(WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Chicago businessman and philanthropist James Crown died in a racetrack crash near Aspen, Colorado on Sunday, his 70th birthday.
James Crown died when the car he was in crashed into an impact barrier at the Aspen Motorsports Park. The Pitkin County, Colorado coroner says the crash was an accident.
James Crown's father Lester Crown told the Chicago Sun-Times that his son was driving a race car and it hit a wall going around a curve.
As a member of a family of billionaires and philanthropists, James Crown was a University of Chicago trustee, an early supporter of Barack Obama's presidential run, and recently had been named chair of a public safety task force aimed at reducing gun violence.
Gov. JB Pritzker said in a statement on social media: "Jim was kind, and his passion for caring was unending."
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