Forum: Northern California Sprint Car (go)
Moderators: StuDeedooo

Understandably Mark then got out of car (remember again, this was during a red flag and most cars had not been pushed off yet) to find out what happened and what exactly was broken. This is where the track completely screwed up, the minute he got out of the car they told him he was DQ'd for leaving the car. Now we know that it's a rule that you can't get out of the car, but any official with half a brain would realize the extenuating circumstances and choose to not apply the rule in that situation. Plus how many times have we all seen a driver get out of a car after a flip thinking the car was too far gone to repair, only to realize that the car was fixable and go to the work area and get it fixed in time.

Which is exactly what would have happened in this case, as a lot of parts were tore up but they were all bolt on stuff that would have been swapped out easily. But no the DQ was enforced and we were sent to the trailer. After the race when neither the push truck driver or any official came by to explain the decision the team went to talk to the officials (obviously upset at this time) The promoter of the track happened to be at the official booth and was who we were able to talk to, after going over the situation ( every official and the promoter claimed that they didn't know what exactly had happened) the promoters response was that drivers make mistakes on the track so mistakes by the officials and push vehicles are inevitable as well (this a ridiculous analogy, true of course, but completely ridiculous and had no place in the discussion) he then went on to say that the push truck was not part of the track and that he wasn't going to pay for any damages. Which was completely out of left field as nobody had claimed that he should pay for anything or asked for any money. Talk about covering your ass.

He finished by saying that the DQ was the right decision and he completely backed the officials. Way to completely mishandle a situation, obviously everybody working at the track are not idiots, they wouldn't have had the success they have had the past few seasons if they were. But in this case every official involved in the situation all the way up to the promoter acted like an idiot and couldn't have handled that whole deal worse if they had tried.

if it were me i would have pointed out that the driver got out as a safety precaution as he had no idea what the situation was or if the extent of the damages might be putting him in some form of danger. there could have been fuel leaking after the truck ran over the back of the car or something. also was the driver supposed to sit in the car while a tow truck was lifting the push truck off the car? again, in the interest of safety, i would point out that the driver needed to vacate the car. the driver should be able to get out of the car at any time, no questions asked, if they feel their safety is in question. i have seen tracks hold up a race (time permitting of course) to give a team a chance to try to repair a car that has been run over by a push truck. we all know it happens at times and most tracks handle it appropriately.

to indy and beyond!!

our car (78, Mark Barroso) was ran over by a push truck during the red flag fuel stop - need more information to judge fault

did the 78 swerve while getting pushed...was the push truck driver doing something that a push truck driver normally doesn't do..

"In a completely classless move the push truck driver never apologized, completely ignored Mark on the track and never came by afterwards to say anything. We understand it was an accident, and he was probably embarrassed but what kind of jerk causes over a grand in damages and can't even come by to lend a hand in putting the car back together or even say sorry)"

classier is posting on a messageboard to people who don't pay for your damages looking for support

the minute he got out of the car they told him he was DQ'd for leaving the car. Now we know that it's a rule that you can't get out of the car, but any official with half a brain would realize the extenuating circumstances and choose to not apply the rule in that situation

nothing says hurry up and get out like a bent top wing and broken shock mounts.

After the race when neither the push truck driver or any official came by to explain the decision the team went to talk to the officials (obviously upset at this time)

you knew why...your driver got out of the car...nothing good is going to come out of this move

the promoters response was that drivers make mistakes on the track so mistakes by the officials and push vehicles are inevitable as well (this a ridiculous analogy, true of course, but completely ridiculous and had no place in the discussion)

yell at the promoter! That always works!

But in this case every official involved in the situation all the way up to the promoter acted like an idiot and couldn't have handled that whole deal worse if they had tried.

should he have posted on a messageboard how the driver acted like an idiot? after that night, go race somewhere else. did this need a half page of whining and throwing an online tantrum

push truck driver runs over your car. Driver gets out of car, earning a DQ. After races are over, an angry mob confronts the promoter. You don't get the answer you're looking for so you post on a messageboard looking for support. classy!

None of this would've happened if the driver had stayed in the car.

Steve in Chico

Not sure how the driver staying in the car keeps it from getting run over by a push truck. Im pissed off if that was my car, and thats what i feel the OP is stating, anger and frustration over the situation and how it was handled by both sides. Two wrongs dont make a right, but no one from the push truck acknowledge any wrong doing, and maybe he should have been confronted instead of the promoter. This was a CW officiated race btw, so it was likely their call to DQ the driver. Other car owners should share these situations so we can learn from them and better understand what decisions are made/not made at the track and we all should be allowed to voice our oppinions about them. I never felt the OP was looking for necessarily support here, just sharing a pretty crappy situation. Nothing wrong with that.

First, the driver did not swerve while being pushed, the truck tried to push him at an angle and slipped off the rear bumper, and well you know the rest. And, I would hardly call this an online tantrum. Merely posting what happened, which we and everyone else thought was a crappy deal.

"classier is posting on a messageboard to people who don't pay for your damages looking for support"

What is that even supposed to mean? I can't even begin to imagine the point that you were trying to get across.

