Devastating News--Ron Pestana Dies in a Race Car

60-year-old Ron Pestana loved racing. He was a mini super truck champion and loved the track so much he was the lead singer of a band that sang about it.

"Ron Pestana and the Pit Crew" had even performed at the All-American Speedway in Roseville -- the same place where Saturday night he crashed and died.

Speedway manager Ken Brooks says this is the third fatality at the race track since it opened in 1954.

The cause of the crash is under investigation. The accident happened on the fourth lap of the spectator race. It was kid's night and the grandstands were packed with families. Pestana was rounding a turn at approximately 45 miles per hour when he veered up the track and slammed head-on into the safety barrier near the ramp where cars exit.

Pestana was an experienced driver and there were no skid marks. Some witnesses suspect he might have had a medical emergency before the crash.

Sheriff's deputies towed the car and have not released a cause of death.

Pestana was in a spectator car which are rented at the Speedway. Brooks says they have all the same safety restraints as any other racing vehicle and says they are safe.

The All American Speedway will be open on Saturday for the races. Brooks says they will start the evening with a memorial lap in honor of Pestana and a moment of silence.

Here is a link to the new report video

http://landing.newsinc.com/shared/video.html?freewheel=91055&sitesection=ktxl&VID=23708681

http://www.news10.net/video/default.aspx?bctid=1736653447001

This is indeed sad news. When Ron and his group were at The Historic Columbia Speedway a couple of years ago, Ron, his group, and I walked around the speedway on the Thursday night candlelight walk and I had an opportunity to talk with him that entire half mile. He was certainly a man full of talent and full of life. In fact, I had no idea he was in his 50s at the time he seemed so full of energy. He and I corresponded a few times after the Columbia event but, as always seems to happen, he gets busy, I get busy and the communication got less and less. May God bless and comfort Ron's family and friends. I cannot imagine the void left in the lives of those who were close to the man.

I am still in shock after hearing the news of the passing of Ron Pestana. Ron was truly an amazing man. He was a Musician, Racer and more importantly a friend. I had just talked to Ron on Thursday and he was in very high spirts and was telling me about he going racing Sat. I told him Good Luck and call me from Victory Lane. Guess I will have to wait till I get to heaven for that call from Victory Lane where I am sureGod already knows Ron is a winner.

I will have more to say later. Just got to gather my thoughts.

R.I.P. Ron Pestana!

From Ron's profile page here on RR:

I was born into a racing family
January 1955
Daddy worked at the local speed shop
Saturday nights he raced a modified
Never saw to many high school football games
Saturday nights, racing was the rule
But on my Father and Son night
Daddy brought the race cars to school

Racing's what I live for
It's the only life I've ever known
And if I die today pour my ashes in some speedy dry
And hot lap my ashes away

Daddy bought me my first quarter midget
We raced it at Kennedy Park
He'd pick me up after school
And I'd run laps until the sky got dark
Santa always brought slot cars at Christmas
I got a starter set of Craftman tools
And on my Father and Son night
Daddy made me cool...

You see racings what I live for
It's the only life I've ever known
And if I die today
Pour my ashes in some speedy dry
And hot lap my ashes away

I told my teacher I know Parnelli Jones
So he kept me after school
Said I shouldn't lie like that
Makes me look like the classroom fool.
Next day, Daddy called my teacher
Said "check out front at three o'clock"
And when school let out that day
My Daddy lined up race cars
Down the block

You see racing's what I live for
It's the only life I've ever known
And if I die today pour my ashes in some speedy dry
And hot lap my ashes away

"Hot Lap My Ashes"
A Song by Ron Pestana and the Pit Crew

Our thoughts and prayers go to Ron's family and friends.While it is tragic he was fullfilling a dream.

Ron Pestana...the Realtor:

Indeed sad news.

Though no cause has been established and a medical emergency has been speculated, I would suspect this incident will cause close scrutiny of the practice of having "rent-a racers" available to the public.

Indeed a tragic way to start the week. My condolences to his family and may he rest in peace as he took his final checked flag.

dave,

the program is called" Spectator Racing ". Not rent a racers...its has existed for 15 years..in that 15 year period it has hosted aprox 60,000 driver...turned over 600,000 laps , has a record of no injuries..this program was one of Ron Pestana's favorite things to do..he was one of the biggest fans the program has ever had..its no fly by night rental program..the program is open to scrutiny by anyone that would care to take a look..and further more at this time there is no indication of any mechanical failure, or for that matter any official report at all..but some people choose to make comments that can only inflame opinion and ruin the lives of folks who have worked so hard for over a decade to bring a truely unique idea to the sport we love..Ronnie was my oldest and dearest friend..i can say with total conviction that these kind of comments without facts have no place in the racing community..i'll pray for you.

