Crew members extinguish a fire in the pit of Matt Kenseth, driver of the #20 Dollar General Toyota, during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series NRA 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on April 13, 2013 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Credit too long, see caption/Ronald Martinez)
A man died of a "self-inflicted injury" following a verbal altercation in the infield during the NRA 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday night, police say.
Though details were originally scarce, a medical examiner has now confirmed that the man shot himself in the head.
Police spokeswoman Cpl. Tracey Knight didn't identify the man and wasn't sure of his relationship with others involved in the altercation, but the Fort Worth Star-Telegram says he was identified by the Tarrant County medical examiner's office as 42-year-old Kirk Franklin of Saginaw.
Franklin was reportedly pronounced dead at 10:48 p.m. local time.
The death occurred "in or around a pickup truck" in part of the infield near the middle of the backstretch, track spokesman Mike Zizzo said. Several people witnessed the incident, but nobody was in danger, Knight added.
Kasey Kahne, driver of the #5 Time Warner Cable Chevrolet, leads a group of cars during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series NRA 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on April 13, 2013 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo: Getty Images)
The race has been one of the more widely-covered by the national media, largely because of the NRA's "controversial" sponsorship.
And at least one website is already speculating on the potential fallout.
"...Consider what a self-inflicted gunshot wound, at one of their own events nonetheless, would do to hurt the NRA’s cause. It’d be a PR nightmare," SportsGrid's Jake O'Donnell wrote.
He also appears to be under the impression that the NRA, an organization "working to allow felons and the mentally ill to legally purchase guns," might engage in "shady cover-up tactics" to keep the story quiet.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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