MARRS 7&8

[ajmr2]

Greetings Fellow Survivors.
What can one possibly say about the Double? First off, thank God no one was seriously hurt when the SPU Mercedes was apparently bumped off at turn in of 7 (the left hander in the carousel), went through the tire barrier, was launched through the fence, sideswiped a parked car, slid up the hill and impacted the grandstand! Hats off to the emergency people who were there in a flash checking everyone out. It was a terrible thing to witness but a miracle no one was seriously injured. Glad to see Bob was OK after a trip to the hospital.
Thanks to Charlie Broring for coming over to apologize for unintentionally turning me around at the M7 start in turn one. Having reviewed the Not So Entertaining Video, I was a little indecisive about where to go as I got to turn 1, and Charlie was being pushed from behind. I had kidded around with Matthew Yip about starting at the rear, but I was just kidding! It's not so funny watching 20 something cars roaring through your tire smoke as you sit patiently in the grass. Thanks to the guys who gave me a little room trying to work my way back up. Now Greg, I just don't know about you... We'll talk.
M8 was less dramatic for me. What the hell was that big orange thing in my mirrors and then pulling away from me? The General Li? Good drag race with Matthew Rowe at the end too. One more lap I think you would have had me! Was it just me or did anyone see them towing the red MR2 through the carousel??? I had to pass them on the right at turn 7 with a couple guys breathing down my neck!
A special thanks to OG Racing for sponsoring the Double and feeding so many hungry and thirsty people. I don't care what Matthew Yip says, OG Racing is the best!

[JamesB]

I will admit you gave me my first midpack start situation test. not that you planned it but im amazed I didnt take out a few cars swerving to miss collecting you.

I had a great race for M7 it was incident free even if I found out exactly how fast Kirks car goes through the carousel compared to my little car. (it doesnt!!!! I nearly clipped him mid turn.)

M8 was a minor dissapointment. I was holding 6th or 7th in ITB with noone around me after a few drop outs and then my car droppped out due to the alternator aparently stoped working and not enough battery to make the end of the race.


the group 3 race was a little more exciting then I ever want to experience again down there. I am very happy noone was hurt at all from that incident. I have never seen matt move so fast before!!!

I agree, thanks OG for putting on a great weekend full of good friends, good racing, and stories to hold us over the winter.

[dj10]

Greetings Fellow Survivors.
[/b]



Hmmmmm glad I didn't make this one? :D Marshall, check this out!

[85itccivic]

Marrs 7 was a disappointment for me as Rich Allen removed me from the race at T6 on the first lap.
However, I got to watch my Turn One performance teammates have excellent races from the tub inside
the carrousel. Beth Burkhard drove the race of her life to finish second in ITC. John Burkhard finished
fourth and Jeff Janoska picked up seventh after a great second half of the race .

Marrs 8 was a little more to my liking. I repaired the broken axle from Sunday and started on the pole
for ITC. Thankfully the steward let us do the split grid thing and it really does make the ITC drivers breath
easier. I led from the green and had a great race going with Dave Coleman until about half distance. Turns
out Dave lost second gear and dropped back to the battle for third. I saw what looked like 3 wide at the
finish in my mirror. Beth took third , John was fifth , and Jeff had a trying race and I think came home 9th .

It is such a relief to win on Labor Day after years of bringing home broken race cars from this weekend.

Roger Troxell
#90 ITC civic

[BillH]

Many thanks to OG racing for sponsoring the double. Glad the driver of the Mercedes is OK. I did not see that incident, but it sounds plenty scary.

I am having a ton of fun racing in ITA with you folks and getting to know many of you. I had two very enjoyable races, working my way up a little after starting back a bit because i just suck in the rain.

Hope to see everyone at the end of the month for MARRS 9.

If anyone would like to write up an article or even a few paragraphs describing any aspect of the weekend you found interesting, my wife and I would love to have your stuff for the Straightpipe, which we edit. Send anything you write, and any photos we may use, to [email protected]

Bill H (Yellow #10 Miata)

[Matt Rowe]

AJMR2,

That was a good race we had going there at the end of M8, I just wish the start line was about 50 feet further down track, I might have had you. Thanks for a great race though. As for the Orange blur, he&#39;s not kidding about using the car in front as his brake pads. <_< Of course I might have been partially to blame there. :unsure: Still definitely far from boring.

