Heartland Park - ONE MORE TIME

[ccasteel]

Just checked out dlb registration list. You IT7 guys made me nervous registering at the last minute like that. I was about to suggest to Scott we switch to ITA and do a little team racing to come in 1st and 2nd. We'd toss my special coin to determine who gets 1st.

[ebb]

Did not mean to make you nervous charles. I had a great time in topeka last time out so I would not miss it. Hopefully I can drive a little faster .

[SLUF]

IT7...............................Well?

[tnord]

scott won saturday, not sure about sunday.

[ccasteel]

IT7 results:

Saturday
1st Scott Peterson
2nd Charles Casteel
3rd Matt Rivard
4th Howard Duncan

Sunday
1st Scott Peterson
2nd Matt Rivard
3rd Charles Casteel
4th Howard Duncan

Sundays race consisted of only seven laps. The first 3 laps under green and the final 4 double yellow. Bummer of a way to end the season. Kinda makes me want to go to St. Louis now. I'll be running that one past the boss.

[nsuracer]

First thing that I have to say is that I appreciate the fact that the KVRG put us on the schedule so that we could race at Heartland one more time. The second thing is that I believe that Sundays race could have been done better. Due to a serious crash, a 12 lap race was shortened to a 7 lap race in which 3 laps were under a double yellow. In essence, it was a 4 lap race. We did not get our moneys worth. I know why they did it, they had a schedule to keep. Why could we not have raced last? If any of you in the KC/Kansas area have any pull with the KVRG Board, perhaps that issue can be discussed.

Before anybody feels the need to point out that it did not effect me (who was up against the wall by turn 8) that issue has allready been discussed with the Operating Steward. Brain Fade, Lack of Concentration, loose nut behind the steering wheel-all apply.

[ebb]

Kinda makes me want to go to St. Louis now. I'll be running that one past the boss.

That is nice to hear, I don't want that to be my last race of the year either. I was planning on going to st.louis.

[SLUF]

Sounds like a little bit of a cluster for Sunday.

If you IT7 guys decide to come to STL I at least owe Mr. Casteel a dinner for keeping that Matt guy behind him and keeping Trey's title safe! We ought to plan an IT7 outing one of the nights.

[IPRESS]

So the IT Tour is done for 08?
MidAM has two more races if I read things right.
Anybody going to Hallett for the Sunday race?

[mustanghammer]

First off - thanks to all of you that entered the IT race this weekend. KVRG took a little bit of a risk and you guys made it pay off! From where I was on the track I think we put on a pretty good show. I know the starts must have been fun to watch!

All I can say is I was lucky to win both races. Charles and Matt made me work really hard. Had the race restarted on Sunday I am sure that both Matt and Charles would have been all over me - note that Charles had the best IT7 time in that race so he was coming! That was some really fun and clean racing by all.

As of now I plan on going to St Louis. My car is running great and I should be able to get to the event. I look forward to seeing you all there.

Regarding Sunday....it probably should have been black flagged - we had time to run at least 3-4 laps under green after the wreck was cleaned up. I am on the KC Region BOD and will bring this issue up with the KVRG chairman. However I believe that ultimately the decision that was made can probably be attributed to the Operating Steward and not the Race Chair and certainly not KVRG. KVRG orgainizes the races - actual race day decisions belong to the Stewards. I'll report what I find out.

The other aspect of the Sunday race that I also think needs to be discussed was how the double yellow laps were handled. After the Pace Car released us the corner workers told us to speed up. So there we were running nose to tail under the double yellow at 8/10's. Not cool in my book. Again, a black flag all would have been a better call.

Again, thanks to all of YOU for a GREAT WEEKEND!

[tnord]

i know it's still early on after the event, but after last year's national, the runoffs, and this weekend....i don't know how soon i'll be back to topeka.

there's been way too many cars destroyed there in recent history, and some oversights i just don't understand in regards to safety. i think the tally from the runoffs was something around 15+, and 7 or so this weekend and i don't even know what happened today.

[mustanghammer]

i know it's still early on after the event, but after last year's national, the runoffs, and this weekend....i don't know how soon i'll be back to topeka.

there's been way too many cars destroyed there in recent history, and some oversights i just don't understand in regards to safety. i think the tally from the runoffs was something around 15+, and 7 or so this weekend and i don't even know what happened today.

Well one thing that might help would be TIRE WALLS in front of all of the DOT barriers. Ever notice that Hallet has tires everywhere and there are very few cars written off there? There seems to be a belief that some areas of the track are "impossible to hit." Your driver seems to have proven this wrong. I saw him lose it and then spin into the grass and I am still not sure how it happened or how he got to that wall.

[OTLimit]

I am pretty sure that Chris has labelled a place with yellow paint that could use some tires.....

[tnord]

yeah, tire walls/foam barriers are the most obvious thing that first came to mind. unfortunately, it appears ray just doesn't get it.

