David Steele, a veteran race car driver, died Saturday night when his sprint car crashed at Desoto Speedway in Bradenton, Florida.

  • Racing veteran, David Steele, dies in crash at Desoto Speedway
  • Steele was competing in a winged sprint car event
  • He got his start racing open-wheel cars in Florida

Steele, who was 42, was competing in a winged sprint car event on the three-eighths-mile asphalt oval, when he reportedly tangled with lapped traffic and crashed the No. 33 car he was driving in the Southern Sprintcar Shootout Series event.

Steele is a native of Indianapolis but resided in Tampa.

He got his start racing open-wheel cars in Florida before moving to the Midwest and finding success in USAC.

He then went on to race in the Verizon IndyCar Series and NASCAR XFINITY Series before returning to his short-track roots. Steele also raced in the ARCA Racing Series and Indy Lights.

"The wins he's got over the years, some of the records he's set - he's beat some of Jim Gordon's records, Tony Stewart's records," said friend and pit crew member Alan Lewandowski. 

Steele was no stranger to success at the Desoto Speedway track: He won four southern Sprint Car Series events at the track last year. On Saturday, he was seeking his 100th career sprint car victory just in the state of Florida.

"When you asked him anything about racing or his greateast accomplishment in general, I would say he would say his wife and kids," said friend and pit crew member Anthony Noriega. "And that's what he lived for. That's what he left his shop for at 6 o'clock every day." 

His death brought stunned reactions across social media.

“Tonight I am stunned to hear that Dave Steele has been killed in a sprint car,” wrote Andy Cobb, a professional dirt sprint car driver, on Facebook late Saturday. “Dave has been one of my closest racing friends for a long time. I can’t believe this.”

Tony Stewart Racing was one of the first to react on social media: “Our prayers go out to the family of Dave Steele, our former teammate, he was one of the best open-wheel drivers of this era.”

Here is a video of David Steele doing a ride along: