A man who died at the NRA 500 NASCAR race shot himself in the head after getting into an argument with others who were also camped in the infield of the Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. Kirk Franklin, 42, pulled the trigger at about 10:30 p.m. on Saturday night. His body was found in the back seat of a pickup truck, according to Reuters. Unsurprisingly, “police spokeswoman Cpl. Tracey Knight has said alcohol may have been a factor,” the Associated Press reports. As science fiction writer John Scalzi noted on Twitter, the whole sad story is a reminder that “irony is not always funny.” In a further bit of irony, the rifle traditionally fired by the race’s pole position qualifier and the six-shooters traditionally fired by the winner were missing this year because there was no gun manufacturer to sponsor them.