As for M7, it was great starting close enough to the front to actually see the green flag come out for a change and Art&#39;s little spin certainly helped me work up to 9th by the start of lap 2. Too bad I lost a valve stem somewhere in turn 1or 2 of that lap. The car doesn&#39;t take left handers too well when the right rear is flat. The ride at full speed through the gravel at 3 was fun and the flagger at 4 said they we surprised to see me keep it out of the tire wall. I hope I managed to stay out of everyone&#39;s way after that.

Now I just have to check to budget for the money for MARRS 9.

[jmark]

Results?

[JamesB]

If T&S is as consistant as they usually are in a few days they and the timecards will be up at www.offtotheraces.net.

[erlrich]

I also wanted to thank OG for sponsoring this weekend. Nice job guys.

And I echo AJ&#39;s sentiments on the incident in group 3&#39;s race. I was sitting in the grandstands outside of T8-9 and I have to tell you I held my breath the whole time the Mercedes was flying across that field and up toward the grandstands. I can only say it was just short of a miracle noone was seriously hurt. I don&#39;t know who the photog was down there just behind the tires but he should get a raise after that one. At the very least he should be getting combat pay.

Unfortunately, a number of unavoidable events conspired to prevent me from having the car back together in time for Saturday&#39;s qualifying, and so I had to go to the back of the line for both races. It was a bit of a bummer not being up there racing with the usual suspects (particularly that little orange vee-dub), but on the other hand I have to say it was kind of nice actually getting to pass people on the first lap instead of being the one getting passed! Check out the video from lap one, not quite "Amy at the Glen", but tell me this wouldn&#39;t boost anyone&#39;s confidence: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2...469573179&hl=en (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2215631932469573179&hl=en)

Anyway, we&#39;re about down to the end - one last chance to get it right. I hope to see everyone back for M9.

Oh, and James, I really wasn&#39;t trying to hit you, just wanted to scare you a little ;)

[Tru55ell]

http://s73.photobucket.com/albums/i217/scc...0Point%2004-06/ (http://s73.photobucket.com/albums/i217/scca2k/Summit%20Point%2004-06/)

[mlytle]

Hmmmmm glad I didn&#39;t make this one? :D Marshall, check this out!
[/b]

ha ha!
yeah, i was one of the "non-surviors". collected an out of control american sedan as he hooked it back across the track after going 4 off to the left in t10 during the big bore race monday. interesting sensation hitting someone broadside at 90mph. all the mandated and optional (hans) safety features in our cars are wonderful things...

i will be fixing the car for a long time...not exactly the way i wanted to start converting it to ITR!

marshall

[lateapex911]

I am truly sorry to hear that Marshalll.............

[JeffYoung]

Damn, sorry to hear that Marshall. how bad is it? Frame straight?

[mgyip]

In was definitely an interesting weekend, that&#39;s fer sure - soupy, soggy, WET, NASTY, MUDDY - those are good adjectives for the OG Racing Labor Day double as well.

I had a few teething pains on Saturday with the new engine - a pinched valve cover gasket and then a misadjusted throttle cable provided me with some mediocre qualifying positions. However all concerns went by the wayside at the start when I was FINALLY able to motor past some of the ITB cars - not all, just some :(

Both races were alot of fun - very busy with someone either directly in front or behind me for the vast majority of the time. It was especially good to race with Matt and AJ - Matt, I didn&#39;t use you for brake pads, I was helping you accelerate - honest :o The most memorable moment of Monday&#39;s race was passing the hot-pink CRX in 6b, just as I saw the yellow flag for James&#39;s car @ Baker. I was fixated on the CRX so that I could pass him after Scott Holman did so in 6a and never saw the flag. Fortunately I passed about 5 feet BEFORE the flag and stuck both AJ and Matt with the slower car until turn 9 :D . Like I told Matt, Timing is EVERYTHING :eclipsee_steering:

Rob&#39;s incident with the stands was especially disconcerting - I&#39;ve crewed for RC Imports for going on a decade now and know more about those cars that I probably should. I don&#39;t think I&#39;ll ever lose the image of the car breaking thru the fence and launching. I never saw the landing b/c I had already pushed everyone out of my way in the stands and started moseying towards the impact zone - for those of you whom I displaced in my rush, please accept my appologies in earnest. It is truly a miracle that no one was killed in the stands. The only injury that I heard was a specatator who claimed to have had a cut on his arm and who demanded ambulance transportation about an hour AFTER the incident - talk about a gold-digger.

