NASCAR Cup Series

Search continues for missing pilot

Published Aug. 25, 2012 1:00 a.m. ET

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Dive crews continued to search for a missing pilot after a helicopter owned by Food City crashed following its departure from the Nationwide Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway on Friday, according to numerous reports Saturday.

The helicopter had just taken off from a house when it crashed into South Holston Lake in Virginia, just north of the Tennessee border, TriCities.com reported. According to the report, rescuers searched the site through the night; they believe only the pilot was on board the craft.

The crash occurred about 10:30 p.m. local time, shortly after the end of the Food City 250 race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

“Last night when they first got on scene, it (the helicopter) was skids up,” Virginia State Police Sgt. Michael Conroy told TriCities.com. “That may have changed with the current and everything. It did break up into pieces; we’re not sure how many pieces. It’s still submerged in probably 20 to 25 feet of water.”

The Food City grocery chain has sponsored the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Bristol for 20 years.

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