flintridge, who spent seven years racing in Japan before returning home this year to compete in the PPG Indy Car series, was killed Sunday in a spectacular crash three laps from the end of the Toronto-Molson race.

Krosnoff, 31, was racing through the fastest part of the 1.784-mile temporary circuit in the downtown Exhibition Place grounds when his Reynard-Toyota made wheel-to-wheel contact with a car driven by Stefan Johansson. The collision sent Krosnoff’s car soaring above the heads of course workers standing along a cement wall, into a catch-fence where it disintegrated while spinning and cartwheeling through the air, spewing pieces all over the track.

The cockpit, which broke apart from the rest of the chassis, came to a stop on the opposite side of the racing strip. The race was stopped as course workers pulled Krosnoff from the wreckage, but he never regained consciousness.

Krosnoff’s wife, Tracy, and his parents were at Toronto Western Hospital when he was pronounced dead about 30 minutes after the accident.

Also killed was a course worker, Gary Arbin of Calgary, Canada.

“Effectively, both were killed instantly,” said Dr. Hugh Scully, medical director for the race. “There was no suffering on the part of either of them.”

Krosnoff, Dr. Scully said, died of “massive head and chest injuries, skeletal wounds and complete cardiac arrest.”

Another course worker, Barbara Johnston of Ypsilanti, Mich., was treated for a cut on her head and released.

Adrian Fernandez of Mexico was declared the winner when the race was halted on lap 92 of 95. It was the first Indy car victory for Fernandez, who was just ahead of Alex Zanardi and Bobby Rahal.

“This is both a happy and sad day for me,” Fernandez said. “My heart goes out to Jeff’s family and friends. He will be missed by all of us.”

Johansson, Andre Ribeiro and Emerson Fittipaldi, all of whom were involved in the Krosnoff accident, wound up in a runoff area at the end of the Lakeshore Boulevard straightaway.

It was the first fatality in a CART race since the organization began sanctioning races in 1979. However, it was the second fatality to an Indy car driver this year.

Scott Brayton, a veteran of 14 Indianapolis 500s, was killed while practicing for the last Indy 500.

Krosnoff, who won the first race he ever entered--a Jim Russell Racing School series for Formula Fords in 1983 at Riverside International Raceway--was driving for the Rancho Santa Margarita-based Toyota team of Frank Arciero and Cal Wells. Along with Dan Gurney’s All American Racers, they were introducing the new Toyota engine into Indy car racing.

“It’s a tragic loss for the entire Arciero-Wells organization,” Wells said.

Krosnoff had an impressive early career, winning seven Formula Ford races in 1983, followed by victories in the Mazda Pro Series, Pro Sports 2000 and SCCA Race Truck Challenge while earning a degree in psychology from UCLA in 1987.

Frustrated by an inability to move up to either Indy car or Formula One, Krosnoff headed for Japan to race in that country’s Formula 3000 series.

“My early ambition was to get into Formula One,” he said earlier this year. “It never happened, even after I ran well in Japan. Then I turned toward getting a test in an Indy car. I pulled every string I could and finally I convinced the Bridgestone [tire] people, which is Firestone over here, that I deserved a shot. So here I am.

“There were times I felt lost over there, but I learned an awful lot [while] racing in Japan and I loved the culture. I was proud of my accomplishments and if I hadn’t made it back here this year I probably would have finished my career over there.”

Krosnoff, part of La Canada’s racing trio with Tom Kendall and David Kudrave, said the toughest part was flying back and forth from Tokyo. “I made 13 or 14 round trips last year,” he said. “My rule of thumb was if I had more than five days between testing or racing or sponsor commitments, I flew home.”

Despite winning a number of races in Japan, Krosnoff said his biggest racing thrill was finishing second in the 1994 24 Hours of Le Mans. Teamed with Formula One veteran Eddie Irvine and European Formula 3000 champion Mauro Martini, the trio led for more than 12 hours in the SARD/Toyota world sportscar entry. A problem with the gearbox linkage dropped them back to second place with only 90 minutes remaining.

For diversion between races, Krosnoff played the drums for the band “Mach V” with fellow drivers Robbie Groff and Kudrave. He also was writing a column on his American racing exploits for a Japanese motorsports magazine.