I echo Roger&#39;s sentiments about having a good run at the Double - while I didn&#39;t win (and never expect to win b/c my car simply isn&#39;t competitive to that degree), after last year, I was more than happy to have brought the car back intact.

[dj10]

interesting sensation hitting someone broadside at 90mph[/b]



I wonder what his sensation was like?

[JamesB]

it was sort of like watching an artificial diamond be made.

[EV]

...talk about a gold-digger...[/b]
I am sure we haven&#39;t heard the end of this saga....

I bet Bill Scott and the D.C. region will have to deal with several either threats of law suits, or actual law suits because of this.

I hope we still have a place to race after this.

[JamesB]

Right there is my biggest fear of all. I hope any issues from this will be minor and not jeapordize the track.

[mgyip]

I am sure we haven&#39;t heard the end of this saga....[/b]

But as we discussed in the tow truck, I&#39;m concerned that SPMSP (Summit Point Motorsports Park) won&#39;t take the necessary steps to keep this from happening again until someone is killed which is (as we all know) way too late.

[dj10]

it was sort of like watching an artificial diamond be made. [/b]

:happy204: You should win some kind of prize for that analogy! How was the camaro driver? Is he ok?

[JamesB]

I stold that from Yip and his description of instructing at a DE event.

Camaro drove off the course thought pit in like Marshall but the back end was pretty busted up and twisted from the hit.

[EV]

:happy204: You should win some kind of prize for that analogy! How was the camaro driver? Is he ok?
[/b]
He was better after we extinguished his engine fire in the paddock :)



But as we discussed in the tow truck, I&#39;m concerned that SPMSP (Summit Point Motorsports Park) won&#39;t take the necessary steps to keep this from happening again until someone is killed which is (as we all know) way too late.
[/b]
I bet they will. It took a broken leg to get stairs built going into the tubs on the corners. This was WAY more serious than that (no offence Bob). I suspect there will be some grading at minimum, concrete walls at best in that area by next event. Erosion is the problem. The walls need to be cut 90 to the ground around them. Problem is, over time they erode and become ramps.

Of course, there is sometimes nothing you can do to prevent that. Later the same day, there was the Miata that jumped to the other side of the wall at 4. Who would have thought???

I also suspect there will be narry a photographer standing around there next event either..

BTW, you were running over to the car, it only looked like you were "moseying" because your legs are so short :) :) :) And I need my phone book back before next event, you know, the one you borrowed to sit on at dinner.

[ggnagy]

I am sure we haven&#39;t heard the end of this saga....

I bet Bill Scott and the D.C. region will have to deal with several either threats of law suits, or actual law suits because of this.

I hope we still have a place to race after this.
[/b]


Unfortunately, this is all too possible. A driver/litigation atty from another group who I shall not name came into the stands across from 8 saying repeatedly "who saw what happened?"

[JamesB]

matt moved faster then I have ever seen, even when free food was announced.


Actually, EV what was up across from Abel? a grass fire or something cuz I know someone ran to the embankment and discharged an extiguisher.

[EV]

matt moved faster then I have ever seen, even when free food was announced.
Actually, EV what was up across from Abel? a grass fire or something cuz I know someone ran to the embankment and discharged an extiguisher.
[/b]
That was a partial bottle we used on the Camaro. We blow the rest of the bottle so it doesn&#39;t get mistaken for a full one. Besides, it gets people looking :unsure:



Unfortunately, this is all too possible. A driver/litigation atty from another group who I shall not name came into the stands across from 8 saying repeatedly "who saw what happened?"
[/b]
I wish I would have seen that.... GRRRRRRR Come visit me at the next event (or PM)

[mgyip]

Unfortunately, this is all too possible. A driver/litigation atty from another group who I shall not name came into the stands across from 8 saying repeatedly "who saw what happened?"[/b]

Ironically the driver of the Mercedes is also an attorney which leads me to a lawyer joke...

