Man dies at Buffalo Grove indoor race track

Buffalo Grove police said this afternoon that the New Orleans man who died Thursday on a go-kart died of natural causes.

Jesus Barrera, 39, of New Orleans, was attending a corporate event at Chicago Indoor Racing, 301 Hastings Drive, when he died Thursday afternoon.

Buffalo Grove Commander Steve Husak said that the Cook County Medical Examiner's office has ruled that Barrera died from coronary atherosclerosis.

Around 3:25 p.m. Thursday, Barrera's co-workers saw him slumped over the wheel of the go-cart, right before it bounced off one of the barriers, said Tony Stewart, who owns Chicago Indoor Racing.

Barrera's co-workers found him unconscious and not breathing, and he was pronounced dead at Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights.

"It's unfortunate when something like this happens," Stewart said.

One of Stewart's staff members helped administer CPR before police and fire personnel arrived on the scene.

"We've never had an incident," Stewart said."We've been here for over four years and this is the first incident of its kind."

Atherosclerosis is the hardening and narrowing of the arteries, caused by a slow buildup of plaque on the inside of the arterial walls.