The mother of a spectator killed in the California 200 desert race has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the promoter and off-roader whose truck careened into a crowd in Lucerne Valley, killing eight.

Doris S. Levinson’s son, Andrew W. Therrien, of Riverside, died in the deadly crash after pushing his 3 1/2-year-old daughter to safety and out of the path of the modified Ford Ranger.

The legal action accuses race promoter Mojave Desert Racing of South El Monte of negligence for allowing spectator viewing areas along the racecourse that were "unreasonably dangerous."

The off-road racer who crashed, Brett M. Sloppy, of San Marcos, also was named in the suit filed last week in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

In the lawsuit, Levinson’s attorneys said they also expect to sue the Bureau of Land Management, which granted a permit for the California 200 night race on federal desert land. Levinson already has filed an administrative claim against the federal agency.

The driver of a desert off-road vehicle that slammed into a crowd of spectators Saturday night, killing eight people, posted a message on Facebook late Sunday expressing his sadness over the tragedy.

Brett M. Sloppy, 28, was driving his modified 2000 Ford Ranger through the Mojave Desert at approximately 45 to 50 miles per hour when he lost control and collided with the spectators, authorities said.

“Soo incredibly lost and devistated my thoughts and prayers go out to all the familys and friends involved," the San Marcos resident said on his Facebook page late Sunday. "Thank you too all my friends for sticking with me even thru these tragic times I love you all.”

Also on Sunday, authorities said it appeared Sloppy's vehicle was equipped with a video camera. Investigators hope to review footage that may have been taken in the moments before and during the crash, California Highway Patrol Officer Joaquin Zubieta said.

On his MySpace page, Sloppy describes himself as single and working as a fabricater in San Marcos. The site includes numerous photographs of work he’s done on off-road vehicles:

“I CAN BUILD JUST ABOUT ANYTHING FOR A OFF ROAD VEHICLE...A FEW OF THE THINGS I BUILD HERE AT MISERY MOTORSPORTS ARE ROLL CAGE'S, BED CAGE'S, PRERUNNER BUMPER'S FRONT AND REAR LIGHT RACK'S, WELDING TABLE'S, BRACKETS FOR 4 LINK, 4 LINK KITS, I BEAMS AND RADIUS ARMS.”

-- Carla Rivera and David Zahniser

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Environmental groups Sunday faulted federal authorities for allegedly failing to monitor the safety of Mojave Desert events such as the California 200 –- an off-road race in which eight people died when a vehicle crashed into onlookers.

Environmental groups said they have long complained that the Bureau of Land Management, which issued permits for the race in the Lucerne Valley area Saturday, lacks the adequate staff and ability to regulate off-roading events that attract large crowds.

“The feds have allowed a 'Mad Max' atmosphere to develop with too many people and too many machines crammed into too little space,” said Kieran Suckling, director of the Center for Biological Diversity, a nonprofit environmental protection group.  “The feds don't have the resources, and apparently not the interest, to regulate off-road vehicles properly.”

Saturday’s crash was tragic, but inevitable, Suckling said.

“You can’t put these huge crowds together with fast and powerful machines and not expect these kinds of accidents,” he said.  “Our collective failure to rein in excessive off-road vehicle use is not only destroying the ecosystem but killing people. The federal government clearly does not have the manpower to sufficiently organize and regulate these events, and if you don’t have the manpower to do it safely, you shouldn’t be doing it at all.”

A San Marcos man drove the truck that crashed into a crowd of spectators watching an off-road race in the Mojave Desert, officials with the California Highway Patrol said Sunday.

Brett M. Sloppy, 28, lost control of his modified 2000 Ford Ranger while he was driving 45 to 50 miles per hour, killing eight people in the crowd, according to CHP Officer Joaquin Zubieta.

Sloppy was not arrested, and alcohol was not a factor in the crash, officials said. Of the 10 hurt in the crash, five suffered major injuries and another five had minor injuries.

-- David Zahniser

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Three Escondido men were among the eight people killed when a truck crashed into spectators at an off-road race in the Lucerne Valley, authorities said Sunday.

The San Bernardino County coroner’s office on Sunday identified seven of the eight people killed in the California 200 crash. They are Brian Wolfin, 27, of Escondido; Anthony Sanchez, 23, of Escondido; Aaron Farkas, 25, of Escondido; Andrew Therrin, 22, of Riverside; Zachary Freeman, 24, of Fillmore; Dustin C. Malson, 24, of Ventura; and Danica Frantzich, 20, of Las Vegas.

Six of the seven died at the scene. Farkas was airlifted to Loma Linda University Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead shortly after 11 p.m., coroner’s officials said.

The eighth victim’s name has not yet been released.

The crash is being investigated by the California Highway Patrol.

-- David Zahniser

Photo: Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times

Online videos of previous races of the California 200 show spectators standing dangerously close to the speeding off-road vehicles, with no concrete barriers separating them from the cars.

The California 200 race in the Mojave Desert was the scene of a tragedy Saturday when eight people died after an off-road vehicle slammed into a crowd about 7:48 p.m., just after dusk. Witnesses described a chaotic scene in which the victims had no chance to flee.

