Harrison native, sprint car competitor Justin Owen dies following qualifying race crash

LAWRENCEBURG, Ind. — Justin Owen, a 26-year-old Harrison native and sprint car racing competitor, has died following a Saturday night crash during a qualifying race, USAC Racing said in a statement.

Owen was competing in Saturday night's USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship event at the Lawrenceburg Speedway. The remainder of the event has been canceled due to his death.

During the qualifying race, USAC said Owen's car made contact with the outside wall, went airborne and flipped multiple times in turn three of the course.

"USAC expresses its deepest condolences to Justin's family, team and many friends throughout the racing community," USAC said.

According to USAC Racing's Twitter, the race was immediately red flagged — or deemed too dangerous to continue — after the crash around 6:25 p.m.

Shortly after at 6:55 p.m., USAC Racing announced that the National Championship had been canceled.

USAC then released a statement announcing Owen's death shortly after midnight.

Owen was the reigning track champion with two feature wins and a title in 2022, according to USAC. Having grown up just 20 minutes from the southeast Indiana track, Owen had been a regular competitor in the 3/8-mile oval. The 2022 crown was his first at the speedway.

The young driver had collected multiple awards in his career, and he collected three in 2019 — the Buckeye Outlaw Sprint Series at Pennslyvania's Lernerville Speedway, once at Indiana's Paragon Speedway and then at Lawrenceburg's Night of Champions event.

After the news of Owen's passing, multiple people and companies in the sprint car and racing community have shown an outpouring of support.

Lawrenceburg Speedway issued a statement Sunday morning saying "Our hearts are broken and we are at a loss for words."

"Love one another and provide comfort and kindness as the entire racing community tries to understand and heal," the speedway said.

Chase Briscoe, a southeast Indiana native and NASCAR driver, said he had raced against Owen "quite a bit" in sprint cars.

"Thoughts and prayers are with him and his family," Briscoe said.

Tony Stewart Racing, which is owned by the longtime NASCAR driver, also showed its support.

"It's never easy to be reminded how quickly things happen in this sport or that we're not promised tomorrow," Tony Stewart Racing tweeted. "Keeping the family, friends and fans of Justin Owen in our prayers. We're so sorry for your loss."

Brady Bacon, a 4x National USAC sprint car champion also expressed his condolences.

"All racers are part of a big family and he will be missed," Bacon tweeted.