PEORIA A teenaged rider has died from injuries suffered in a crash during a heat race on the card of the 79th Caterpillar Peoria TT national championship races in Peoria in late August, according to a statementWednesday night by American Flat Track, the sports national sanctioning body.The motorcycle races were Saturday, Aug. 22, at Peoria Motorcycle Race Club, and were part of a national tour operated by AFT under the American Motorcycle Association.Bayne Nantz, a 15-year-old riding a KTM 450 SX-F for Nantz Brothers Racing and competing as an amateur, crashed in a heat race for the AFT ProSport 450 main event as part of the Peoria TT racing card.Peoria County Sheriff Chris Watkins and Peoria County Coroner Jamie Harwood in a statement Thursday morning said they are investigating a "fatal racing accident that occurred during the Peoria Motorcycle Club TT races on Aug. 22, 2026."Nantz was in a collision involving three riders, and the sheriff's report says he was transported to OSF HealthCare Saint Francis Medical Center for treatment. He eventually died, at 10:31 p.m., on Tuesday, Sept. 1.Earlier on race day, Nantz had finished second in one of the two qualifying sessions for the 450 to gain the heat race, a triumphant moment that had a large number of friends and family celebrating him from the hillside at Thunder Valley.Terrible irony followed in that the 450 race had just recently been formally named the Dan Bromley Memorial AFT ProSport 450 race, in honor of a rider who was killed in a heat race crash earlier this summer.Nantz was removed from the track by ambulance and hospitalized in Peoria, where he fought for his life in a prolonged battle. His family confirmed his death in a social media post that appeared about 9 p.m. on Wednesday.His family wrote in part: Bayne has been fighting for his life in the (Peoria) OSF Childrens Hospital, after extensive injuries sustained in the crash, cared for by some of the most amazing group of nurses. I hope you know how special you all are. A broken hip and pelvis, lacerated bladder, a dislocated elbow and shoulder, bruised lung and heart, and many scrapes and swollen parts, but the main injury was to his brain. He suffered a severe traumatic brain injury and bleeding, from which he was not expected to survive.Last night, that injury finally took him from us. This last week and a half has been the worst experience of our lives, and it put us through hell. We said goodbye more than once, as his body nearly gave up several times. The hospital staff here have worked around the clock to try to save this kind, caring, talented little man, but the insult to his beautiful brain was too much. We decided to give him continued life in the body of others, through Gift of Hope, as an organ donor. Anyone who knows Bayne, will agree that this is exactly what he would do if he could have the say. "He is looking down from Heaven right now seeing just how massive (his) fan base really is. It is absolutely devastating to say goodbye to our perfect, kind, generous, loving, gentle, intelligent, creative, talented, goofy, hilarious, beautiful little Bayners. He did the most badass things on a motorcycle, could swing an axe for hours and build a viable shelter at 11,000 feet up the mountains, build you a bookshelf with his calloused miniature man hands, and yet he still blew mom and dad a kiss every single day from the school bus window as it drove away."Condolences poured in from around the racing community on Wednesday night, including the Peoria Motorcycle Race Club and countless other racing teams and riders.Dave Eminian is the Journal Star sports editor. He has covered the Peoria Rivermen, Bradley Braves men's basketball, Peoria Chiefs and more during 42 years with the newspaper. Reach him via email at deminian@pjstar.com and follow him on X @icetimecleve.This article originally appeared on Journal Star: 'Looking down from Heaven': Teen racer dies after crash at Peoria TT