A video taken in August 2009 shows off-road vehicles speeding through the desert and becoming airborne a few yards away from a crowd of cheering spectators. A string with racing flags separates them from the vehicles' path. 

Another video shows orange netting separating spectators from the desert race route. Sometimes, spectators are just yards from the route, watching from both sides, as the vehicles hurdle over bumps on the desert floor.

One camera mounted on a racing vehicle shows drivers on a course that twists through large stretches of desert. The videos show that the event is a large, organized all-night affair, with many RVs stationed nearby and campfires burning. Spectators cheer when the vehicles make their laps. Other stretches of the route are desolate, with drivers passing by shrubs, small hills and boulders.

A flier for the all-night race, organized by South El Monte-based MDR Productions, said it was scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. Saturday,  taking drivers through four, 50-mile laps, with a maximum time limit of 7 1/2 hours. Awards were to have been given out at 10 a.m. Sunday. At least 87 drivers had registered for the race, and participants had to pay between $200 to $440 to register. 

Drivers and co-drivers needed to be at least 15 years of age. A minor release form on the website warns that the race involves "risks and dangers associated with participation in motorsport events and activities which could result in bodily injury, partial and/or total disability, paralysis and death," and another form requires a parent to consent to a minor receiving medical treatment to "relieve any injuries received" while participating or observing the event.

The route was to have taken racers in a curving loop around the Mojave Desert, beginning at Soggy Dry Lake and passing by Melville Lake and Galway Lake.

-- Rong-Gong Lin II

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Witnesses to the crash at the California 200 off-road race near Lucerne Valley that left eight dead described a chaotic scene where the victims had no chance to flee from the out-of-control car that plowed into fans.

Jeff Musgrave, an off-roader from Orange County who was watching the race, called it a gruesome scene, but defended the driver.

"All I saw was the dust, and then I saw about 30 people on the ground. It was just brutal,’’ Musgrave, 43, told The Times. “The problem is the crowd was just too close. I don’t think the [racer] did anything stupid. He just hit it way too hard."

The accident occurred Saturday night as a large crowd watched the race. CHP officials said the driver's car went airborne and rolled right into spectators. Six spectators died at the scene. Nine others were airlifted to local hospitals, two of whom died later in the evening.

 A photographer at the race described a scene of devastation. "There was dust everywhere, people screaming, people running," David Conklin told the Associated Press. "When I got up to the vehicle, I could tell that several people were trapped. There were just bodies everywhere. One woman with a major head wound [was] lying in a pool of blood. Someone else was crushed beneath the car."

Authorities said eight people were killed and dozens injured when a driver racing in the California 200 desert race in Lucerne Valley lost control of his off-roader, which went airborne and landed on top of  spectators.

“He got airborne and, when he landed, rolled over straight into the spectators,’’ said Officer Joaquin Zubieta of the California Highway Patrol, the agency investigating the deadly crash. “People didn’t have much of a chance … to get out of the way.’’

Six spectators died at the scene. Nine others were airlifted to local hospitals, two of whom died later in the evening, Zubieta said.

No charges have been filed against the off-road racer, whose identity has not been released by authorities. The driver had to be escorted away from the area after the crowd “started to get rowdy. People were upset,’’ Zubieta said.

The ages of those killed ranged from early 20s to late 40s. The names were withheld pending positive identification and notification of family.

The 200-mile race, held on desolate Soggy Dry Lake on federal desert land just east of the San Bernardino Mountains, was sanctioned by Mojave Desert Racing and was part of a seven-race circuit. Off-roaders race around the 50-mile-long loop four times and hit speeds topping 60 mph.

The white truck that plowed into the crowd remained at the scene, upside down, into the early-morning hours as CHP investigators crawled over the vehicle to search for any mechanical defects and to try to re-create the collision. Sponsorship decals plastered the sides of the truck.

The area was cordoned off with crime-scene tape through the night, and the CHP brought banks of lights for illumination as investigators combed over the patch of desert. Officers continued to interview witnesses, competitors and race officials well into the early-morning hours. Racing officials declined to comment about the incident.

The spot where the racer lost control was called the “rock pile.’’ The track snakes between giant boulders and up a small hill -– sending many of the off-roaders airborne.

The driver of an off-road vehicle apparently lost control Saturday evening and plowed into a crowd of people at a dry lake bed in Lucerne Valley, killing six people and injuring at least nine others, a San Bernardino County fire official said.

Initial details were sketchy, but fire dispatch supervisor Tim Franke said the accident was reported at 7:48 p.m. at Soggy Dry Lake Bed, a popular off-road spot. "It's unknown what kind of event was going on out there," he said.

In addition to the six people who died, Franke said, four people were seriously injured and were taken by air ambulance to nearby trauma centers. Five others received minor injuries, he said.

He said it was not yet clear how the accident occurred or whether the driver was among the injured or dead.

--Mitchell Landsberg

Updated, 11:10 p.m.: 8 dead, 12 hurt as vehicle plows into crowd at race in San Bernardino County

Updated, 6:10 a.m., 8/15: Spectators killed in California 200 race 'didn't have much of a chance,' CHP says

Updated, 9:34 a.m., 8/15: Witnesses describe horrific scene of California 200 crash that killed eight

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