Corey Rudl, the 34-year-old president of the Internet Marketing Center, died June 2 in a car-racing accident at the California Speedway in Fontana, CA, 55 miles east of Los Angeles.
The online marketing expert's 2005 Porsche Carrera GT spun out of control, left the inside track, hit a barrier and caught fire, according to a published report from NBC 4 in California. Rudl, who was the passenger, died on the spot of crash injuries, not burns.
“The driver's side was in good shape, but the passenger side was obliterated,” Randy Emon, San Bernardino County supervising deputy coroner, told NBC 4.
The driver, Benjamin Miles Keaton, was airlifted to Loma Linda University Hospital. He died an hour later, according to the county coroner's office.
Both men were wearing helmets and safety belts. But the car was going faster than 100 mph when it crashed.
Founded by Rudl in 1996, the Internet Marketing Center offers marketing strategies, how-to courses, newsletters and software for online marketers and owners of Web sites. Derek Gehl, who worked alongside Rudl, will continue to operate the Blaine, WA, company.
Rudl was a mentor to thousands of people who wanted to market their business on the Internet, said David Frey, president of Marketing Best Practices Inc., Friendswood, TX. Frey's firm sells online and printed books on how to market over the Internet, a field Rudl pioneered.
“He was one of the first people to put out an educational product about how to market on the Internet,” Frey said. “And he pioneered many of the Internet marketing tools we use today. He was using affiliate marketing before Amazon. He was one of the first to employ sequential auto responders.”
Rudl's wife, Tracy, said in an e-mail — posted on www.marketingtips.com — to friends and customers that her husband's passion was helping people.
“He loved knowing that he was helping 'real people' start and grow Internet businesses,” she said. “And he was extremely proud of the thousands of success stories he'd helped to create over the years. Nothing made Corey happier than getting letters from clients who had finally 'quit their day jobs' to run their Internet businesses full time.”
