Just to clarify what really happened:

I was in that race, qualified 5th so luckily all that stuff happened behind me. Only one tank ruptured. It was a stock tank, and it took a slightly angled rear impact at somewhere around 80mph.

We had one guy who tried to gain a bunch of positions on the start and he just got worse from that point. By the fifth turn he lost it for good in Talladega, the car came back on track in a cloud of dust and the melee ensued. They black flagged the race and as I came in to the pits I saw the #19 car burning in the rear with flames that must have been 30 feet high. It was really scary to see, and even harder to get back to racing after they cleaned up.

There were five cars damaged, four of which are totaled. All the drivers were ok. One driver was taken to the hospital because his fire bottle launched into the firewall on impact, sheared the pin and let loose. He inhaled whatever chemical it was in the extinguisher. He was released that night.

I think many of us forget how dangerous our sport can be.

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Ed Reich
Cal Club - SCCA