Former WISSOTA Late Model driver Dustin Virkus died Wednesday afternoon in a skid loader accident in his hometown of Clarkfield, Minn., according to police reports. He was 51.

The former dirt racer was a multiple-feature Late Model winner at Madison (Minn.) Speedway and Fiesta City Speedway in Montevideo, Minn., in the Late Model division from 2008-14. He went on to become a two-time WISSOTA champion in the hornet division in 2016-17 and in 2018 won the sport compact track title at Murray County Speedway in Slayton, Minn.

According to the Yellow Medicine County Sherriff’s Office, Virkus was operating a skid loader that slid into a drainage ditch and became fully submerged, trapping him underneath.