McKinley Speedway was a racetrack in McKinley, Pennsylvania where a deadly crash occurred in The Final Destination in January of 2009.
Event
A screwdriver accidentally attached to the car with the number 45.
Car 45 speeds down the race track and eager to get back to the race, the car speeds off, and one of the mechanics left his screwdriver inside the back of it. The car continued to drive along the track until the screwdriver came loose and fell out on the ground. Suddenly, Car 6 comes by and drives right over the tool, popping the tire. The driver swerves out of control and begins to flip and roll along the track. All of the spectators are shocked by the crash until a car tire flings beyond the fence and decapitates Nadia Monroy.
The race ending in disaster.
Everyone begins to panic and starts to run out of the stadium to avoid the fiery crash, which sends flamed cars and debris flying at everyone in the stadium. Two spectators, racist Carter Daniels and his wife, are bisected when the hood of two exploding cars comes flying right towards them, severing their bodies from the waist down. Nick and his friends desperately seek an exit as more and more people die. Samantha Lane is trampled by the fleeing audience and is too wounded to get up. To her horror, a car explodes and sends its engine right towards her, crushing her body. The boyfriend of Nadia, still horrified over her death, decides to flee from the crash as well to avoid death. Unfortunately, he slips on broken wood and falls backwards, where he's impaled through the back of the head by a dislodged plank. Soon afterwards, a cowboy dies when a fiery car comes spiraling off the track and slams into his body and a support pillar.
The stadium begins to collapse and the falling debris starts killing more people, who are all crowding the exits and are unable to escape. Hunt and Janet get separated from Nick and Lori and are underneath the falling debris, which crushes them both to death. A security guard tries to divert them to the other exit, but that one is also crowded as well. Everyone at the exit dies instantly when the roof above collapses and kills them all. Just as Nick, George and Lori are about to escape, a car explodes and kills Lori and George. The force of the explosion sends Nick backwards, where he's impaled through the back by a long, sharp pole.
Nick wakes up from his premonition, his friends curious about what's wrong with him.
However, this was all just a dream, and none of it has happened yet. Nick (the one who saw the premonition) freaks out and causes a huge stir with his friend, Andy, and Carter. A handful of people escape the crash intact (except for Cynthia, who was still in the stadium). As everyone begins to freak out, a car explodes and sends a wheel in Nadia's direction, where she is crushed just like in Nick's vision.
Death toll: 52 (a news broadcast in a deleted scene mentions that the bodycount had been upgraded to 63)
Signs/Clues
- The song "Devour" plays briefly at the beginning of the film before the accident at the speedway. The lyrics of the song make a snide reference to events of the film ("it's your final hour", "smash it and crash it", "until you take us all", "what a way to go"), relating to the car crash, and Death hunting after the survivors.
- Nick picks up a sheet paying respect to the racers who have died in the past.
- Nick sees a man wearing a shirt that states Life's a bitch & Then You Die. Any Questions?
- Nick feels a strong gust of wind brush past him.
- The number six car goes to the pits, three signs shows a six, making 666
- Car 45 is sponsored by Bill Wall Leather, which was written on the back of Evan Lewis shirt when he died in Final Destination 2.
- The section of the stadium Nick and his friends are in is section 180.
- Coincidentally, the McKinley Speedway shares its name with Ian McKinley from Final Destination 3.
- Nick looks over his shoulder and sees faulty concrete above him.
- When Nick sits on the bench, it cracks and breaks, just like the faulty concrete above him.
- Car 6 has a firey paint job.
- Roy, killed in Final Destination 5, once stood near Car 6, as revealed by the photo when Nathan is mourning Roy.
Survivors
- Nick O'Bannon (Deceased)
- Lori Milligan (Deceased)
- Janet Cunningham (Deceased)
- George Lanter (Deceased)
- Jonathan Grove (Deceased)
- Hunt Wynorski (Deceased)
- Andy Kewzer (Deceased)
- Samantha Lane (Deceased)
- Carter Daniels (Deceased)
Casualties
- Car 6 driver
- Car 11 driver
- Car 39 driver
- Cynthia Daniels
- Nadia Monroy
- 52 People in the speedway
Trivia
The McKinley Speedway Megatech 300 sign
- It must be noted that this is the second accident in the films where one of the deaths aren't in the same order as they were in the premonition. Both of these happen because the character moved seats, or didn't.
- This is considered the most illogical accident in the series, as it could be nearly impossible for tires, motors, and other cars to constantly fly through the air at once and its also illogical that almost every car in the race crashed and didn't try to stop. This is all a little too exaggerated though. The whole thing was set up by Death, and wasn't a "normal" accident. Also, it is interesting to note that it is shown that an invisible force caused the bolts on the saftey fences support were knocked out, which normally prevent accidents from hurting the spectators. And this further proves that Death cheated. Also, it is mentioned in the script that the smoke made it impossible for the cars to see, and they were all driving 220 MPH and would have had difficulty stopping - it is also possible that Death prevented their breaks from working.
- It's possible that the whole sequence was based off of an over-exaggeration of the 1955 Le Mans disaster, which claimed a death toll of nearly twice as much as in the movie, but only involved one car.
- This is the only accident where a character is both a survivor and a victim. Although Nadia was not directly involved with the Speedway crash itself, she dies before the accident is over, and she is still at the Speedway when her death occurs, thus making her one of the 52 casualties, but also a survivor.
- Actually, Kimberly's friends survived the pile-up in Final Destination 2, only to be killed on the off-ramp almost immediately.
- The memorial service reveals that several children were killed in the crash and during Nick's premonition, several children are seen running for the exits in a panic. This is the first Final Destination movie to make it clear that children were killed in whatever disaster happened (although a baby was spotted on Flight 180 in the first movie).
- During Nick's Premonition, If you listen closely, you can hear the Announcer say that Craig Perry enters 2nd Place. This is a reference to the Film's Director, Craig Perry .
- This is the only disaster that has a security guard as one of the survivors.
- This is the only movie where none of the survivors are interrogated by police.