A man is dead after the car he was in spun out of control on Route 35 in Middletown Tuesday.

Edwin Sierra, 24, was pronounced dead at the scene after the high-powered sports convertible he was riding in slammed into a telephone pole and a tree and then flipped over. The driver, 18-year-old Drew Kessler, was treated for non-life threatening injuries.

Assistant Monmouth County Prosecutor Pete Warshaw says "speed and the possible involvement of another vehicle is under investigation," leaving some wondering if the crash was a result of drag racing.

Kessler was driving a Lucra LC470, a vehicle capable of doing 0 to 60 miles per hour in 3.5 seconds. Lucra's Web site describes the car as "street legal ? but barely."

Sierra was a graduate of Middletown High School North.