NASCAR Fan Death at Talladega Due to Suspected Carbon Monoxide Leak

A man was found dead and his wife unresponsive in their motor home while camping out at Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday afternoon, and a carbon monoxide leak was reportedly the culprit, according to Kelsey Stein of AL.com.

The couple from Tennessee were found on Saturday at about 1 p.m., per Talladega County Coroner Larry Seals. The man was dead when authorities arrived, but the woman has been hospitalized in Birmingham, Ala., according to the report.

The victims were reportedly camping out at Talladega for Sunday's Sprint Cup race, which is quite common at NASCAR races. Seals told the Associated Press, however, that the fun weekend likely turned fatal due to the use of a gas stove which had a faulty exhaust system. 

This is the second fan death at Talladega this year. A man drowned in a nearby creek back in May, and according to AP, it isn't the first time that carbon monoxide poisoning has killed a fan at the track either.   

According to Talladega Superspeedway officials, there are approximately 15,000 camping spaces on site and there have been no change in camping policies.

News of the death marred an otherwise exciting race on Sunday, as a non-Chase competitor won for the second consecutive week when Jamie McMurray took the checkered flag for the first time this season.

Talladega is known as one of the most dangerous and unpredictable tracks on the circuit from a driver's perspective, and a race-changing crash is seemingly always lurking. "The Big One" was avoided for the most part on Sunday, however, as only six drivers failed to complete at least 183 of the scheduled 188 laps.

Based on Talladega's reputation, few could have predicted that danger would lurk off the track more so than on it over the weekend.

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