Why don&#39;t sharks eat each other in a feeding frenzy?

Professional courtesy.

[ajmr2]

Damn lawyers. Stuff happens at speed, we all know that. I assume they&#39;ll put something down there, but I&#39;d be concerned about what would happen to the driver in the same situation if he ran head on into a concrete wall! I mean, we&#39;ve got to be going 60 or 70 at turn in of 7, no? Maybe they could angle the wall a bit so it wouldn&#39;t be a 90 degree impact. Or some kind of a catch fence. I&#39;m not a big fan of gravel traps, but they do work as long as you go straight into them...

[EV]

Damn lawyers. Stuff happens at speed, we all know that. I assume they&#39;ll put something down there, but I&#39;d be concerned about what would happen to the driver in the same situation if he ran head on into a concrete wall! I mean, we&#39;ve got to be going 60 or 70 at turn in of 7, no? Maybe they could angle the wall a bit so it wouldn&#39;t be a 90 degree impact. Or some kind of a catch fence. I&#39;m not a big fan of gravel traps, but they do work as long as you go straight into them...
[/b]
This is my 7th season with EV. I have never see a car go straight at that section of track, they almost always (I used to be able to say always) go into that wall sideways.

I don&#39;t know how they could angle a wall there different than it is right now. A concrete wall with double or triple tires would work quite well there. You carry more speed coming out of 10 than through there. I have seen plenty of folks hook and hit pit wall over the years, all have walked away.

[JamesB]

I have ducked to miss the debris when I worked pit so I am aware of the turn 10, but they do tend to dissapate speed during the whole spin and cross.

This weekend was two of the off chances happening in the same weekend. The chance of someone going strait through turn 7 and the chances of someone actually landing up on the burm out of the chute near the turn 5 tub.

[Gregg]

Now here&#39;s something to ponder...

During our first of two pace laps for race group 6 I looked over at those bleachers (mainly &#39;cuz I was a little freaked out watching Rob&#39;s car go flying and seeing the structure displaced) and saw how they had been marked w/ "caution tape." What I found disturbing is that, when I started shifting my focus back towards the track berm, there seemed to be 20+ people leaning against the fence in the same general area that "Bo" Koch visited earlier in the day.

That freaked me out.

Anyways, Bill (er...EV), do you know if the T6b/T7 flagger stand was empty due to low flagger turnout? It looked like one of the vehicles coming out of Baker was pretty close to getting clipped by an at-speed race car.

[EV]

Now here&#39;s something to ponder...

During our first of two pace laps for race group 6 I looked over at those bleachers (mainly &#39;cuz I was a little freaked out watching Rob&#39;s car go flying and seeing the structure displaced) and saw how they had been marked w/ "caution tape." What I found disturbing is that, when I started shifting my focus back towards the track berm, there seemed to be 20+ people leaning against the fence in the same general area that "Bo" Koch visited earlier in the day.

That freaked me out.

Anyways, Bill (er...EV), do you know if the T6b/T7 flagger stand was empty due to low flagger turnout? It looked like one of the vehicles coming out of Baker was pretty close to getting clipped by an at-speed race car.
[/b]
Flagger turnout wasn&#39;t that low, station 11 was manned with a radio, so that being the first station to be manned with only a point person, we must not have been too low on flaggers. Stations 7 was manned, but I didn&#39;t see a red flag. Perhaps the shock of the incident delayed it&#39;s display. Don&#39;t count on my witness to that though, I was focused on getting across track myself.

[ajmr2]

The guys and gals in the corners absolutely amaze me. They spend the whole day, rain or shine, brutal heat or sideways rain, observing our races without getting involved in the races themselves. They watch for contact, bad judgement, fluids and/or pieces coming off of our cars, hoods unlatched, tires going flat, waiving us back out when it&#39;s safe to do so, even if we REALLY CAN&#39;T WAIT, and on and on. I&#39;ve personally experienced all of these issues myself. They&#39;re the very best in the business and I just want to take a moment to salute every one of them. No matter what happens on the track, we couldn&#39;t even think about going racing without your presence and vigilance.

