An apparent lightning in a parking lot behind the Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pa., Sunday killed one person and injured nine. (Mel Evans / Associated Press / ) 
 
 One fan was killed and nine others injured after lightning apparently struck a parking lot behind the Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pa., on Sunday. 
 
 The 160-lap NASCAR Spring Cup race there had been shortened by a heavy storm, and raceway president Brandon Igdalsky tweeted, “Hoping for the safety of all the fans that are leaving in this crazy storm. Please seek shelter as there is alot of cloud 2 ground lightning.” 
 
 A sober addition came 29 minutes later: “Thoughts and prayers to all those affected in today's tragic events in Wisconsin.” 
 
 Track officials didn’t know whether it was one or multiple lightning strikes, and they told the Associated Press that two were taken to local hospitals in critical condition and that one of them died at Pocono Medical Center. The other remained in critical condition at Lehigh Valley Hospital Center. 
 
 "The visibility was very poor and all of a sudden [I] saw a bolt of lightning right in front of our windshield” in the parking lot, fan Kyle Manger told the Sporting News. "When it became a little more visible, we saw two bodies next to a destroyed tent with people scrambling." 
 
 “They were just running trying to get to their car,” Manger tweeted. He said the lightning struck a tent that the two seriously injured fans were near. “One's fate isn't looking good,” he added. 
 
 Driver Jeff Gordon, who won the race and heard the strike, told the AP, "You could tell it was very close. I mean, that's the thing that's going to take away from the victory, is the fact that somebody was affected by that." 
 
 Gordon added, “Certainly our thoughts are with them. I hope everything is OK there.” ||||| LONG POND, Pa. — A 41-year-old man was killed Sunday when 10 fans were struck by lightning following the rain-shortened NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Pocono Raceway. 
 
 The death was confirmed by track president Brandon Igdalsky, who said the fan was pronounced dead at Pocono Medical Center in East Stroudsburg, Pa. 
 
 Fans had to seek cover under the bleachers as rain fell twice during Sunday's Pennsylvania 400 race. (AP Photo) 
 
 On Monday, authorities identified the man as Brian Zimmerman of Moosic, Pa. 
 
 Zimmerman died as he stood near his car in the parking lot behind the frontstretch grandstands near Turn 3, Monroe County coroner Bob Allen said Monday. 
 
 Allen said Sunday night that Zimmerman, a father of two, was in cardiac arrest when paramedics got to him three minutes after the lightning strike. 
 
 Igdalsky, whose grandfather, Dr. Joe Mattioli, built the track and whose family still owns the track, announced the death about three hours after the race. 
 
 “Unfortunately a member of our raceway family here, a fan, has passed away,” he said while trying to compose himself. “On behalf of myself, the entire family and everybody here, a really heartfelt (condolences) that this happened.” 
 
 Zimmerman was treated by doctors at the track’s infield medical center and then taken by ambulance to Pocono Medical Center, where medics were unable to revive him, said Allen, who planned to conduct an autopsy Monday. 
 
 Nine others were hospitalized, including one in critical condition at Lehigh Valley Hospital in Allentown, Pa. Four others were taken to Pocono Medical Center, one with minor injuries and three for further evaluation, while two (one with moderate injuries, one with minor injuries) were taken to Geisinger Medical Center in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. Three fans were taken for further evaluation to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest. 
 
 The fan in critical condition was injured in the same strike that killed Zimmerman, USA Today reported, citing a Pocono Mountain Regional Police report. 
 
 Harry Lewis, chief of the Pocono Mountain Regional Police, told USA Today that the fans were with their Dodge Caravan in the parking lot and had a pop-up canopy behind the vehicle. 
 
 “We are deeply saddened that a fan has died and others were injured by lightning strikes following today’s race at Pocono,” NASCAR spokesman David Higdon said. “Our thoughts are with them as well as all those affected by this unfortunate accident.” 
 
 Pocono spokesman Bob Pleban said Sunday he could not release the names of those injured, who were hit during a massive thunderstorm that forced the race to be halted after 98 of 160 laps. 
 
 Pleban said warnings about lightning in the area were issued over the public address system immediately after the race was stopped. The National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm warning for the area at 4:12 p.m. ET and the race was not stopped for another 30 minutes when the rain came. 
 
 NASCAR spokesman Kerry Tharp said NASCAR takes into consideration the threat of lightning when deciding whether to stop a race and when to declare it over. NASCAR officials waited until the track was soaked to pull cars off the track Sunday because they hoped that having cars on the track could potentially keep heat in the surface and allow racing to continue quickly if the storm passed. 
 
 “If there was a situation that warranted us to halt a race to threatening weather, we would certainly do that,” Tharp said. 
 
 Jeff Gordon was declared the winner of the race soon after the rain started. 
 
 Kyle Manger, a spectator from New Jersey, said he saw people hit by the lightning near the Turn 3 grandstands. 
 
 “Me and my friend just ran into our truck during all the nasty weather,” Manger said. “The visibility was very poor and all of a sudden (I) saw a bolt of lightning right in front of our windshield. 
 
 “When it became a little more visible, we saw two bodies next to a destroyed tent with people scrambling.” 
 
 Manger said the lightning strike occurred about five to 10 minutes after the race was called. 
 
 Gordon said the lightning was bad as he walked from his car on pit road when the race was stopped. 
 
 “I'm pretty sure I know which one it was,” Gordon said about the lightning strike. “We were walking down pit road, the umbrellas weren't doing any good, there was a huge, huge crack from lightning. You could tell it was very close. 
 
 “That's the thing that's going to take away from the victory, is the fact that somebody was affected by that.” 
 
 Pocono Raceway plays host to two Cup races each year, and fans are accustomed to rain and severe weather. NASCAR estimated Sunday's attendance at 85,000. 
 
 “The fans here are so loyal and avid,” Gordon said. “When we were going back to the garage area (after the race), there was a group of fans chanting up there that were not leaving. 
 
 “That's just so unfortunate because they're so loyal and avid here, so you hate to hear something like that. Certainly our thoughts are with them. I hope everything is OK there.”
– A NASCAR fan was killed and nine others were injured yesterday when lightning struck the parking lot behind the grandstand of Pennsylvania's Pocono Raceway. One of the injured was in critical condition. The race was called early because of stormy weather. A witness said that he and a friend "ran into our truck during all the nasty weather. The visibility was very poor and all of a sudden I saw a bolt of lightning right in front of our windshield," he told Sporting News. "When it became a little more visible, we saw two bodies next to a destroyed tent with people scrambling." The track posted warnings on its Twitter page to more than 22,000 followers close to the end of the race urging fans to quickly seek shelter. “Hoping for the safety of all the fans that are leaving in this crazy storm," tweeted the track president. "Please seek shelter as there is a lot of cloud-to-ground lightning.” There were also warnings over loudspeakers to evacuate the grandstand—but none to leave the area as quickly as possible, track officials told AP. Attendance was estimated at close to 85,000. "Unfortunately, a member of our raceway family, a fan, has passed away," said a racetrack official. Driver Jeff Gordon, who won the race that was cut from 160 to 98 laps, said he could hear a huge crack as he walked down the pit road during the storm. "You could tell it was very close," he said.