A Petty Holdings employee died Sunday after a Lamborghini in which he was a passenger crashed at an attraction at Walt Disney World.
Gary Terry, 36, a senior operations manager at Walt Disney World Speedway, was killed. He worked as a driving instructor for both the Richard Petty Driving Experience and Exotic Driving Experience. He was serving as an instructor in the Exotic Driving Experience when the accident happened.
Petty Holdings, LLC, which operates the Exotic Driving Experience at Walt Disney World Speedway, issued a statement Monday.
“Yesterday we lost a long-time, valued team member of the Exotic Driving Experience family. Sr. Operations Manager and Professional driving instructor, Gary Terry, was fatally injured in an on-track incident at the Walt Disney World Speedway. Our thoughts and prayers are with Gary’s family and friends. He will be sorely missed.’’
Richard Petty also released a statement.
“The entire Petty family, and everyone associated with Petty, is deeply saddened by the passing of Gary Terry yesterday,” Petty said. “Our prayers go out to his family and everyone affected by this tragedy. We are all thinking about the family and friends of Gary and all the employees of the Exotic Driving Experience.”
The Orlando Sentinel reported that the accident happened when 24-year-old Tavon Watson failed to maneuver the car through one of the course’s curves and the vehicle’s right side struck a guardrail. Watson was taken to Celebration Hospital with minor injuries and was released.
Trent Owens, crew chief for Aric Almirola’s Richard Petty Motorsports team, offered his condolences on social media as did others.
Thoughts go out to my friends in Orlando, Gary was a great person. Prayers are with his family for many days to come.
— Trent Owens (@wtrentowens) April 13, 2015
Our condolences go out to the Terry family and everybody at GT Products on their loss. Gary was a former Outlaw... http://t.co/2bbxv5UnIb
— O.R.A. (@OutlawLateModel) April 13, 2015
R.I.P. Gary Terry.... Way too young.... pic.twitter.com/rDN6YoTDh2
— Matt Prieur (@mattprieur) April 13, 2015