Big Turnout for Turkey this weekend

[titanium]

Here is the breakdown for Sebring this weekend:
305 total entries.
8 IT7
32 ITA
20 ITB
7 ITC
8 ITR
20 ITS
and
47 Wreck Me Otters :D

Group 3, (H1, H2, H3, H4, IT7, ITA, ITR, ITS) has 73 cars.
Good thing were on the long course.

[gran racing]

73 cars? Damn! Will they actually run with that many cars on track? Sounds like a total blast.

[titanium]

73 cars? Damn! Will they actually run with that many cars on track? Sounds like a total blast.

Yes,
The long course is 3.7 miles.
If I remember correctly, the SCCA approved max is 25 cars per mile.
So we can run about 90 cars without special permission from Topeka.

I have participated in enduro races at Sebring with over 100 cars entered:eclipsee_steering:

[DoubleXL240Z]

don't forget lots of car sharing happening!! Shows as 2 entries!

[Mike Guenther]

Chris, I don't see Dodge Neon in your signature line.

Let's all be polite and wave to Andrew Charbonneau as he laps us in that ISC Racing, Mike VanSteenburg ITS Miata. :happy204: Damn that car is fast with AC behind the wheel. :smilie_pokal: It will be very interesting to see if the Irishman has anything for AC. He blew Kip away on the short track last month. Maybe he won't get so far ahead on the long course.

See you in Sebring. Saturday night "Social". Code word for turkey & beer.

[JLawton]

You guys in the south all SUCK!!!

We've got another four months of freezing our asses off.......<_<

[DoubleXL240Z]

Mike, The Neon is not mine, I'm just the hired "shoe":eclipsee_steering:hahaha!!

[Rabbit07]

I had so much fun running Sebring last Jan that I wanted to come back this weekend. With the wife Nine Months pregnant and a 1200 mile tow, I had to put the brakes on those plans....:(:(

Have fun!

[quadzjr]

Interesting weekend. I am glad everybody came out safe :happy204:

[raceit]

Turn 1 incident that ended the weekend

http://i35.tinypic.com/sayxaw.jpg

[tnord]

that doesn't look good.

everyone come out ok?

[ozal92]

Wtf?

[raceit]

1 car, totally crisp. 2 other cars, heavy damage, but probably repairable. 4th car minimal damage, drove off.

Best part..................ALL Drivers OK

Caused by sudden, heavy downpour.

[tnord]

since all drivers are ok;

what was the car that started the fire? fuel cell?

[raceit]

Sudden heavy downpour, made the front straight like ice. THe first car, #85 ITA slid head on into the tire wall, became buried in the tires. The second car, #44 ITA, also slide head on into the tire wall, came to rest just to the right of the first car. All was well, until the third car, ITA #121 lost control and slammed straight into the back of the 85 car. Fire trucks and ambulances were responding to the scene, when #27 ITS started to slide, came close to the ambulance and tagged the tire wall, this car was not badly damaged and drove away from the scene. The fire started immediately after 121 hit 85, believe the fuel cell/tank??? possibly ruptured. There was nothing but a shell left of the 85 car. 44 and 121 sustained heavy damage from the impact, but may be repairable.

All drivers were OK, although we believe one suffered from minor smoke inhalation. Due to the extreme heat of the fire, the concrete walls actually caught fire and started to blow apart. It took over an hour to get the fire under control. Sebring staff indicated it would take a few days to replace the damaged wall, fencing and tires. Subsequently, all remaining sessions were cancelled.

[mattbatson4570]

Holy cow!
That means groups 4 thru 7 never got to race even once (there were two races scheduled that weekend for each group)!?
Sat. was practice and qualifying for all groups, and then group 1 (my group of ITB, ITC, GTL, etc) and group 2 had time for their first race before end of day.
So, group 3 race would have been the first race of the day!

Unless this was the second Group 3 race?

goodness I hope so, or there would be some angry racers:blink:

I went home sat. so missed the accident...

[dickita15]

Holy cow is right. Do you know what kind of car the 85 was that was the one that apparently burned.

