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

Nasty flip but anytime you run without a wing their is nothing to cushion the blow, get well soon Jack.

Thank you for warning of the inappropriate music. I watched with he speakers off.

I deeply appreciate the Dover family for making the heart wrenching decision to air the video. I was keen

to watch it not out of morbid curiosity. I am a non wing sprint crew chief who highest priority is to keep

my driver safe. Running fast falls to second on the list. The one slight positive to come from jack's

horrible ordeal would be that an understanding of what went wrong might save a reoccurrence.

Looked to be a very slow response. I'd be interested in seeing more of the video to see what kind of man power and scope of care was available at the end of the video. I am absolutely not passing judgement on the safety crew. They donate their time and talents to our sport and I appriciate that. I just think the track could maybe do a better job of recruiting help or better spacing of their personel.

Get well soon Jack!!!

I counted 15 seconds before the safety crew arrived

BRR...

Hey, I don't want to steer this thread in another direction but I must correct you on your assertion that the DJ played inappropriate music shortly after the accident at Osky. I don't know if you were there that night but that is a truly ridiculous statement. Johnny Gibson and myself were announcing that night and we said nothing for a very long time and then opened up the microphone to a minister and to Terry Pletch, who we felt could offer comfort to the collected crowd. I resent that you said we attempted to create a party atmosphere. It was a difficult situation to handle properly and whether we made all the right decisions is up for debate but to say we attempted to create a party atmosphere is hurtful and untrue and I won't accept it.

Justin Zoch

As a former announcer... I applaud your comments, Justin. Message boards are more & more a joke with people who have no clue what they are talking about. It's amazing after 28 beers that people remember EVERYTHING. Must have been the beer... because otherwise they're just plain stupid.

On the topic of walls: have some of you learned nothing from Nascar and the IRL when it comes to wall safety? Do we want a harder wall or a softer wall? Do we want the car to stay intact or for its components to help dissipate the energy with their destruction?

I-80's catchfence didn't look that impressive... and it did its job. Perhaps it was a little "baggy" and held the car... but it did what it was supposed to do.

Give me that wall and catchfence combo over a 3 ft concrete wall/fairly sharp edge/corner any day of the week. (like at the Bowl)

15 seconds is acceptable in this situation. This is a track with an inside wall which creates limited access points for the safety crew. Due to the amount of stuff in the infield sight lines are very limited for the safety crew. They must be notified of the accident and its location. They must wait for the cars to stop or atleast slow down considerably. Then they must travel to the incident. Without seeing the rest of the incident I can't comment on the size of the crew or much of anything else. There are a lot of variables and I could go on and on and on about this.

A big part of the reason the Knoxville Raceway crew is so good is because they arrive at the scene very quickly. Here is why.... They have a large crew that is spaced all over the track. Its imperative that a fire/rescue vehicle be staffed and respond to each crash. With high staffing levels you can provide both a vehicle and have foot crews. With a smaller crew, you must be vehicle based and sometimes that can create a longer travel time to the incident. The Knoxville crew has the best of both worlds... Speed, facilitated by multiple foot crews with handheld extinguishers... and heavy duty firefighting equipment that can handle what an extinguisher can't handle.

It would be nice to have such resources at all sprint car races.

I hope Jack can recover. He is a true gasser of the mold of Jack Hewitt. He will drive anything, anywhere and he will give it 100% every lap.

"If you're gonna run the bottom, you might as well get 
a real job."

Zoch:

I was THERE too ... and you are totally correct ... Terry Pletch said a prayer (and it was very poignant and moving by the way) and there was NO music of any kind afterwards. EVEN from the infield fans (let alone the p.a. system) that we could hear from the grandstands.

The poster that wrote this hates McCarl in any post he mentions him in. This is just an attempt to smear him (as usual) but he is caught in his b.s. and LIES this time.

I remember that night like it was yesterday and there was nothing inappropriate that could even be remotely said about that evening.

I was AT his services at Knoxville and his widow Jenny told the crowd that day in the Knoxville grandstand that she 'was good with the race continuing on afterwards because that's the way Keith and yes, even herself, would have wanted it.'

R.A.

S.H.S.

