Felix Sabates made a last-minute decision that saved his life Sunday, choosing not to take a ride on the Hendrick Motorsports plane that crashed on the way to a NASCAR race, killing all 10 persons on board.

With his helicopter grounded by bad weather, Sabates, co-owner of Chip Ganassi Racing, decided he did not want to take the chance of having the plane diverted and then having to drive to the Martinsville, Va., track in race traffic.

Sabates said his helicopter pilot called to say he could have a seat on the plane and he was preparing to leave for the Concord, N.C., airport when Ganassi phoned. Ganassi told Sabates his plane had been diverted from the airport near the track to Danville, Va., 30 miles away.

“Chip said his plane missed its approach in Martinsville because of the weather and he was thinking about going home,” Sabates said. “I didn’t feel like going to Danville and then having to drive to the track in traffic. If Chip hadn’t called me, I would have been on that plane. He saved my life.”

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After deciding to pass up the race, Sabates was at his home in Charlotte when he got a telephone call from NASCAR chairman Bill France Jr., telling him the plane was missing and asking Sabates to go to the home of fellow team owner Rick Hendrick.

“When I got to the house, I’m the one that told Rick about the accident,” Sabates said. “Then Bill France called to tell me that they had found the wreckage and everybody was dead. I still get chills thinking about it. It’s just horrible for everyone.”

The Beech 200 King Air, flying in a thick fog, slammed into the side of a mountain Sunday in an area about 7 miles from Martinsville Speedway. Crews on all-terrain vehicles recovered the bodies Monday.

Federal investigators said they did not know the cause of the crash.

Hendrick Motorsports identified the dead as Ricky Hendrick, 24, Rick Hendrick’s son; John Hendrick, Rick Hendrick’s brother and president of Hendrick Motorsports; Kimberly and Jennifer Hendrick, John Hendrick’s 22-year-old twin daughters; Joe Jackson, an executive with DuPont; Jeff Turner, general manager of Hendrick Motorsports; Randy Dorton, 50, the team’s chief engine builder; Scott Lathram, 38, a pilot for NASCAR driver Tony Stewart; and pilots Richard Tracy, 51, of Charlotte, N.C., and Elizabeth Morrison, 31.