[Mazmarc63]

Sudden heavy downpour, made the front straight like ice. THe first car, #85 ITA slid head on into the tire wall, became buried in the tires. The second car, #44 ITA, also slide head on into the tire wall, came to rest just to the right of the first car. All was well, until the third car, ITA #121 lost control and slammed straight into the back of the 85 car. Fire trucks and ambulances were responding to the scene, when #27 ITS started to slide, came close to the ambulance and tagged the tire wall, this car was not badly damaged and drove away from the scene. The fire started immediately after 121 hit 85, believe the fuel cell/tank??? possibly ruptured. There was nothing but a shell left of the 85 car. 44 and 121 sustained heavy damage from the impact, but may be repairable.

All drivers were OK, although we believe one suffered from minor smoke inhalation. Due to the extreme heat of the fire, the concrete walls actually caught fire and started to blow apart. It took over an hour to get the fire under control. Sebring staff indicated it would take a few days to replace the damaged wall, fencing and tires. Subsequently, all remaining sessions were cancelled.

Raceit has it right. The race was a multitude of conditions. Dry from T5 to T14 but damp at first in T15, T16, T1 and T3. A dry line began to appear and all was good. I was running 2nd in ITS 4th OA when it started to rain again. I backed way off and let Paul Ronie (#44 ITA Integra) and John Jackson (#85 ITA BMW 325E) go by. They were having a great race and I wasn't interested in throwing it off the track to stay in front of them. It began to dump buckets at T13. The whiteout down the backstraight was insane. The front stretch was worse. I lifted across the paint (start finish) and got back on it. Just then our crew (thanks again Julia) got on the radio that there was a huge crash in T1. I lifted and touched the brakes. Nothing. ZERO grip!! Again...nothing. I started to try to turn left but the car kept going straight. I was heading toward the cars in the wall and somehow I got enough grip to move the car left. It swapped ends and I locked up. I barely nudged the wall (no damage), grabbed a gear and drove off. As I turned toward T3, I saw Wayne Yetto (#121 ITA Nissan Sentra) go straight in at a high rate of speed. He contacted the BMW in the rear and the car exploded. There was a 30 ft ball of flame. Then Steve Goldin (#29 ITS Mazda Rx-7) lost control under braking at the bridge and slid into it all. It was an immediate red flag. The tire wall was on fire and seemingly out of control. It burned for at least an hour in a driving rain before it was under control.

How no one, including the corner workers and fire personal were not injured is a miracle. I saw Pauls car afterwards. It's pretty bad. LF pushed back, right side crushed from the fender to the back of the door.

It is unfortunate that we had such a terrible incident to end an otherwise fantastic weekend of racing.

I am just glad everyone is okay.:happy204:

[JeffYoung]

Holy crap. Glad everyone is ok. Marc, thanks for the writeup. Good reminder to all of us about what can happen, even in "just" an IT race.

[mattbatson4570]

Raceit has it right. The race was a multitude of conditions. Dry from T5 to T14 but damp at first in T15, T16, T1 and T3. A dry line began to appear and all was good. I was running 2nd in ITS 4th OA when it started to rain again. I backed way off and let Paul Ronie (#44 ITA Integra) and John Jackson (#85 ITA BMW 325E) go by. They were having a great race and I wasn't interested in throwing it off the track to stay in front of them. It began to dump buckets at T13. The whiteout down the backstraight was insane. The front stretch was worse. I lifted across the paint (start finish) and got back on it. Just then our crew (thanks again Julia) got on the radio that there was a huge crash in T1. I lifted and touched the brakes. Nothing. ZERO grip!! Again...nothing. I started to try to turn left but the car kept going straight. I was heading toward the cars in the wall and somehow I got enough grip to move the car left. It swapped ends and I locked up. I barely nudged the wall (no damage), grabbed a gear and drove off. As I turned toward T3, I saw Wayne Yetto (#121 ITA Nissan Sentra) go straight in at a high rate of speed. He contacted the BMW in the rear and the car exploded. There was a 30 ft ball of flame. Then Steve Goldin (#29 ITS Mazda Rx-7) lost control under braking at the bridge and slid into it all. It was an immediate red flag. The tire wall was on fire and seemingly out of control. It burned for at least an hour in a driving rain before it was under control.

