Jed Copham

Jed Copham

Jed Copham[…]

Minnesota Racetrack Owner Went Missing off Florida Coast -- He Was Later Found Dead

BRAINERD, Minn. (AP) — The owner of Brainerd International Raceway in Minnesota has died in a swimming accident off the coast of Florida. Jed Copham was 46.

BIR said Copham had been swimming from his parents' boat on Sunday near Fort Myers, Florida, when he went missing. According to the Lee County Sheriff's Office, authorities recovered his body near a boat ramp on Monday morning.

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Copham had owned the raceway near Brainerd in central Minnesota since 2006.

A passionate racer and champion of motorsports, Copham built a section of track that separated BIR's road course from the drag strip, allowing the raceway to offer drag racing and road racing simultaneously.

His death remains under investigation, but the sheriff's office says "there appears to be no criminal aspect to the investigation."

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