A northwest Missouri man was fatally injured Saturday evening when the all-terrain vehicle he was operating hit a utility pole just north of Mercer during an ATV drag race at Mercer Homecoming Park.
Sixty-four-year-old Billy Nichols of De Kalb was pronounced dead at Wright Memorial Hospital in Trenton slightly more than an hour after the accident.
The northbound ATV could not be stopped at the conclusion of the race before the front of the machine hit the utility pole. The ATV, which came to rest on its wheels, sustained moderate damage.
Nichols was wearing safety equipment.