How no one, including the corner workers and fire personal were not injured is a miracle. I saw Pauls car afterwards. It's pretty bad. LF pushed back, right side crushed from the fender to the back of the door.

It is unfortunate that we had such a terrible incident to end an otherwise fantastic weekend of racing.

I am just glad everyone is okay.:happy204:


my god, I've never heard anything like that. I guess it is the concrete...
If this is a known condition at sebring (it was my first time there), then why wouldnt they black flag the race as soon as the front straight got wet?
Thank goodness everyone got out safe.

[Knestis]

>> Caused by sudden, heavy downpour.

It was pre-YouTube but a similar - but even more horrific - thing happened in the GT1 race at the RubOffs (Rd Atl), back in the late '70s or early '80s(?). They actually caught the woods on fire.

K

[Mazmarc63]

Hee hee hee Matt, you have alot to learn about Sebring. Admittedly, there was less grip (none) it T1 than I can ever remember. My buddy Elliott thought there was more than just water on the track. Not sure though. If I touched the brakes, the car accelerated.I was fortunate to find a small amount of grip and steer away.

Hey Racit, were you working T1??

[waynehussey]

Hey Guys - Saturday was great, had lots of fun on the track and the weather was wonderful. However, I was a little disappointed on Sunday that we did not push through the lunch break and get a few more races in before the rain started, and then take a lunch break once the track was wet. I actually was having car trouble on Sunday and waived quite a few cars by on the warm up lap. By the time I got to turn 5, there were 3 first gen RX7s tangled up off to the right of the track. I ended up coming off by lap 3 with car trouble and saw the accidents in turn 1 from my trailer. I am just glad that everyone is okay, because it looked REALLY BAD once the BMW caught on fire.

Here is a pic of the fire and of the BMW once they brought it back to the paddock.

[flaboy]

Does anyone know how the drivers are doing that were involved in the turn 17 accident??Group 1 looked like Mike Horn's itb mustang was upside down with another car.This was during sundays race.

[Mazmarc63]

Does anyone know how the drivers are doing that were involved in the turn 17 accident??Group 1 looked like Mike Horn's itb mustang was upside down with another car.This was during sundays race.

Tim, I don't know about Mike or anybody else involved in that incident. I saw two ambulances heading that way. The story was that Mike's car lost the left rear wheel into T17 and contacted the wall hard enough to launch the car on its nose and then over on its roof. If you looked at it on the trailer, its gone. I didn't notice Mike in the group of people standing around, but I believe he wasn't seriously hurt.

What a weekend.

Did you see the T1 mess from your camp? You must have had quite a view.

[flaboy]

Mark i wish we did we left right after my race so i was about 1:15 or so...We wanted to beat the storm home since we would be driving in it all the way home.

[wcmcarlos]

Wired out my rented Golf in Sat. qual. session.
Turn 16, four wheels onto rumble strips, waited too long to stop turning right,,, looped around into inside wall, drivers side.
flattened drivers side of car, broke tierod, spindle knuckle, and cracked a couple of my ribs.
Got help loading up and left before the storm on Sunday.
There are a lot of good guys running IT down here, and I am just glad no one was seriously injured in that mess.
I hope I am out of this rib corset before Jan. Nat. I like working that race, cars from all over the country.
My thanks to Mike Ogren for all the help with the rental, he was a champ.

As a race driver, I make a GOOD grid worker!

My wife drove the motorhome, towing our car, in the storm, all the way home and I will hear about it for a while!

[DoubleXL240Z]

Word on the grid was that Mike was ok other than a cut on his leg that he got crawling out of the car. Drivers door was pinned by tires.

[Monkeywrench]

>> Caused by sudden, heavy downpour.

It was pre-YouTube but a similar - but even more horrific - thing happened in the GT1 race at the RubOffs (Rd Atl), back in the late '70s or early '80s(?). They actually caught the woods on fire. K

Everything is on youtube.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAlNlODBzeo

Glad to hear everyone made it out okay.

