STURGIS, S.D. – A fixture in the motorcycle racing world died of injuries sustained in a crash during motorcycle races held in Sturgis this week for the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.
Ron Brefka, or “Ronster,” as he’s known in the industry, was injured in a crash Tuesday at the Flat Out Friday flat track race at the JC Pappy Hoel Short Track in Sturgis. Brefka was competing in the spectator race of the race program.
He was taken to Monument Hospital in Rapid City, where Flat Out Friday’s Facebook page reported Brefka died on Wednesday. His death was confirmed to the Black Hills Pioneer by Pennington County Sheriff spokesperson Helene Duhamel.
Well known in the motorcycle racing circuit, Brefka was a six-year pancreatic cancer and three-year liver cancer survivor who worked closely with the We Care Fund of the Medical College of Wisconsin, which he founded in 2010.
