Motocross hall of famer Marty Smith and wife Nancy killed in dune buggy crash

Motocross pioneer Marty Smith and his wife Nancy were killed in a dune buggy crash on Monday.

Marty Smith, 63, was driving the vehicle in the Imperial Sand Dunes in California when it flipped over. Family friend Lee Ramage and his wife Tammi were in the buggy when the crash happened. They survived.

Lee Ramage posted about the crash to Facebook and said that they tried to help the Smiths as soon as the crash happened.

“My wife Tammi and I were in the buggy and were unhurt,” Ramage wrote. “We spent at least an hour trying to save their lives before first responders arrived. Marty took his last breath while I was holding his head, keeping his airway clear.”

“Marty was my best friend and I tried with everything in me to save him while Tammi tried to save Nancy.”

According to TMZ Sports, Marty was not wearing a seatbelt was declared dead at the scene by first responders and Nancy, who was wearing a lap belt, died after she was airlifted to a hospital.

Won AMA’s first 125cc title

A native of San Diego, Smith won the first AMA 125CC National Motocross title in 1974 at the age of 18 and then repeated a year later. He won the 500cc division in 1977 before suffering a dislocated hip in a crash in Houston in 1978.

“I was able to come back after the crash in the Astrodome, but my heart wasn’t in it,” Smith had said about the crash. “For my entire career, I always felt in control on the track. I lost that to a certain extent and the pain I experienced in the Houston crash was always in the back of my mind. I never wanted to have to go through that again.”

After switching from Honda to Suzuki for two seasons, Smith retired from racing in 1981 and worked as a driver coach after his driving career was over. Smith was inducted into the AMA Hall of Fame in 2000. Here’s how he was described in his Hall of Fame profile.

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/motocross-hall-of-famer-marty-smith-and-wife-nancy-killed-in-dune-buggy-crash-001330099.html

Justin Amash Announces He's Running For President

WASHINGTON ― It’s been a question weighing on Rep. Justin Amash’s mind for months: whether to run for his House seat again as an independent, or whether he should run for president. On Tuesday, the Michigan lawmaker finally decided he’s going for the White House.

Amash, a five-term congressman who turned 40 last week, made the announcement Tuesday evening.

“We’re ready for a presidency that will restore respect for our Constitution and bring people together,” Amash wrote on Twitter. “I’m excited and honored to be taking these first steps toward serving Americans of every background as president.”

He will run, he said, as a Libertarian, which will allow him to more easily get on state ballots ― if he does, as expected, win the Libertarian Party’s nomination.

But Amash will still have a tough time finding traction in a race between Democrat Joe Biden and Republican President Donald Trump.

The Michigan representative has long toyed with the idea of running for president. Sources close to Amash said he originally planned to announce his presidential campaign on Constitution Day, Sept. 17. (Amash declared his “independence from the Republican Party” on July 4 last year.)

However, he held back on the decision, waiting to see how the Democratic presidential primary would shake out. Amash told some staff that he saw more of an opening for his run if Biden won the nomination instead of someone like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

Amash privately sounded confident that he could win his congressional seat again, despite facing attacks from Republicans and Democrats. But as it became clear that Biden would be the Democratic nominee, Amash began thinking about running for president again.

The coronavirus has potentially complicated his campaign since Amash will rely heavily on earned media rather than paid advertising ― and it may be more difficult to get on TV or conduct interviews during the pandemic.

He may have a different strategy, though.

Rather than winning 270 electoral votes and the presidency outright, he may be looking to be a spoiler candidate ― preventing either Trump or Biden from getting 270. In that situation, the election would be thrown to the House of Representatives, and Amash may think he can be a compromise candidate.

That, however, seems like extremely wishful thinking.

Even if Amash is on the ballot in all 50 states, it’s unclear which states he thinks he could win ― and from which candidate he might steal more votes.

https://www.yahoo.com/huffpost/justin-amash-running-2020-president-004536885.html