9 Investigates a potential hazard at the Exotic Driving Experience at the Walt Disney World Speedway, where a driving instructor was killed in a crash over the weekend.
Channel 9 asked if the safety measures in place to protect drivers at the attraction could have contributed to his death.
Investigators said the Lamborghini was going the wrong way on the track when it slammed into a guardrail, killing 36-year-old Gary Terry. Terry was an experienced driving instructor at the attraction and had worked there for years.
A representative for Petty Holdings, the company that operates the attraction, said it won't release a history of safety inspections or upgrades at the race track. It's unclear if the attraction is periodically inspected or regulated by a government agency.
Photos: Man killed in crash at Disney race attraction
Raw: Fatal crash scene at Exotic Driving Experience
Eyewitness News talked to a former instructor at the track, who said direction is important because the cars were meant to go counterclockwise on the track.
The edge of the guardrail has become a major focal point in the investigation. It's there to keep cars from veering too far off the track if a driver loses control.
"When the car was impaled in the guardrail, my initial thought was that area should have been closed off without a doubt," said former Petty driving instructor Brian Bellaw.
Bellaw said the area where the car crashed has a gap in the guardrail for emergency vehicles. He said the guardrail configuration is fine if cars are going counterclockwise, like stock cars do.
It's when you drive the wrong way is when you can have problems, he said.
The guardrail here is curved, so if a driver was going counterclockwise, the vehicle would likely bounce off, but going clockwise opens the vehicle up to part of the guardrail sticking out, experts said.
Bellaw said the Petty Driving Experiences are very safe but only when you use the course the way it was intended.
"A lot of things have to be looked at, certainly that guardrail configuration down here," he said. "Why wasn't that closed up? That is just something the Petty folks are going to have to answer, too."
