MARTINSVILLE, VA. NASCAR mourns 10 dead in Hendrick plane crash

The cause of the crash was not immediately known.
MARTINSVILLE, Va. (AP) -- One of auto racing's most successful dynasties was in mourning after a plane owned by Hendrick Motorsports crashed in thick fog en route to Sunday's NASCAR race, killing all 10 people aboard, including the son, brother and two nieces of owner Rick Hendrick.
The Beech 200 King Air took off from Concord, N.C., and crashed Sunday in the Bull Mountain area 7 miles from the Blue Ridge Regional Airport in Spencer, Va., near the Martinsville Speedway, said Arlene Murray, spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration.
"It's just very tough," said Donnie Floyd, an employee of Hendrick, who placed a bouquet of flowers outside the company's Charlotte, N.C., headquarters. "We are like one big family."
Rough conditions
The cause of the crash was not immediately known, but it occurred in rough, hard-to-reach terrain in weather described as "extremely foggy" by Dale Greeson, who lives about a mile from the site.
Hendrick Motorsports issued a statement late Sunday asking "that those affected be kept in your thoughts and prayers, and respectfully requests that privacy be considered throughout this difficult time."
National Transportation Safety Board investigators were to begin their investigation today.
Hendrick employs 460 workers at its North Carolina compound, which includes race shops and a 15,000-square-foot museum and team store.
NASCAR officials learned of the accident during the Subway 500 but withheld the news from the Hendrick drivers until afterward, NASCAR spokesman Jim Hunter said.
NASCAR drivers reacted with a familiar sadness. Series stars Davey Allison and Alan Kulwicki were killed in separate air crashes in 1993.
"I was hoping I'd never hear this," NASCAR driver Mark Martin told the Speed Network after the race. Martin's father, stepmother and half sister died in 1998 when a plane his father was piloting crashed in Nevada. "I just feel so bad it's unreal," said Martin, himself a pilot.
Driver Rusty Wallace, also a pilot, said he considered the airports in Talladega, Ala., and Martinsville the two most dangerous facilities to fly into for races.
On board
Hendrick Motorsports identified the dead as: Ricky Hendrick, Rick Hendrick's son; John Hendrick, Rick Hendrick's brother and president of Hendrick Motorsports; Kimberly and Jennifer Hendrick, John Hendrick's 22-year-old twin daughters; Joe Jackson, an executive with DuPont; Jeff Turner, general manager of Hendrick Motorsports; Randy Dorton, the team's chief engine builder; Scott Lathram, a pilot for NASCAR driver Tony Stewart; and pilots Richard Tracy and Elizabeth Morrison.