PINELLAS PARK — A 58-year-old man found dead in the woods near the Showtime Dragstrip shot himself before veering off the track in his car, investigators said Sunday.

Witnesses told Pinellas Park police that Robert James Hancock, 58, was acting "aggravated and distant" before speeding north on the track in his 2015 silver Chevrolet Malibu at about 10 p.m. following an event at the speedway. Hancock, of St. Petersburg, suddenly veered off the track into the woods in the area of 4398 126th Ave. N.

Investigators responded to the scene and found a "substantial amount" of blood in the car, according to police. They discovered Hancock had a single gunshot wound to his right temple and a .38-caliber Ruger handgun at his feet. Forensics investigators and officials from the county medical examiner's office determined the wound as Hancock's cause of death.