Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
Moderators: dirtonly  /  dmantx  /  hosehead

This Tragedy should have never happened 

I agree. But as no one made a formal complaint [imo] about this exit which appears to be one of 4 dangerous spots on this track, the owners, just like the drivers and fans ignored the situation cause it hasnt caused a problem before. The likely hood is minimal and we all want our fix of speed,methanol and dust. Not their fault anymore than the collective approval from the drivers at the pit gate and the fans at the front gate.

Even though I may not know you, I 
care what most of you think!

So you are blaming them because the steeting broke in his car?

No matter what went wrong on the car, there should never be a blunt end of a wall that can be hit by a racecar. That's just common sense. They bragged about all the improvements they made and left that. STUPID!!!!

Scott Gobrecht does indeed know better than most of us. He is one of the last people that would act in blatant disregard for driver safety.  Considering what this sport has taken from he and his family, we are all very fortunate that he has invested one thin dime back into it.

You are excactly right!!! I have no idea how Baps can be defended.. Every race has complained about that opening at the end of front stretch for years!! plus there have been close ones in the past.. there should be no way a race car should exsposed to that.. 

+1

They might change it now, but Susky's guardrail has been like that long before they bought it to move the pits out front.

Susky has also been on the chopping block most of its life. Everyone is thankful someone bought it.

All race tracks have openings of some sort. Look below. They can be better but most are the same.

Freak accidents also happen. Brad Sweet cut a car in half at 34 Raceway.

No one could believe Lucas Wolfe walked away when he hit the pit exit at the Grove.

Stuck throttles and broken steerings are also the worst of the worst. They have taken more than their fair share.

It was out of his hands. At least he was doing what he loved and he never felt anything.

So very very sad. God speed.

 
 
 
They don't even know how to spell sprint car 
much less chromoly...http://www.ycmco.com

Most tracks have openings.

 
 
 
They don't even know how to spell sprint car 
much less chromoly...http://www.ycmco.com

Tracks have openings but not at the end of the straightaway.. Baps opening is at the end of the front stretch two cars are side by side going down the front stretch and bump outside car at high speed into that opening.. Logan wagner and brian leppo both could have been killed... It is the worst place to have a opening 

I think it's worth noting that 34 made fixes to the turn 3 wall where the Sweet accident happened after it happened. Chad Hillier had previously had a wreck, albeit not the same kind, in the same area that destroyed a car at an IRA show a few years before Brad's deal.

Some of those appear to be as easy of a fix as a couple properly placed six foot round hay bales.

Knoxville has two openings to the track, one off turn 4 and one off turn 2. Both are closed  when they are racing with tall heavy duty gates. I have seen cars crash into them a few times and they held up fine. Just a thought.

Literally every single track he showed had an opening at the end of a straightaway.

I count 5 danger spots on BAPS from the picture. Could be wrong with 2D picture. Seems like a lot of risk.

Even though I may not know you, I 
care what most of you think!

I think we can agree that all openings are bad news if a car hits them. Some are worse than others. The worst of all the Central PA tracks is the one at BAPS. If you zoom in, you'll see that the barrier itself is shaped like the round end of a ball peen hammer and the guardrail itself is built right into the ground. Zero give. There are no tires, barrels or anything there, just a solid wall. Openings are a necessary evil in many cases but they can be made better and it doesn't cost much to do so. Reconfiguring them to best prevent a car from getting into them is a must if at all possible. Even then, the chance is there so why not have some sort of padding? Port Royal has yuke tires on theirs and before they reconfigured the pit entrance/exit roads, cars got in there on several occasions. Greg actually sustained an arm injury there when he was driving for John Trone. Any opening that can't have a swinging gate, should at least have some sort of softer padding there to absorb energy if there's an impact. Good old fashioned yuke tires are a good idea. At Weedsport, they have water barrels which also seem to do a good job. Let's hope we see all the tracks take a look at this issue and make the necessary changes needed to make these areas of the track a little safer as soon as possible. I'm confident in the wake of this tragedy that we'll see all the tracks do exactly that.

Would definitely think tires, water barrels or some other barrier protection could be put in place.  Flat track motorcycles use something called an airfence as kind of a softwall.  I wonder if beefed up pieces of something like that could have application for covering these danger spots.  Something that can give.    

what are you looking at?? all of these tracks have openings at the end of the straights.    Get of your I hate Susky soap box for once

what are you looking at? i don't see any mention of Susky in his post

All five of the pictures posted have opening at the end of the straight away. Additionally you have Path Valley which has a ramp leading to a wall at the end of the straight away. Selinsgrove which has an opening on the inside at the end of the front stretch. Even Charlotte has an opening near the end of the straight away. It is common. It is sad this happened, but it was a freak accident. Maybe it will change, but going on some type of crusade against the tracks after this is not the only answer. Drivers are just as complacent, they continue to show up. I'm friends with quite a few of them myself and I've never heard anyone say they are afraid to race at BAPS. 

Thanks,

Jeff. 

I was at Port a few years back when Joey Hershey hit the opening at the end of turn four and held my breath until he got out of the car and was at Baps when Logan Wagner split his car in two,Port has since fixed the fourth turn some even adjusting the exit.

Lets hope Baps does the same but you cant blame them an accident can happen anywhere on the track.

Selinsgrove has always had an opening off of turn four and always closed the gate when racing like they said above if would be a valuable thing to add to all Speedways.