[John Jackson]

Marc has most of the story correct. I have a few corrections though. Paul had gotten back around me and was leading again. I lost track but I think we traded the lead 6 times up until that point. When we approached Bishop Bend the rain got heavier. Down the back straight it was coming down. Coming out of 17 it was not too bad. Paul had pulled a gap coming out of 17. When I got to the start/finish I still had grip. I noticed Pauls brake lights flashing. I let of the gas and total silence. None of my wheels still touched pavement. I tried to feed just enough left input to miss Paul who was now in the tire wall. I slammed in just to his left. After telling my crew that our amazing race was over. WAM!!! I was hit from behind. I was hit so hard that the rear bumper was pushed to the back seat. This exploded the ATL bladder and crushed the battery. I was instantly on fire. The rest is charcoal...

[Knestis]

Everything is on youtube.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAlNlODBzeo

Glad to hear everyone made it out okay.

EDIT - Ooops. That was it. It stuck and I missed the middle piece when I clicked on it the first time.

K

[lateapex911]

I think that video is it Kirk, but it's not exactly Speedtv quality. lots of fire in the woods though, and yea, there were at least 5 cars piling into the rest in that video.

It must suck to have to take that BMW home. sheeesh.

I have a question. That's a huge field..EIGHT ITR cars?? 34 ITA cars? Where were all those guys in Atlanta? I don't recognize any of the names from the ARRCs. Why don't they attend? It's not THAT far of a tow, is it? (Mines 16 or so hours)

[Mazmarc63]

Marc has most of the story correct. I have a few corrections though. Paul had gotten back around me and was leading again. I lost track but I think we traded the lead 6 times up until that point. When we approached Bishop Bend the rain got heavier. Down the back straight it was coming down. Coming out of 17 it was not too bad. Paul had pulled a gap coming out of 17. When I got to the start/finish I still had grip. I noticed Pauls brake lights flashing. I let of the gas and total silence. None of my wheels still touched pavement. I tried to feed just enough left input to miss Paul who was now in the tire wall. I slammed in just to his left. After telling my crew that our amazing race was over. WAM!!! I was hit from behind. I was hit so hard that the rear bumper was pushed to the back seat. This exploded the ATL bladder and crushed the battery. I was instantly on fire. The rest is charcoal...

John, I am so glad you and everyone else involved were uninjured. How the hell did you and Wayne escape getting burned?

[titanium]

Here is a short video of the fire taken from my motor home
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ksuCDniMfY

[Richy Gonzalez]

It's really a shame that we had so many racecars lost/damage this past weekend but I'm glad everyone was okay. I even spoke with Ronnie after the crash and he said that he was hurting a little but other than that, he was fine.

Unfortunately, I lost a tranny during Saturday's practice. Drove home to pick up a spare tranny. Drove back and we had it in car by Saturday's race. I started last, 65th, but had a really good time coming up thru the pack. Same was for Sunday. Car really felt good and kept my head cool even during the rain. I really have to thank the guys that help take the tranny out and put back in.

Jason, Chip, Dave, Scott, Andrew and I'm forgetting one more, but thanks for making my weekend a good one!

[Duc]

Wow, glad everyone was alright. After watching that Road Atlanta video's my wife said, there is no way I can run there :D.

Thank goodness we have great workers now, and better equipment.

Here is some pics of the beginning of Saturdays race:
http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/4667/P1000962.th.jpg (http://img20.imageshack.us/my.php?image=P1000962.jpg)
http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/7910/P1000963.th.jpg (http://img20.imageshack.us/my.php?image=P1000963.jpg)
http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/636/P1000964.th.jpg (http://img20.imageshack.us/my.php?image=P1000964.jpg)


The carnage from that race was pretty rough. But again I am glad that everyone is alright.

D

[quadzjr]

Even though the fire was quite spectactular.. one can't forget the red flagged event during the ITB race caused by a mustang that lost the outside rear tire in 17. Flipped the car on its roof and impacted the wall fairly hard. the roll cage ultimately failed but not dramatically enough to injure the driver. The cage by the drivers A pillar was pushed in a good 3".

[quadzjr]

Jason, Chip, Dave, Scott, Andrew and I'm forgetting one more, but thanks for making my weekend a good one!

Ahh.. hem.. Though all I really did was help load up in the monsoon. Good drive Richy. Did the video work in the last race?

[Richy Gonzalez]

Oops, my bad. Forgot to give props to you Steve and Dave R. By the way, the GoPro video is awesome. I might just have to get one!