[mustanghammer]

I spoke with the Race Chair today. As I suspected race day and race session decisions are made by the Operating Stewards. So the decision to throw the double yellow and then end the race prematurly was made at the operating steward level. Hind sight being 20-20 it could be argued that a Black Flag all might have offered a better chance of a restart for the race but then again it might not have. We are not aware of the information the stewards recieved from the accident scene. The extracation was not fast - the top had to be removed and the driver ifted out of the car.

Scheduling choices are hashed out by the Race Chair and KVRG officers. Final approval for the schedule and the supps is provided by the Exec Steward. Over all I think the schedule worked and the IT Group fit the Double National program well. The fact that the IT Group was well populated provided ample justification for offering it.

Perhaps if we had been the last group of the day we would have gotten our race in but then again perhaps not assuming the same on-track/off-track action. Also the intent of the schedule was to allow the IT drivers to get their single session in early and on the road home in a timely manner.

It is a shame it happened on so many levels. The driver was injured, the car was written off and it put an early end to a great race. Despite that however, it was a great weekend, in my opinion, and again I want to personally thank all of you for coming.

[tnord]

the only issue i have scott is that it was early in the day, they weren't behind schedule, the weather was good, and it was right before lunch so there was an easy opportunity to recover the time. i think lengthening that session by 10min would've gone a long way to making the regional guys not feel like "second class citizens."

it's a few days later and i still don't know if i'll go back to that place without some tire walls.

[uncleben]

There seems to be a belief that some areas of the track are "impossible to hit." Your driver seems to have proven this wrong. I saw him lose it and then spin into the grass and I am still not sure how it happened or how he got to that wall.

Hey guys- I'm the driver of Travis' race car that had the wreck. I am really, REALLY sorry that you all had to suffer at the hands of my misfortune. I have been playing it over and over again in my head and I still don't really know what happened. All I know is I went for the brakes at the end of the straight before T10 and there was nothing. I don't know if I was the victim of some sort of freak brake failure, or if I just carried so much more speed through T8-9 than ever before (damn it felt good, like I finally got that sequence "right") that when I stabbed the brakes they just locked up and I didn't realize it (very aggressive brake compound), but all I know is that in an instant of jamming the brake pedal and nothing was happening, I was off the track and approaching the wall VERY quickly. I think I tried to steer clear left but the car spun instead and I watched in the rear view mirror as to my horror I saw white concrete barrier coming towards me. I stuck my head to the seat, held on to the wheel tight, closed my eyes and said to myself, "$#%!, this is really going to hurt!" I've never felt an impact like that to my body in all my 32 years. When the corner workers and safety crew showed up my head down to my tailbone was tingling and in pain. When I told them that, it immediately triggered them to go into full-on safety first mode and they wouldn't get me get out of the car. Obviously it look them a while to get me out, as they removed the roof and then pulled me up and out on a backboard. I was pretty scared but could feel my feet which was a good sign in my mind. They released me from the hospital the next day and I've been resting at home since. I read about Chris Albin and it sounds like he had it a LOT worse than me. I think if I had hit front end first, I could be in Chris' shoes or worse. I'm told I moved the wall 18" and broke it or something.

So, why are there not tires or some sort of soft barriers around all of HPT? Hallett has it as someone mentioned above, and there are rarely cars that are complete losses except when they get flipped over the wall or something. Is it partially cosmetics? Is it just cost? I'm thankful to be okay and it's not like I can change the past, but I do wonder what shape myself and Travis' car would be in now if I had the same off into a tire wall.

Lastly- Scott or whoever was directly behind me, did you guys see any tire smoke? Did I lock it up or just go off? I have in-car video from 4 cars back, but I can't really tell anything.

That video and pictures are here if anyone is curious:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12263689@N00/

Again, I am really sorry to everyone that ran in Group 6 and had their one-and-only track time on Sunday basically ruined

Ben

[ebb]

I was driving the car directly behind you. I don't remember seeing any smoke, nor anything unusual at all. I thought it was innocent looking when you went off, I saw you start to slide a bit and go off. That was it really. I figured you would spin in the grass and pull back on the track after regaining control. Glad to hear you are ok, too bad about the car. Scott was directly behind me, maybe he will remember something else.

[ebb]

By the way, I don't think you need to apologize for the race. Obviously I would want the same treatment if something were to happen to me. Of course if there was time we could have stopped and restarted or something like that, then Charles could have had time to pass me.

[uncleben]

I was driving the car directly behind you. I don't remember seeing any smoke, nor anything unusual at all. I thought it was innocent looking when you went off, I saw you start to slide a bit and go off. That was it really. I figured you would spin in the grass and pull back on the track after regaining control. Glad to hear you are ok, too bad about the car. Scott was directly behind me, maybe he will remember something else.

That is very interesting to hear. That basically confirms that I did not lock up the brakes like I have been wondering. It sure did not feel like a lock-up, it just felt like there was nothing there at all. So I was going full speed down that straight and was not slowed down except for the car going in the grass and rotating.

Do you happen to have in-car video by any chance? The next thing I would want to know is if there were brake lights??