R I P Ron

I am deeply sorry for your loss, but don't appreciate your negative comment. I really do suspect that the accident will cause scrutiny of this type of racing. That's all I meant. I'll pray for you, too. I think all accidents involving death and serious injury justify scrutiny.

what TYPE of racing is it you think this is..its racing like any other TYPE..you are inferring that there is something wrong with either the race cars or the drivers..wich is it.? because they are both negative . maybe you could better explain your comment so people wouldnt be negative about your negative comment.

I can help....Dale Earnhardt was racing the best cars in the world for the best racing organization in the world and his death caused much scrutiny and has since saved lives. The sad fact in the evolution of safety in racing is that most advances came as the direct result of loss of life. To not scrutinize any "type" of racing after a death would be a huge mistake.

Ron was a personal friend and his death was tragic. On the surface it appears it may not have even been related to a mechanical issue...we do no know those facts yet.But in theinterviewsafter the loss, I saw a quote from someone at the track that said they were going to ask NASCAR to help with the investigation. That my friend is scrutiny. It should always happen...that is how we save lives in racing.

I have some knowledge of the cars being raced and personally believe they are among the safest cars being raced...based on what I have been told about them. I personally believe that this "type" of racing has a future in local short track racing and can be good for the sport. But, I certainly hope no one "assumes" the cars are perfect and rules out any possible cause. That would be a mistake...in my opinion.

I think you took an otherwise normal comment and assumed it was a barb against the cars. I don't think that was the case. Everyone in this group is for the success of short track racing. The quest to make it as safe as possible should never end. Every death on a race track should bring considerable scrutiny to make the sport safer....we will never make it "safe".

A heavily scrutinized accident that finds the driver safety aspects of the car did their job would go a long way toward the quest to make racing accessible to more people.

Once again, I'm deeply sorry for your loss. I think you need to chill. You think I didn't want it investigated when Dale Earnhardt was killed in a crash? Thank God it was investigated.

But, no, I don't consider a race series where spectators rent racing vehicles to be a race series like any other type, as you state.

Local Motor notes: Roseville speedway plans tribute to popular driver
By Mark Billingsley
Sacremento Bee Correspondent
Published: Friday, Jul. 20, 2012

The autopsy was completed Monday and the toxicology report is still months away. Meanwhile, the Placer County Sheriff's Department still has the race car impounded for further investigation.

Whatever the cause of Ron Pestana's death at Roseville's All American Speedway last Saturday night, the fact remains a very popular driver died doing what he loved to do and will be missed.

Pestana's death was the first at the speedway since the mid-1970s, said track manager Ken Brooks. Pestana, 60, of Byron in the East Bay, was driving a rented race car that's part of the Spectator Racing experience when he hit the tires that protect the entry to the pits at the top of Turn 2. There were no fresh skid marks from Pestana's car, which leads some to speculate that he possibly suffered a medical problem before hitting the tires.

Pestana, a real estate agent in Brentwood, was an experienced driver. He'd been racing for more than 30 years and had won the Mini Super Truck championship at Altamont Motorsports Park in Tracy the track his late father, John Pestana, built in the mid-1960s.

The Roseville speedway will not feature Spectator Racing in Saturday's lineup not because there's any question about safety, Brooks said while the local racing community deals with the loss of the popular driver.

"At the regular Placer County Fair Board meeting Tuesday night, I was asked if I was going to suspend Spectator Racing," Brooks said. "There's no need for that. (Spectator Racing) has been racing at All American for six years, and thousands of people have been through their program. This is the first time they've had an incident like this. Sure, they've had some crashes, but no one has been seriously hurt or killed."

Pestana was friends with Spectator Racing owner Patrick LaPenna, Brooks said. Attempts to reach LaPenna were unsuccessful.

Brooks said he was planning a tribute for Saturday night when Pestana's family offered to bring Pestana's 2006 championship race truck to the Roseville track and let it be the lead vehicle for a couple of memorial laps.

"We'll have the invocation, the national anthem, and then the truck will be out front on the lap followed by 12 Spectator Racing cars," Brooks said. "They'll drive either two- or three-wide for a lap and then come park on the grandstand side and remove their helmets as the driver of the truck does a final lap, and then he'll go to the backstretch and do a burnout."

