Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
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Did anyone read this story from today's Terre Haute Tribune Star about the Travis Rutz accident?:

Without having been at the race, I'm very curious about Terry McCarl's comments after the race:

“I think promoters need to take a page back in history when a young driver drove stupid or was out of control. A promoter went and talked to them, warned them. If they kept it up they would sit you down for a week,” McCarl said. “No one has the guts to do that these days. And it just not the younger guys.”

“These sprint cars are dangerous. I don’t care what you say, when you’re 15 or 16 year old you don’t realize the expense or risk involved. You’re a kid and think you’re going to live forever,” added McCarl, who is the father of two teenage racers. “With the safety we have today it’s great to see guys walk away from some bad accidents, but sometimes it gets a guy complacent on how dangerous these cars can be.”

While I understand the basic gist of what McCarl was saying, I can't imagine that he was talking about Rutz, who's a very experienced driver for his age. The whole tone of the article seemed off to me, making it seem like the accident was caused by inexperienced drivers rather than a car blowing out an engine.

Anyone else have thoughts about the story?

National Sprint Car & Midget Examiner
http://tinyurl.com/r4opgk

tmac could have been commenting on david gravel making a wrong choice, in his opinion, on where to go when his motor let go. i don't know, as i was not there either.

to indy and beyond!!

Alright let me get the story straight, this is David Gravel and i just got home today and i have to look at this. This is what happened the motor was spitting oil from the oil filter and the last two laps i made were blinded by the whole car covered in oil. I had my shield open to see, no one on the track knew how many laps were left but i had the feeling there was only one or two laps left. So i was trying to finish the race. Then on the front stretch the motor totally shut down and locked up, i was on my way to the bottum of the track, i was probally in he center of the straight away, several people made it by before travis hit me. If the track was not dusty this wouldnt have happened. I talked to miranda and she said also if it wasnt for the dust this wouldnt have happened she told me she couldnt see me stopped. So to say im inexperieced about this stuff ive been racing for 11 years and i know if my car fails to get out of the way. I dont think Mcarl was saying this too me cuz he was at the trailer talking to my crew guys after it happend and he didnt have anything negative to say, im sure he would have said it cuz he is a stand up guy. So people could say whatever but I had that race won and i go from winning to not racing for the rest of the year. Also i wish the best for travis i heard he woke up today. I just met the kid that day and this happens. I wish him and his family the best. The whole situation was surreal and never want to go threw it again it was so chaotic and no one knew what to do, it was terrible i hope travis could race another day!

David,

Glad you will be alright soon. You seem to be a good up and coming talent to sprint car racing. Many shows here in the Ohio i have seen you run good. Heck even got you on the radio after a heat win...lol... Hopefully this will wake up some ppl at Terre Haute with their daytime racing and terrible track conditions the past year and a half when they try this twilight crap.

Life's short, race hard!!!

Stop right there Examiner, Terry in know way was referring to EITHER of these drivers. He was interviewed after the races and was very upset with what he thought transpired. He spoke for quite a while with a reporter about a lot of topics and was talking in general terms about young drivers and drivers that are out of control that have been racing for years! He stated that David had him "handled" and was doing a great job. He actually stated that his own son's were starting a bit early and each kid should be looked at on an individual basis as his 16 son Austin is very mature for his age and some kids may not be. He was not judging anyone involved that night as he did not even see the accident. Those are his quotes and that is what he believes but they did not and do not pertain to this night! We hope Travis and David recuperate fully from this accident and return to racing soon. They are both very talented young men.

So it sounds to me like the reporter who wrote that article should get their teeth knocked out. They did a convincing job of taking Terry's words out of context. They probably asked him about his kids just to do that. Crap like that belongs in a tabloid, not a local newspaper. The article also tried to blame the All-Stars for what happened, and make it sound like the track was completely innocent. This reporter had an agenda.

Yeah really, like kicking someone when they are down. It's called an accident for a reason.

