Muskogee police are investigating a crash that occurred early Thursday that resulted in the death of a Muskogee man and the injury of a North Dakota man.
Hayden Ross, 20, of Muskogee, and Spencer Libby, 26, of Fargo, North Dakota, were riding in a four-wheeler when the accident occurred at the Ross Construction property, 3500 N. York St., according to a press release from the Muskogee Police Department. Ross was pronounced dead at the scene and transported to the medical examiner’s office, while Libby’s condition has not been released or has other details.
The duo were driving a red 2017 Honda four-wheeler when the accident occurred. The police report says the accident happened between 3 and 4:47 a.m., while the 9-1-1 report says the call came in at 4:07 a.m.
Ross, who graduated from Muskogee High School in 2021, was an accomplished racing driver with a promising future in the sport. He had just clinched the Sooner Late Model Series championship, a regional track he had won seven times this season and most recently at Thunderbird Speedway last Friday.
In January 2020, Ross participated as part of Team USA for an Invasion Tour of Australia series.
His father, Brady Ross, is a promoter for Thunderbird and took over the Thunderbird operation to support local racing when Outlaw Motor Speedway closed for good last year.
“Hayden was a great young man, a champion in more ways than one,” said Stanley Slader, who ran Thunderbird Speedway for a while. “The racing world and his family have lost a true champion.”
Kip Hughes of Enid, promoter of Enid Speedway, was a four-time Sooner Late Models points champion entering this season. He posted a photo on his Facebook page of Hayden’s first victory on the tour, telling her, “Now that the hard stuff was out of the way, the rest would be easy.”
“Wow, you were right. We will all miss him. I think all the drivers in the Sooner series are suffering a lot this morning. I know this is it. He is a champion, among many other great things, that is how I will remember him.”
Muskogee Deputy Police Chief Reggie Cotton said the crash is under investigation and is being treated as a death investigation as well as a traffic collision. He also said the department is awaiting a report from the medical examiner’s office to determine the cause of the crash or if there were any contributing factors.
The police report did not say who was operating the vehicle at the time of the crash.
Phoenix Sports Editor Mike Kays contributed to this report.