The cement-truck driver killed when he slammed into a Bronx home was also a stock-car racer who once captured a checkered flag.
Mark Hughes, 38, was killed and four others injured when his massive 40-ton rig sped off the Major Deegan Expressway Monday evening and rammed into a Morris Heights building.
It took more than 24 hours before his body could be removed, and work crews said they will have to dismantle the truck before they can haul it from the building.
Hughes, of Ballston Spa, NY, was an avid racer when he wasn’t working for Precision Concrete in Albany.
“We are all shocked and saddened and offer our condolences to his friends, fellow racers, and his family,” said a statement on the Albany-Saratoga Speedway’s Web site.
Hughes’ Facebook page features a picture of him in the victory lane behind a checkered flag.
Close friends from his upstate hometown traveled to The Bronx and were there when his body was extricated.
Residents in four buildings were vacated because of the damage, officials said.