David, looking forward to seeing you race next year and then some.

Keep on fighting, Travis!

The race track was dry slick for one reason and that's because the All Stars requested it be that way. They requested no water be put on the track for Dale Blaney and the rest of those Ohio drivers have to have dry slick race tracks. Funny part about it is none of those great drivers showed up to the race! I thought the All Stars had more than 3 followers......times are sad for the All Stars. It truly was an accident however, I agree with TMac comment these kids now days are young, inexperienced and daddy has a lot of money so it doesn't matter what gets tore up. I don't know Gravel at all however, I watched him race at two races this past weekend and yes he is a gasser but he still has a lot to learn. At the Outlaw show at Eldora on Friday in the A-Main after he took the checkered flag he practically stopped going into turn one and had a ton of cars trying to miss him. Anybody with experience knows not to do something like that. And at Terre Haute he knew before he even went out for the A-Main that he was having motor problems and yet he kept going even after it started smoking. For 2 laps it smoked, not once did it look like from the stands that he was trying to get off the track. The motor then locked up coming from turn 4 and he started down the front stretch low and then proceeded up the track. Yes, the track was dusty and it was a day race, but who's to blame....no body it was an accident!!! Best wishes to all involved in the wreck.

i guess we will not know what macs thoughts were when he gave that interview. it could have been about anyone, but, probably not.

racing accidents are just that, accidents. sooner or later when you strap your mind and soul into a 800 hp beast that breathes fire you take a chance of life and limb we all know that. travis knows that and just because he is young does not speak for his inexperience or lack thereof. for that matter all young drivers have bigger balls that the older guys.

the future of sprint car racing does not rest on the laurels of the old guys, kinser, swindell, mc carl or any others. what it does rest on is the young guns that are kicking ass on everyone else and showing them the way. i have been dirt track racing since 58' and you know what, the young agressive guys are who i continually get behind.

so with that all said and of course it is IMO we will all get on with our lives and hope that lives will be spared forever and ever, this time trav got lucky, God speed to all those involved in the accident, our prayers are with you...

Ascot was the greatest of all time..

West Capital wasn't half bad either..

Life is good...

I did not have motor problems before the a main. It started smoking around lap 10 and get worse and worse. I had no intention to pull in i was leading and had the feeling there was a few laps to go i was trying to limp to the finish but couldnt make it. If u ask any driver out there if u are leading a race and ur motor is smoking and u are leading the race, they would pull in? The motor was running fine till the last lap when the oil pressure dropped. U can say my dad has alot of money but he rele doesnt i am fortunate to have several sponsors that allow me to do what i do. My dad cannot afford this but i do not regret anything, i wanted a win so bad and i was doing all i could to make it. Again i know travis is making big steps in the past few days so he is still in my thoughts. It was kool for me an him to lead the front row two young kids leading, randy hannagan, terry mcarl, danny smith and tim shaffer! Also about the all star thing they do not like a slick track, no one likes a rubber down track. It provides terrible racing, but we did what we could all the drivers came to an agreement saturday at the track on what time to start racing so we can all get home at a decent time. So we all knew it wasnt goin to be a tacky track because ive been to 2 day races this year and it rubbered down both times. (port royal). Day shows are not meant for dirt racing but there wasnt anything we can do about it.

If you run a day time show thats what happens....why did they run it in the middle of the day like that?

It was plenty dusty at Eldora Friday NIGHT, been that way for years! Another accident waiting to happen?

mlsprintracer -

You make a KEY remark, in this statement, "For 2 laps it smoked, not once did it look like from the stands that he was trying to get off the track."

FROM THE STANDS.

From the stands is an entirely different point of view, than in the SEAT.

An accident is an accident - NO ONE knows the circumstances of which an incident occurs other than those involved... Everyone wants to point fingers, almost to soften the blow of the harsh reality.

