A woman who was struck by a tire at the NHRA Arizona Nationals at Firebird Int'l Raceway was pronounced dead at Good Samaritan Hospital Sunday evening. The tire became detached from Antron Brown's dragster following an incident during the first round of eliminations. Brown was not injured. NHRA is investigating the incident

NHRA issued the following statement Monday:

"The entire NHRA racing community is in mourning over the tragedy that occurred on Sunday in Phoenix. Our hearts, our prayers and our deepest condolences go out to the family and friends of the woman who passed away.The woman’s name has not been released to protect the privacy of her family.

"Safety is NHRA’s top priority, for not only our racers, but the millions of fans who attend events around the country.  The set of circumstances that led to Sunday’s tragedy is being investigated by NHRA and the race team.     

"We ask everyone to keep the family in their thoughts and prayer."

Don Schumacher Racing, which owns the dragster driven by Brown, also issued the following statement Monday:

"Don Schumacher Racing would like to offer its condolences to the family and friends of a woman who was fatally injured Sunday at the NHRA Arizona Nationals at Firebird Int'l Raceway.
 
"On behalf of everyone at Don Schumacher Racing, I want to express my heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of the victim in yesterday's tragedy," team owner Don Schumacher said. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of the woman. There are simply no words to adequately express our feelings, but we can assure you that we are conducting a thorough investigation to determine how this happened.  
 
"Don Schumacher Racing is one of the leading advocates for safety in the NHRA, and we will continue to be at the forefront of safety. Safety is and always has been our paramount concern. Therefore, we intend to do everything in our power to carefully investigate this matter as efficiently and thoroughly as possible. We ask for your patience and assure you that we will have more to report as information becomes available to us. In the meantime, we extend our sympathies and ask everyone to keep the victim of yesterday's tragedy, as well as her family and friends, in your thoughts and prayers."