"After the races are over, an angry mob confronts the promoter"

Yes, all three of us from the team were an angry mob....that is the exact description I would have given us too /sarcasm. Yes we were upset, just like I guarantee you every other team would have been in that situation, but hardly a mob. And it was just dumb luck that the promoter was there, we went to talk to the officials about their decision and he was there and responded.

"after that night go race somewhere else."

Yeah because all of our local sprint car series' have such great car counts, telling us to just not show up is definitely the best response....

-Stay Classy

I agree ... bad call by the track.

Who made the call Watsonville officials? Or Civil War officials? Does CW even have officials at the tracks where they run?

Went to a USAC pavement show one time. Same situation happened there. There solution, sent the push truck home. I think there should be a zero tolerance to this. Did someone really ask if a sprint car swerved while being pushed off? More times then not when a push truck runs over the rear end of a car, its the push truck pushing from an angle.

was a car in the way of being pushed and did the driver have to turn the car was the question. I find it hard to believe the push truck driver lined up the sprint car and purposely ran him over tearing up equipment. if it wasn't on purpose, then it was an accident - why does the guy have to apologize? he knows he fu**ed up already. apologies dont repair equipment. i'm also going to say john p brought up not paying for it after someone put a price tag on their equipment that was damaged...just a wild guess--the reason you got DQ is because your driver got out of the car. To come here and whine and bitch about it does what...show your true colors. and there are plenty of other options if you don't like watsonville. there is petaluma, antioch just up the road and chico and placerville if you want to travel. if not deal with it

Steve

Of course it was an accident, nobody is saying it wasn't, but accident or not a real man lives up to his mistakes , and doesn't just ignore the situation and leave as soon as possible.

"I'm also going to say john p brought up not paying for it after somebody put a price tag on their equipment that was damaged...just a wild guess"

Well guess again, nobody ever did that, so how about you get your facts straight before posting something about a situation that you have no clue about. Nobody said a word to Prentice about the price of the damages or about paying for a thing.

Great, another internet tough guy.

Real men own up to their mistakes and offer an appology, but it seems you endorse the tough guy or not so tough guy approach of not saying a word to someone you have wronged, intentional or not. Where's the class in that? You write about posting with class, yet your very words suggest you dont believe in showing any in real life. People who "fu**ed" up in life should appologize, otherwise, you are making yourself to be an a**hole.

i am wondering if you are a push truck driver, or THE push truck driver, or a friend of the push truck driver, or just an idiot. how hard is it to accept that it seems a push truck inadvertently ran over a car and the bewildered driver got out of his car and was then ridiculously DQ'd for it? i have seen plenty of push truck drivers that have no business behind a race car, still i don't see where any undo blame has been placed on this particular push truck driver, or that it should be. it seems this push truck driver just didn't get lined up correctly this time. it doesn't matter if there was a car in the way (which doesn't seem to be the case), or anything else. it doesn't matter what the situation is, when you push a race car, it is up to you to be in position to do it correctly. i also agree that if you dive over the back of a race car with your truck and destroy parts and put the car out of the race it would be nice to at least say "sorry about that". it is too bad for both the race team and the push truck driver that this incident happened. it is also too bad the track made it worse for no reason. at some point common sense needs to come into play.

internet tough guy hardly - the guy got DQ - move on. don't post on hoseheads.com about it looking for support. what is his post going to do? cause a full scale check of rules and procedures? it's not a big deal. again, the call was made. he's not looking for money. he's not looking for a shoulder to cry on. why post then? i never brought up class nor do i ever claim to be the classiest guy out there. was the driver supposed to appoligise to every person in his crew? what did the driver of the car say the driver did? people are so quick to cirticise you pick sides immeditately without even being there. i've seen so many tantrums at races it gets old after awhile. that's not the way to handle things, yelling and making a scene. you voice your opinions and be done with it. you dont search out officials and promoters long after the race is over looking to make a point. make it on the track real time and be done with it.

Steve

i figured it out. you are for sure an idiot, and probably a wanna be push truck driver. one thing for sure is your bumper is a little low.

heard another car also got run over by a push truck flat left rear! just saying

GET RID OF ALL PUSH TRUCK DRIVERS! from ocean speedway's own rules -- 6. By entering any event and/or taking part in any activity relating to the event, a competitor or participant agrees to abide by the decisions of those Officials relating to the event and that such decisions are final. i don't know how much more clear it can get. if you want to shield your eyes from the rules that's on you. i'm going to the fall nationals -- turn the page

Steve

since you choose to dwell on the rules, consider this:

36. Stops: When the red flag is displayed, all cars must reduce speed and stop in a safe and timely manner with regards to other cars around them. All cars must remain stopped and drivers must remain in their cars until directed by Officials, unless it is a danger to remain in the car.

i know it is a matter of opinion, but a 4000 + lb truck sitting on a sprint car might be considered by some drivers to be of danger to them.

to indy and beyond!!

Funniest thing I read here in a looooong time. Good stuff and very true.

Cheers!