Pestana was the bassist in a rock 'n' roll band called Ron Pestana and the Pit Crew that played at Northern California racetracks, including All American Speedway. Brooks said the band's CDs will be sold at the entrance to the grandstands Saturday, with proceeds going to the Pestana family.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/07/20/4643657/roseville-speedway-plans-tribute.html#storylink=cpy

nascar was offered to the sherrifs dept to share their expertise if needed about the car, but declined, having no expertise in that level of racing..thats not scrutiny my friend..the point wasobviously lost....when people log on and have no facts about anything, other than the fact that someone was driving a race car and died..and no official reason is given yet due to the fact that the investigation is incomplete,,then they should not make comments to point at ANYTHING..

no one here is not advocating safety, or the need to continualy improve on it..

why dont you consider it any other type of racing ? have you participated in the series ?

Patrick,

You are obviously hurt by the death of a friend...so am I. I think you are taking normal comments to this situation as personal....they were not intended that way. Any death in racing will draw considerable criticism...it is to be expected. People have to question the cause, it is part of the process.

Iapologizeif you felt threatened by the discussion. I can only try to imagine your feelings. No one is implying that you, your cars, or series are at fault for the loss of our friend...just the normal stuff that comes after this kind of loss.

No stone should be left unturned any time there is a tragedy that might be prevented in the future, whether it be caused by a mechanical issue, a medical issue, lack of training or whatever issue. But the cause needs to be rooted out, if possible for future prevention.

Who knows, maybe EKGs should be required before folks my age strap in a car.

I've lost a best friend and I've suffered losses in racing. They're tough. But, please don't be combative with folks who advocate for making racing as safe as possible. That's no slam against you. If you'll kindly re-read my original post, there was absolutely NO inference as to the cause of the loss of Ron Pestana.

All of us share the loss of any racer and the hurt of friends, family and acquaintances. And, we all share the hope that every time we lose a racer knowledgeable and responsible parties will try to determine the cause and endeavor to make things better. That's an admirable goal.

Maybe Mr LaPenna , you missed this post while stirring up dust a ways back... For your convenience I will repeat it now

Reply by Jeff Gilder on July 16, 2012 at 10:08am

From Ron's profile page here on RR:

I was born into a racing family
January 1955
Daddy worked at the local speed shop
Saturday nights he raced a modified
Never saw to many high school football games
Saturday nights, racing was the rule
But on my Father and Son night
Daddy brought the race cars to school

Racing's what I live for
It's the only life I've ever known
And if I die today pour my ashes in some speedy dry
And hot lap my ashes away

Daddy bought me my first quarter midget
We raced it at Kennedy Park
He'd pick me up after school
And I'd run laps until the sky got dark
Santa always brought slot cars at Christmas
I got a starter set of Craftman tools
And on my Father and Son night
Daddy made me cool...

You see racings what I live for
It's the only life I've ever known
And if I die today
Pour my ashes in some speedy dry
And hot lap my ashes away

I told my teacher I know Parnelli Jones
So he kept me after school
Said I shouldn't lie like that
Makes me look like the classroom fool.
Next day, Daddy called my teacher
Said "check out front at three o'clock"
And when school let out that day
My Daddy lined up race cars
Down the block

You see racing's what I live for
It's the only life I've ever known
And if I die today pour my ashes in some speedy dry
And hot lap my ashes away

"Hot Lap My Ashes"
A Song by Ron Pestana and the Pit Crew

And here is a little Cheese you can put with your Wine : This club is made up of over 95 % racers and owners. You will also notice that we have a few groups that have a regular event of racing(not ride around the track gentle) and we even have a track that runs weekly not to mention the other tracks that Racers Reunion hold yearly events at. So you see we are not exactly dumb to the fact but instead have quite a bit of knowledge to the goings on at a track and the safety aspect of a racecar.

Now with that said we at Racers reunion will miss Ron but you see his memory and Yes his music will live on here for a long long time...

By chance read the banner above these two guys Jamming

thats funny..stirring up dust..there's nothing you can tell me about ronnie or his songs...go ahead, start it all again, then blame the people you have insulted for their rplies..this is an interesting website..

I'll close the discussion, now. Nothing can be accomplished with this type of exchange.

We're sorry you feel insulted, Patrick. We do support your "type" of racing and wish you well.