Big Turnout for Turkey this weekend

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

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
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ksuCDniMfY[/ame]

[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 .

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

Here is some pics of the beginning of Saturdays race:





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.