Hep Me Not Do It Again

I'm new to the wreck-um derby stuff, and would just as soon avoid it in the future. Unfortunately I triggered one in the ITS race last Sunday. I feel really bad for the cars that I got into. I found one of the other drivers afterward and told him how sorry I was (he was fine with it). Didn't know who the other car was until after I reviewed the video. If you are or know car 57, I'm really sorry about your rear bumper.

My problem is that I don't really know if I caused it, nor what I would do differently next time. I got surprised by the heavy braking of the first car I hit, then I thought we'd all drive through it and was really surprised by the second. Am I a dork or did we all just get very unlucky? Let me know how you'd do things differently.

In case it matters to your evaluation, my logging shows my corner entry speed at 10 MPH slower than all my other laps.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vra-LAuQP8E"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vra-LAuQP8E[/ame]

Thanks,
Marty

Marty, don't know if you are still working on it, but as of 9 p.m. EST, no vid yet.

I'll check back in a while and check out the vid for you. Sorry to hear about the damage.

Seemed like an extremely light tap. But as you know, a light tap can unsettle a car plenty to cause a spin or other such carnage since the cars are generally on the edge of adhesion when racing.

I'm not too sure what I'd have done differently. It looked like you were braking with a decent rate of deceleration. But, then the braking rate of the car in front of you seemed to increase and you were simply trying to keep up but didn't or couldn't. Were you locked up?

I feel bad for you too. I caused my first accident a couple months back and it wasn't a good feeling. Glad that you spoke to the drivers and all seems as well as can be.

Ron

I'm still new to the game and I don't see anything blatant there. I've been surprised with how quickly people have stopped in front of me before -- or maybe more accurately how slowly my car stops.

You tapped him pretty square and clearly weren't trying to dive bomb. While technically your fault that sure wasn't a banzai pass or blatant "knock'em out of the way move."

I've had that happen a few times but have been lucky enough not to hit the car in front of me, so I'd chalk that one up to "my fault but a non-intentional learning experience."

My one cent. Like Ron said, the best thing is you are "one of us" and feel bad that it happened at all.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ron Earp

Were you locked up?

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Locked them up just before the tap.

My wife says I was tailgating.

The vid doesn't show it, but the worst damage to the 28 and to my car was my left front into his right front at the end. The good news is that we all finished the race. Didn't hurt the performance of my car at all.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Eagle7

Locked them up just before the tap.

My wife says I was tailgating.

The vid doesn't show it, but the worst damage to the 28 and to my car was my left front into his right front at the end. The good news is that we all finished the race. Didn't hurt the performance of my car at all.

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I didn't see what caused the spin, I was sitting on the hill, but you knocked the Nissans turn signal lens lose. Didn't effect him, after the spin he was still putting up a good fight!

Marty: PM me. I believe that I can help.

I think that's one of those "shit happens" moments. It wasn't done on purpose and you apologized. Tough call

I had a very similar event at Pocono but managed to miss (almost) the car in front of me. Ended up trashing my car though, but better mine than his!!

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuiQVgAnvgk[/ame]


I am now REALLY careful when drafting!!! :)

Apologizing was the most important move!! :023:

I generally think that was just one of those things, but was kind of surprised by the actions of BOTH drivers in front of you - perhaps you were too... might explain a bit of why it all happened... I suspect I would probably have done what you did too, and caused the same result. It is surprising that the Datsun slowed so much more going in - perhaps surprise that the 57 was still in there?? Perhaps over-slowing for the corner because of traffic?

I think even more so, it was a bad choice for the 57 to hit the brakes when he did; I understand he was probably trying to avoid a wreck, but he would have pulled clear easily if he just kept on it and drove around - not to mention you would have had a spot of clear track to drive through, albeit at reduced speed. Instead, by braking, he ends up with the Datsun sliding directly at him.

Beran and I had a similar almost-incident "lapping" a slow ITS Miata on Saturday's race, which shows perhaps the better choice... think it was probably the #69 car... he (the Miata) put himself sideways on the inside of Carousel when Beran was going around the outside, just in front of me and next to Beran; instead of braking, though, Beran just floored it and was clear as the Miata slid out.

Me, I was stuck, and had to slow considerably... BUT I had a clear spot of track to drive around the Miata as he came to a stop.

So while I can't see much that you did wrong, I can see room for improvement on track there...

Ok....Now after watching it several times......

You tap the rear bumper while his brake lights are on. he gets off the brakes, starts to turn then hits the brakes again. One of his tires lock up and the back comes around on him. I "think" the second stab on the brakes is what spun him, not the initial bumper tap......

My unprofessional opinion!! Which means jack!! :D

I wouldn't lose sleep over that. Looks like the inside Z was over slowing due to his lame attempted pass.

The car you hit from behind was Brent Walton; car 57 was driven by Bill Schauer. I've known both drivers for a few years and in fact crewed for them at the 12- and 24- hour endurance races at Nelson Ledges. Both guys are gentlemen and understand what the sport is all about.

In fact, Bill had a coming together with a BMW in the Keyhole on Saturday, and at dinner afterward he was all light and air about it. These things happen and he accepts the risks involved.

As for your reaction, I don't think you did anything wrong. I remember that the ITS/ITB field was huge and there was a lot to be on the lookout for. With so much stimuli, it's often hard to be on top of everything, let alone what the guy in front might be trying to do. My guess is that since Brent and Bill are friends, maybe they were trying to "take care of each other" entering the turn, and therefore one or both became overly cautious. If so, they probably produced a situation that was outside of your expectation, hence your surprise at finding Brent so close to your front bumper.

I'd leave it at that--just a racing incident. As for future avoidances, I found that it's very difficult to plan ahead what you might do. There are too many variables in many wreck situations, and very often these same variables are changing in unexpected ways as the wreck unfolds.

Hope this helps. :)

Marty,
From what I saw on the video, Brent stayed to the inside because he hadn't fully passed Bill. Once they started braking for the corner, it appears Brent got on the brakes harder than normal to give Bill room to go by and likewise, Bill seemed to slow thinking Brent had the ability to overtake and would complete the pass on the inside. Unfortunately two gentlemen racers were both giving the other some room and you got caught up in the mix, hence the slower corner speed that lap. No one's fault in my opinion as his braking took you by surprise and the subsequent lockup and tap was the result. Glad to hear that the incident had no effect on the performance of the cars involved.

Thanks guys. I guess you've restored my confidence that I should trust my instincts. Most of what you've said has been rattling around in my head all week.

Marty

As Vaughn alluded to, often the best thing to do is floor it and get the hell out of there. Its counterintuitive, and as a wise man once said "if you hit anyway, you'll hit harder," but if this was easy everyone would do it.
:shrug:

I always try to concentrate on the throttle as the first option in a "situation." The goal being to not linger and get caught up in it myself. I want the action behind me, not in front of me.
Doesn't always work. But there are few absolutes in this game.

Yes, I was just easing into the throttle about 1/2 second before 57 locked it up.