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

Back to your question....

I don't believe they have a requirement. IF I remember correctly OPEN RED pod cast, interviwed Daryn Pittman, who's on a board, with multiple people involved in racing that provide input on how to increase the safety in sprint car racing. He mentioned that a group of drivers will walk the track and address any concerns with the World of Outlaws officials. The WOO officials will then address those issues with the track owners, promoters, etc. 
He stated they aren't looking to put a track out of business but want to make sure the tracks are aware that they need to update those issues when they are looking to come back the following year. I'd have to listen again to the podcast to provide the exact percentage he stated, but he said a high percentage of the tracks were receptive to the requests. I was thinking 90% was said, and that most of the changes were little to no costs, like old tires, or barrels. 

It's an interesting interview, which I highly recommend listening to. 

What's tricky is if there are major higher dollar changes needing made, who pays for those, the track, the promoter, the fairboard, the city, county? 

Keep It Real

So just going off of the original post, it stated Code violations.   In the past that was the city/county doing the inspections and it was for much more basic items.   Access, egress, plumbing, concession stands, electrical, etc.    Cowtown Speedway in Fort Worth, Tx was shut down by the city/county  because the electrical wiring of the lighting was not up to current code.   I doubt that they would have an opionion on fencing or the quailty there of. 

I was at the race and Dobmeir did a slidejob into him and the car did a 360 in the air ans somehow landed perfectly on the fence

I hadn't heard about this particular upgrade but had heard about another and that is the new road that is outside of three and four that I understand is being used for motor heat. I'm hoping someone who was there Sat night can confirm what I heard and that was there were sprint cars on the new road firing for motor heat while the late models were warming up. What are they thinking?  The only thing separating the access road and the track is a guardrail. I've seen cars go out over there. You don't need a car going out over to seriously injure someone but obviously that would be worst case scenario. Anytime cars are on the track you run the risk of a tire or anything going out over and hitting someone. I didn't understand the point of the road when they were in the construction process because of the lack of high fencing between it and the track and I still don't. To be clear, even with a high fence I question it only because it goes behind three and four which is a high risk area. At a time when safety should be in the front of everyone's minds it appears they did something that in my opinion puts people at risk when the old way was far safer. Don't even go there and say it's a time saver. Taking the extra 10 minutes to send them on the track for motor heat or putting people at risk. Didn't even to think about it. Then there is the Outlaw car in the fence issue. When the premier sanctioning body in the country does this stuff, it sends a bad message. When they start to send the message that safety will not be compromised under any circumstances, maybe it will trickle down. They all have things they can go better.  On Sat I was at Lincoln where they have their own set of problems. Everytime I'm there I just shake my head at their infield officials. They often put themselves in a position where there is absolutely nothing separating them from the cars on the track when the cars are at speed. The guy who puts out the orange cone on the frontstretch routinely walks across the infield opening with his back to the cars when they are running. Anything happens at that point, he'll never see it coming. After the race is over, he walks onto the track with his flag to point cars to go through the infield. I absolutely don't see the point of this at all. They know where to go. Several times a night he walks out earlier than he probably should and a few cars fly by him and go into 1.  I'm convinced one day something bad is going to happen and I just hope I'm not there to see it. The guy on the backstretch is just as bad with putting himself in bad positions. They need somebody back there but he doesn't have to stand in the opening and/or on the track. They aren't the only ones but the ones that from the view of the frontstretch are the most obvious. Everything I've mentioned that needs to be corrected isn't about spending a penny. At the Grove Friday night push trucks are no longer allowed to park along the infield fence. Simple fix. That doesn't totally eliminate the problem that exists there, but it's a start.  Point is, everything that can be done now must be and then we keep moving forward from there. You only have to look at the last 15 mos to see how many times the worst case scenario came to fruition.  We must do better.        

interesting article   https://sprintcarunlimited.com/woo-officials-and-some-drivers-differ-on-decision-to-race-with-car-in-the-fence-at-river-cities/

I agree 100% on the new road. I don't know what the hell they're thinking. That is a terrible idea and a very dangerous idea. Port usually has their shit together but I'm not a fan of this one. As far as the guy at Lincoln, I feel the same. Another accident waiting to happen.

The catch fences at Willamette Speedway are actually really good. They are some of the best that I've seen at any track, actually. The problem is, as you said, violations on stuff like buildings without permits, lack of fire suppression systems in the buildings, etc.

This is tough deal for all Motorsports to address. When I was kid going to the races to watch my dad’s car race, i literally looked at those guys as complete daredevils cheating death back then. The talent, the speed, and the drama captivated me. I had witnessed 3 fatalities at the tracks at a very young age before I was 10yrs old. It wasn’t until my brother was severely injured in a crash in my dad’s car when I was 11 That for the first time I saw how safety needed to improve as it finally involved a family member. I could get graphic about what I witnessed that night but I will stay away from that and just say it took close to 3 yrs for him to recover and to this day his right arm is about 80percent. Eventually I became a owner in 2007 and told my drivers they put their own seat and belts in the car. It was their butt and they needed to be fully involved in protecting it. Safety has come miles and miles since those days I was a kid. One thing I will say though and caution Open Wheel racing on is pay attention to NASCAR and NHRA on what they have done. With such advances in safety and shortening of tracks it has taken a lot of the daredevil aspect out of the those sports. Don’t get me wrong it still takes tremendous talent but when you feel your cars are bulletproof you also make choices you might not have 20 years earlier behind the wheel. I guess you could say we are losing that daredevil aspect from years gone by and that is something openwheel tracks face to. Some tracks are barely making it and to overhaul a entire facility is just capable by very few. Have fun get out support your local tracks.