24-year-old driver for Tony Stewart Racing dies in interstate-highway crash
By Sara Smart, CNN
(CNN) — A 24-year-old woman who drove for Tony Stewart Racing died Friday after being ejected from the car in which she was riding on an Indiana highway.
Ashlea Albertson was a passenger in one of two vehicles involved in the incident, which happened around 11:30 a.m. on northbound Interstate 65 in Jackson County, about an hour south of Indianapolis, Indiana State Police said in a Facebook post Friday.
Albertson was a driver for Tony Stewart Racing, which was created by the three-time NASCAR champion in 2000. Albertson was also a part of the All Star Circuit of Champions TQ Midgets and last raced in Indianapolis a week before her death, according to her racing records.
According to the state police post, a 22-year-old was driving a Chevrolet Malibu in the right lane of I-65 on Friday, while a 31-year-old was traveling in the left lane in a GMC Terrain. Albertson was a passenger in the Terrain, police said.
Police say evidence from the accident, which includes video, showed that the “two drivers began accelerating rapidly and refused to allow the other vehicle to pass.”
When the Malibu began to move into the Terrain’s lane, the Terrain’s driver lost control and the vehicles collided. Albertson was ejected from the car as a result when the car rolled, police said.
Albertson was transported to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead. All the other people involved – the two drivers and a juvenile passenger in the Malibu – were treated for non-life-threatening injuries at local hospitals, police say.
Stewart described Albertson in a Facebook post as someone who could light up any room with an “infectious personality.”
“She was a great race car driver that was involved in a road rage accident and lost her life,” Stewart said, “In the past, I’ve also gotten caught up in road rage.”
Police have not confirmed the incident involved road rage.
Stewart, who retired from NASCAR in 2016, was fined a total of $30,000 by the stock car racing circuit and placed on probation between 2001 and 2002 after multiple displays of anger. These included bumping Jeff Gordon’s car on pit road during a race, batting a tape recorder out of reporter’s hand, and hitting a photographer.
Todd Albertson, Ashlea’s father, made a video post on Facebook on her racing account informing her fans of her death. “She was a good kid, a better person and she just loved racing, she loved the community,” Todd said emotionally in the video.
Police said Friday that toxicology results were still pending.
CNN has reached out to police for further comment but has not heard back.
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