Here's the REAL harsh reality - every driver knows the risk they take the minute they strap in. Whether they are competing against a 16 year old rookie or an 80 year old vet. You're quick to point out Gravel's actions at Eldora... again another statement from the stands. However, I'm 33 years old, a 3rd generation racecar driver myself and I've been involved in racing my entire life - I've seen veteran drivers do some things that I wouldn't expect an experienced driver to do.

There was a car at Terre Haute, that couldn't get out of their own way and was even lapped during their heat race, even spun themsleves out after the checkered flag fell... and seemingly coasted around the track during the feature, now that is a hazard and that car should have been black flagged if they cannot keep up.

In regards to Gravel/Rutz/Throckmorton, the point is, it was an accident. No one wants to see anyone get hurt. Pointing fingers does absolutely nothing.

Now track prep? That's a whole other story... I know day races don't necessarily work, however I've seen plenty of night shows where visibility is an issue. I don't think track prep is what it used to be and it's a shame. How do these tracks/promoters/sanctioning bodies expect to gain new fans if they can't even see the show they paid for?? And above that, driver safety should be the number one concern!

David the race was truly yours to win, you were checked out! Here's to a speedy recovery.

Travis, never you saw you run before - you're awesome, our thoughts and prayers are with you!

I wasn't there obviously for the newspaper reporter's interview of McCarl .... but if you ask about young drivers and money or lack of it in ANY type of racing then move on to the incident. You can slant your story to sound like the answers given to question 'A' were given in response to question 'B'

I do not put much stock in reporters stories as their true business is to sell newspapers or advertising on TV.

I just can't get the little tiny remote controlled rocket motors NBC News put to into the side of the Chevy pick-ups to blow their fuel tanks in a side impact crash test out of my head.

NBC's reply when caught? 'Well they do blow up .... we just needed to make it happen with out wrecking several pick ups to replicate it.'

I say ....... BULLSH!T !!!

R.A.

S.H.S.

McCarl is pretty good at sticking his foot in his mouth. In the heat of the monment he usually says whats on his mind and regrets it later Maybe whoever fixed Kyle Buschs month could give McCarl some pointers.

thoughts and prayers to Travis

david, i too have to make it clear i was not trying to single you out when commenting on why tmac might have said what he did. at that point we were all just trying to diagnose what tmac could have meant, we have since been better informed. most all of us have felt the misfortunes of racing at some point. our team junked a car this past weekend while leading because of a part failure and the choice i made to run it. we are very low budget, but thankfully we will be back for the last few races of the year. you are the only one who knows if there is anything you think you could have done different, or might do different in the future when faced with a similar situation.. i am not saying there is or was, sometimes no matter what a person chooses to do there is no better outcome. you could have made a different choice and had a worse outcome. i am sure you are feeling like crap not just from loosing a race and being sidelined, but also for being involved in an incident that resulted in someone being seriously hurt. i am sure that you did exactly what you felt was correct at the time, and may have been second guessing yourself due to the outcome for both you and the others involved, but all you can do at any time is make the best decisions possible at the time and learn from both your mistakes and successes. if i am correct that place has an inside rail that would not let you exit into the infield so you were pretty much left with no place to go with the field coming at you but try to get out of the way the best you could. unless people have been in your situation they don't have any idea what it is like, and until you are in that situation yourself you don't know what it is like. i am sure you will take this experience, and add it to the rest of your racing experiences, and use it to help you in the future. good luck.

to indy and beyond!!

Out of context....

That's the first thing that I thought when sprint examiner posted his "article". And as FRC-PR pointed out in a later post, Terry was not referring to Travis/David/Miranda when speaking... he was making general comments that were applied to the nights' accident by sprint examiner....

Terry said what he said, and was probably quoted accurately - but I don't think that he meant it to be applied to the current circumstance. But we'll never know, especially since sprint examiner has been absent since his original post.....So will he defend his article, or continue to hide behind the keyboard?

Chuck.....