[mattbatson4570]

I hope Mr. Horn and his ITB mustang return to the track soon. I had a great time racing with him on saturday and just love the huge ITB fields we get here in florida as opposed to the NC region.
I did have an incident with David Brown in his green/white Jetta in turn 1 where we had contact and I spun him.
It was my first time out at on the long course there at sebring, and in hindsight I never should have attempted a pass in that corner.
I went over after the race and apologized.
He was initially pretty upset, but came around after I explained that it was never my intention and that I was truly fighting the car in an attempt NOT to hit him.
Thank god he wasnt hit, as it is blind and fast through there.
I would really hate to get any kind of "reputation", as I really do try and race clean.
I'll eventually post up video of it.
David, if you reading this, once again I'm very sorry about what happened.

[zracre]

wow glad everyone is ok! Turkey Trot is usually a good weather event.

[krysdean]

Just thought you guys might be interested that during Mike Horns ITB car rollover, the kill switch key was snapped off and couldn’t be used to stop battery power to the electric fuel pump, which was pumping gasoline over Mike and into a pool in the top of his inverted car, another competitor, Bill Yates, from Avon Park, FL stopped his ITB Toyota in such a way as to block the incident from oncoming traffic, unbelted and ran to the assistance of the imperiled driver, when rescue equipment arrived, Bill was assisting Mike out of his car.

Way to go Bill.:happy204:

[jmracer17]

wow!!! glad everyone is ok! great move. :happy204:

[HiRcc#19]

Richi So Wat U Think About My Eg.

[Richy Gonzalez]

Richi So Wat U Think About My Eg.

...that it almost looks as good as mine :D

Actually, it was very cool to be on track with you again:eclipsee_steering:

[quadzjr]

Richi So Wat U Think About My Eg.

I am not Richy.. but I must say that car is extremely fast.. I don't think the Irish man was used to someone pulling him in the straights..

[D. Ellis-Brown]

Matt, Thank you for your response. I do not hold a grudge, if the incident is as you have said. Then it is over. Look forward to racing with / against you again. Sincerely, David Ellis-Brown

[rcorby]

I wonder why it took an hour to get the fire under control, even if the fire was both Class A and Class B (gasoline). Does anybody know if the fire crew was using FireAde or Cold Fire?

[DoubleXL240Z]

The reason it took over an hour to get under control was that the fuel started quite a number of tires on fire. All that takes is hundreds of gallons of water or lots of foam. The track fire team and the corner workers ( which are the best there is) are/were not set up to fight that type of fire. Even the trucks that carry water tanks were showing up to a gunfight with a pointed stick in this case. Being there from the beginning, and being a former firefighter, I believe the county should have been called quite a bit earlier. Hindsight is 20/20 though.

[splats]

LOOK/LISTEN to titianum's (?) video. You can hear his scanner. Early on (I think) Race Control was asked if they wanted another Fire Truck & he said NO. WHY?? :shrug:

[rcorby]

The reason it took over an hour to get under control was that the fuel started quite a number of tires on fire. All that takes is hundreds of gallons of water or lots of foam.

If the CW's and the Fire Crew were using Hydrocarbon Encapsulators, the fire--even rubber--could have been put out a lot quicker than an hour, and with much less than 100 gallons. Hydro Encaps not only encapsulate the hydrocarbon molecule, preventing combustion, but also cool the burning material due to the superior surfactant properties of the mixture (3-6% Hydro Encap + water). Reignition is therefore prevented.

BTW, I don't work for any of those companies, I am just a Corner Worker, but I have been through training with FireAde vs. Dry Chem, water, etc. There's really no comparison, and I can't understand why ALL tracks don't use those products.

[Mazmarc63]

Some video clips from the weekend.

The lap of the big crash. Watch my mirror as I drive away - for the explosion.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrkJTr81mTk

First two laps of the Sat group 3 race.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCc1U3q5dNw

[mattbatson4570]

vid of my contact with mr brown in the ITB race...turn 1.
I think I ran that over in my head many times afterwards to determine what it was that got me in that position....
sorry again about the crash, i was definitely fighting the car to keep from getting into you...

http://www.vimeo.com/2459781