[Gregg]

Absolutely! :023:

[lateapex911]

I&#39;ll third that!

[jjjanos]

Weekend was fantastic thanks to the hard work of the Turn One Performance team. Thanks Roger!

MARRS 7 was a great race for me. Got a terrible start and then had to fight my way from DFL in the ITC field. Got hung up by a couple of RX7 that wanted to race and saw my ITC race vanish in front of me, but got by them, hunted down the ailing ITC cars in front of me and finished 6th in class. Saw Roger in the Carousel on the first lap and never saw the rest of the team the race.

Spoke with the RX7 drivers and asked them to PLEASE let me by on Monday if they weren&#39;t near another RX7. Both were VERY nice about it and both checked up to let me get past during the next race. Kudos to both of you.

MARRS 8 was a great one-half a race for me. Lowered my best time by one-half a second and hung onto the back of the second tier of ITC cars - I even got to see the class leaders catch the back of the RX7 field. Then I ran out of talent under braking at T1 and took to the escape road. All hope of saving the race went out when I foolishly dropped a wheel on the outside of the Carousel... d&#39;oh. At that point the fire was out of the driver and I was in the middle of the RX7 field. I didn&#39;t want to ruin their races, so when they caught me, I let them past. Got to see Roger zip past me and later saw the fight for 2nd through 5th... were the heck did MS get that speed?

As for the grandstand thing... in the past, BSR responds very quickly to things like this. My gut reaction is that there will be major changes to that section of the course before we see the track at the end of the month.

[dave parker]

Guys
I am sure that Summit Point management will do something to prevent a car getting into that spot in T7 again, and I am sure that there will be a bunch of whinning from people about what they do. Remember how people complained about the "great wall" in T4 when it was first built? :dead_horse:

As usual the Double is a great event marred by sketchy moves and poor decisions usually made by "license keepers" who after spending the whole summer on the couch eating Funyuns decide that they need two races in one weekend to keep their license current. But I still had fun, and managed to bring home two third place trophies and no new dents in the car.

I saw the SSM roll in T4 on Monday. He (Bill Windsor SSM#83) spun further up the hill towards and got off in the wet grass on drivers left and went up the dirt embankment before the aformentioned "great wall" from there he launched upward and rolled end over end once and landed on his wheels. I don&#39;t know if he had help as I could not see that far up the hil. Luckily, he seems to be ok.

Remember kids, car racing is a dangerous game not only for the participants. I tell every new guest that I bring to the track "If you can see the cars on the track, they can get to where you are. Pay attention."
My advice and worth exactly what it just cost you.

See you all at MARRS 9.

Cheers
"dangerous" dave parker

[ggnagy]

Now here&#39;s something to ponder...

During our first of two pace laps for race group 6 I looked over at those bleachers (mainly &#39;cuz I was a little freaked out watching Rob&#39;s car go flying and seeing the structure displaced) and saw how they had been marked w/ "caution tape." What I found disturbing is that, when I started shifting my focus back towards the track berm, there seemed to be 20+ people leaning against the fence in the same general area that "Bo" Koch visited earlier in the day.

That freaked me out.

Anyways, Bill (er...EV), do you know if the T6b/T7 flagger stand was empty due to low flagger turnout? It looked like one of the vehicles coming out of Baker was pretty close to getting clipped by an at-speed race car.
[/b]

From my perspective, I could not see 7 very well, but 5 and 8 had flag out for a bit when vehicles went cross track at baker. There was almost 2 or 3 more incidents at 8 with drivers not seeing the red flag but the 4 or 5 cars stopped on track. Afterwards, control acknowledged that there were many incidents of drivers going through several turns before obeying the red flag. :018:

Did anyone ever find out why the BG driver refused to get out of the car?