As azteca said, I was there too and Zoch couldn't have hit that nail any better than he did. It was a horrible incident and I don't see how any the people running the show, McCarl and McCrosky, the announcers Zoch and Gibson, and ALL the other track personnel, could have handled it any better than what they did. Unfortunately it happened, and a lot of us witnessed the tragedy, but the scene for the rest of the night was somber at best all across the fairgrounds. Even the infield "party" wasn't a party after the accident. So I am 100% in Justin's corner on this and with how he described the events.

Enough with the announcer bashing, if ya'll actually paid attention during the video rather than just agree with the op regarding the music you would notice that the song was playing well before the accident, it was going while they were still on the back stretch.

i was there - close enough to duck when the debris flew from the wreck...and the DJ started playing music after the scene was cleaned up - Pletch spoke and it was quiet for a time, but rock music resumed as they restarted the program.

Lincoln 1845 ft/.35 mile T1=118MPH 
Eldora 2287 ft/.43mile T3=135MPH
Port 2716 ft/.51 mile T3=TBD
Grove 2792 ft/.53 mile T3=135MPH
Selinsgrove 2847 ft/.54 mile T1=136MPH
"I didn't move to PA from El Paso in search of better 
weather." Van May

After Keith's accident it was eerily quiet and it was a much quieter night than the previous one to begin with. I left, which is what I have done after witnessing a fatal on each occasion it is happened. I agree the show must go on but personally I prefer a time to reflect, on many different things. Take It Easy...

They could use a weed whipper around the edges. It would like a lot nicer if they took better care of the grounds. New fans visiting for the first time that are used to well maintained ball parks and concert facilities would look at that rough around the edge look and go hmmmmm....

disclaimer, I'm a photographer and hate having to go around stomping the tall weeds down so they don't show up in my photos. LOL

Stan Meissner

I've got 2 things to say, One I hope Jack is doing ok and going to recover fully. My son who is in the Coast Guard and loves sprint car racing spent about 45 minutes talking to the Dovers while they were in Washington and say they had to be the greatest people to talk to. He told how he was from Iowa and had watch him race back at knoxville. He said Jack and his dad told stop by next time he was back at Knoxville.

Second I too was at Osky the night Keith Hutton lost his life and there was no music or partying going on after that wreck. I'm not a real religous person but still can almost hear the words of Terry Pletch. Justin it was great listen to you again this year.

there was a guy on the infield who was playing music, not sure if he started during the quiet time or not, is that perhaps what you heard, I know I was over in turn 3-4 during that osky night and took the quiet time to call my wife and kid, just to say kind words as my way to deal with the sad deal and the PA spekers were quiet, the words of Pletch that night were the best I could ever imagine and better than I had ever heard for such an event, Bless Pletch for that

we were out by the car after the incident because we did not think they would continue....but heard the PA come on and then we went back to our seats. it was a drag watching the rest of the night - you made the right move.

Lincoln 1845 ft/.35 mile T1=118MPH 
Eldora 2287 ft/.43mile T3=135MPH
Port 2716 ft/.51 mile T3=TBD
Grove 2792 ft/.53 mile T3=135MPH
Selinsgrove 2847 ft/.54 mile T1=136MPH
"I didn't move to PA from El Paso in search of better 
weather." Van May

I sure am glad I didnt witness that.... my dad was right there too... and IMO I dont think any driver who has ever been killed in a racecar would want the night to end, at times we may feel that it might be the best thing to do, but I believe continuing the races is always the correct decision!

BRR, you missed a great one... I am really planning on being there in October,,, will talk to you soon for sure!

I put my head down and left immediately, proceeded out the gate only by the Osky high school cheerleaders who ran past me. Went back to the hotel and tried to forget it but cable was out so I rode back to the fairgrounds and sat on my motorcycle for a long time. (no music, BTW) During the break between heats and feature a friend came out and said something to the effect of "If the drivers got the balls to strap back in and finish the night, it would be respectful to go back in and watch them" It made sense so I went in for the feature, but didn't enjoy it and can't tell you a thing about it now. Unfortunately the accident is burned into my memory from the time the car was in T3 & 4 until I got under the grandstands on the way out.

Glad I wasn't there to see any of it.

Jack is improving daily so thankful he will be okay and will probably race another day.

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