NHRA said that the investigation of the accident on Sunday and extends its sympathy to the family in Niver. A spokesman for the association declined to comment when asked for further information about what happened, saying that the investigation has just begun.
Niver's death is the second in a month at an event NHRA. Neil Parker, 58, of Millville, New Jersey, died from head injuries after a crash during the qualifying round of NHRA SuperNationals in June.
Formula One: Mark Webber won his third race of the season, cruising to victory at the British Grand Prix after overtaking team Red Bull Sebastian Vettel on the first lap. Points leader Lewis Hamilton of McLaren finished second, 1.36 seconds behind Webber.
NASCAR: Austin Dillon constrained Johnny Sauter in the green-white-checkered finish and picked up first career victory in NASCAR Truck Series Lucas Oil 200 in Newton, Iowa. Dillon, 20, won from the pole, became the second youngest driver to win the race truck series for Kyle Busch.
David Reutimann blew Jeff Gordon and sailed to victory in the Sprint Cup race at Chicago Speedway on Saturday night. Carl Edwards did in the final laps, cutting Reutimann lead to less than a second, but he could not get close enough, and finished second. Gordon was third, and then Clint Bowyer and Jamie McMurray. It was a rough night for a few strong contenders Chase - in particular, Jimmy Johnson, who dominated the first half of the race, but spun out, and then scraped the wall to finish 25 th.