[ggnagy]

That was a partial bottle we used on the Camaro. We blow the rest of the bottle so it doesn&#39;t get mistaken for a full one. Besides, it gets people looking :unsure:
I wish I would have seen that.... GRRRRRRR Come visit me at the next event (or PM)
[/b]

After this past weekend I would prefer to NOT visit you guys again, or should I say, have you guys visit me.
:(

I&#39;ll send pm, but I know you read other boards and probably know who I mean.

[Wreckerboy]

The guys and gals in the corners absolutely amaze me. They spend the whole day, rain or shine, brutal heat or sideways rain, observing our races without getting involved in the races themselves. They watch for contact, bad judgement, fluids and/or pieces coming off of our cars, hoods unlatched, tires going flat, waiving us back out when it&#39;s safe to do so, even if we REALLY CAN&#39;T WAIT, and on and on. I&#39;ve personally experienced all of these issues myself. They&#39;re the very best in the business and I just want to take a moment to salute every one of them. No matter what happens on the track, we couldn&#39;t even think about going racing without your presence and vigilance.

[/b]

...someplace, somewhere, Matt Weisberg just had a major coronary.

[JamesB]

FYI results are up

http://www.offtotheraces.net/marrs7.html

http://www.offtotheraces.net/marrs78,2006.html

[spnkzss]

I wish I could say I had a good weekend. As a matter of fact it just seemed to be par for the year.

Both races I qualified 5th. Sunday, I decided to play with fuel pressure. :018: I know better than to mess with a car before a race. I was trying to solve a fuel starvation problem in 6. I couldn&#39;t break a 1:372. After messing with the back markers for a while and almost driving through them in 10 (four wheel on the gator teeth multiple times to prevent from hitting other cars) I figured it was time to come off the track before I hurt the car or someone elses. The car handled great, but no power above 5 grand. Finished 11th.

Monday, I went out for hardship with presure returned to where it was. It didn&#39;t feel 100%, but a lot better than it was. Went out for the race and it just fell on its face. My teammate gave me a nice couple (ok maybe half dozen) pushes down the straight on the start. Couldn&#39;t get the car to get out of it&#39;s own way. Had a good time racing him though. I had the corner speed he had the straight line speed. I think we gave my wife and his g/f a heart attack when he went to pass me in 8 and I kinda.... lets say.... sqeezed a little. ;) I finished the day I think 8th. I have to say, I have never driven the car as hard as I did that race. It&#39;s interesting when your used to driving a good car fast versus driving a bad car fast. If I can just drive the car as hard as I did that race with a good motor, I might think about trying to chase down Troxell ;)

Short version of what I&#39;m going to do to fix it. Go out with a full tank. I&#39;ve gotten away from that lately and I&#39;m burning more fuel. I don&#39;t think I&#39;m filling it up enough. Get some injectors cleaned and balanced. Replace plugs, and wires. Do a compression test. Go out and kick some ass. :cavallo:

Long weekend, was ready for it to be over, didn&#39;t want to touch the car for a month. Now it&#39;s Thursday, I want to go fix the car, and race this weekend. Not looking forward to the long winter ahead.

[85itccivic]

Hey , Rob,

I hope you know that for all the trash talk we do I was a bit bummed that you had problems this weekend. I thought it was great that you had such a good run in July and really expected you to be mixing it up with every one this time too . All I really want it for ITC to once again be a multi car race at the front like it was years ago. Close , clean racing is what we are there for and that will attract more people back to our class.

Roger

[spnkzss]

Hey , Rob,

I hope you know that for all the trash talk we do I was a bit bummed that you had problems this weekend. I thought it was great that you had such a good run in July and really expected you to be mixing it up with every one this time too . All I really want it for ITC to once again be a multi car race at the front like it was years ago. Close , clean racing is what we are there for and that will attract more people back to our class.

Roger
[/b]

I&#39;ll get it runnin&#39; again. I already have a set of injectors ready to send out. Once I get a few more thing taken care of the car should finally be where it needs to be. Now that there are about 7 or so cars up front (which is more cars then we have had in the field over the past few years) it should be fun. I also want to continue to help Kev get up there with us. Just not too much up there ;)

Appreciate it, and look forward to seeing you in my mirrors at MARRS 9. B)

[Bads Mr2 Crew]

So there we were, Monday mid morning, the rain was gone and the weather good, so far… I usually crew for two mr2’s each weekend. This weekend only one car was there so I had a bit of a reprieve. I could actually watch some racing whilst at the race track.
So, intent on watching some good racing, my dad and I decided to go down to the carousel with a couple of friends, to watch the small bore race. Always entertaining. We got there and sat at our usual spot. Top right corner of the carousel grandstands. You can watch them come down the chute, go through the twisty bits, and then watch them go up the hill.
There is almost always some minor bumping and grinding as the faster cars make there way through the lapped field. And, almost always, everybody keeps it on the track to continue another lap.
This day we were watching an SPU Mercedes try an inside pass on a Baby Grand in 6b. After the first touch, I thought for sure the baby grand was going off onto the grass on the outside of 7. I mean, this was a tap from a Mercedes. But the little guy corrected and kept it on the track. Unfortunately, the Mercedes was occupying the space the Baby Grand needed, and there was another contact. It was just enough to jolt the Mercedes a bit too far to his right and to then proceed off track into the grass.
Now, I had seen this happen many, many times. Cars coming at us straight at 7, but they always hit the tires and the embankment and came to a jarring stop. But not this time.
I was watching a movie. The Mercedes hit the tire wall at near full speed (for that area) and it didn’t stop. It blasted over the tires and the embankment and through the beautiful brown fencing that surrounds the track.
Throughout the weekend we had seen a Buick, parked in that area, arrive, park, pull forward, back up, turn around, set up a tent, lay the tent down, move the car back, then forward again. This time the Mercedes helped it move, after it had cleared the lain down tent.
After brushing off the Buick, the Mercedes was aimed right at us. I could look the headlights straight in the eyes. And I did, as I watched it coming right at me. I almost stood. I almost ran. But I kept thinking, it wont make it this far. It won’t hit us. I know my dad was to my right, but I didn’t see him. My entire perspective was taken up by this car. I watched it in high-speed slow motion. It wont make it this far. I remember kinda crouching where I was, not yet ready to run. What if I ran and it didn’t hit, I&#39;d look a fool. It won’t hit us.
And then it hit us.
Imagine sitting in a chair and someone comes up behind you and pulls the chair out from beneath you fast enough, so that for a split second, you are sitting on air. That is what it felt like when it hit. The grandstands actually cracked in half. The right side, where we were sitting, was pushed back at least four feet from its foundation. The left side almost a foot.
So if you can imagine the steepness of the grandstands, we were instantly about 2-3 feet off our seats. It wasn’t so bad, until we landed. Boy did we tumble around those seats. When I picked myself up, that’s when I saw dad, pretty much upside down, a couple of feet below me. I guess he didn’t crouch.
We stood there for a second. It was kind of surreal.
The driver got out of his car and, luckily, he was fine, going so far as to try to wave off the ambulance driving across able between racecars.
Then we started asking ourselves if we were fine. We all were.
But what to do next. You don’t just sit back down and continue watching racing after something like that.
Then, moments later, we were surrounded by orange shirts. They were everywhere, instantly. They immediately took charge and told us all to sit back down and get off the grandstands.
Some of use tried to do both. It was then decided it was probably best to vacate our broken seats. The orange shirts circulated the crowd checking for injuries. The worst that I saw was my dad with a wee bit of blood on his elbow. Eyeing some of the tasteful rust spots decorating the grandstands, he opted for some antiseptic and a band-aid.
Soon after, we spotted some friends that had seen what had happened from other parts of the carousel heading towards us to check everyone’s well being. We were just a bit shaken and stirred.
I then saw the red flags. The race had been stopped.
The driver was ok, and we were ok. The grandstands and the unlucky boys’ bicycle that had been resting up against the corner of the grandstands, were not. But thanks to the EV crews and corner workers, the situation was under control and all was being taken care of. We received a ride with some friends back to our respective paddocks.
I have been going to summit point raceway for 29 years now as a spectator and crew. I’ve seen some wins, and I’ve seen some accidents. But this will stay with me for a long time.
Thank you again to the workers and the EV crew of Summit Point Raceway.