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

Results from Sunday night's season opener at the Grove:

1. Mike Erdley (started on the pole and led from green to checkered to win first of his career at the Grove)

2. Jeff Shepard (started seventh and took second coming for the white flag)

3. Mark Smith (started second and ran second until lap 23)

4. Brian Montieth (started 11th)

5. Doug Esh (started 15th, but restarted last after opening lap crash)

Thirty-ones 410s on hand for the season opener, which was run as part of a day-night Lincoln-Williams Grove doubleheader.

Race was marred by a pair of spectacular crashes. Coming down for the original start, third starting T.J. Stutts shot across the track and collected seven other cars. Stutts flipped over the turn four guardrail and landed outside the speedway surface. Cars suffering the most damage in the crash were Keith Kauffman and the returning Cris Eash. Lance Dewease, Doug Esh and Todd Shaffer all restarted at the rear after pitting for extensive repairs.

On lap 15, Fred Rahmer and Lucas Wolfe tangled while battling for fourth at the end of the frontstretch. Wolfe, who was on the inside at the time,  hit the turn one pit entrance head-on before spinning around like a top on its side in the middle of the speedway. That was probably one of the worst looking crashes I have ever seen at the Grove. Thought for sure Wolfe had to be hurt when the accident first happened.

Will be interesting to hear Cubic Dollars' opinion of the Wolfe-Rahmer crash. Crowd reaction was extremely vocal in the minutes following the incident.

The race for the win really was not overly exciting. Erdley had the field covered for nearly the entire way. Smith did catch him and was applying pressure, however, just before the red came out on lap 15.

Rahmer was DEAD wrong and admitted it...Wolfe is lucky he's not DEAD.

I've noticed quite a few games of chicken down the straights at the Grove the past couple of seasons... Rahmer, Dewease, Hodnett, Kauffman, LAYTON and more have all been involved. The straights with some of the highest speeds in all of sprint car racing used to be one of the last bastions of sportsmanship, if for no other reason than self preservation... not anymore I guess. Either the cars have become too safe, or there's more on the line than ever before...probably a little bit of both... No one goes to the races to see actual blood go flying like some modern day version of the Roman Colosseum however... Rahmer is in the sunset of one of the great careers in the sport, there's no excuse for it. (Ask the insurance companies.)

Quotes from both Wolfe and Rahmer about the incident at... http://www.pennlive.com/sports/patriotnews/index.ssf?/base/sports/1174881322193390.xml&coll=1

I also can't believe Hodnett's luck as well... NOW A BROKEN SHOULDER BLADE??? ...Good grief.

Get well soon... EVERYONE'S pulling for you at this point.

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

Oh y God... Wow, good to see Wolfe's alright...

BIG J

"Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity."

Cubic, thanks for posting that picture. Without a picture, I really could not do justice to how scary that crash was. One of the worst crashes I have ever seen in person.

paposseracing.com video highlights show it as well... http://www.paposseracing.com/article.php?sid=4601&mode=thread&order=0

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

Full Lincoln Results... http://www.lincolnspeedway.com/artman/publish/article_86.shtml

Full Williams Grove Results... http://www.paposseracing.com/article.php?sid=4600&mode=thread&order=0

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

BRR, Smitty, Q, Skinner... has this ever happened before (someone nailing the blunt end of the wall) ?? Can they do anything to make the opening to the pit entrance safer? Glad to hear that Lucas is alright, looked nasty..

the speeds were incredible last night, horsepower conditions / excellent track prep.

it has happened before...but to this degree of violence because of the impact point entering turn 1 (pit exit / bridge). debris was literally flying everywhere and the remains of the 5w was spinning like a top on the track.

i have witness ambluances, helicopters and tarps in recent years and i gotta say that i thank the lord and was absolutely shocked that Lucas climbed out. an older driver might not have had the same fortune.

in the last few years, we have seee Layton(ized) become famous for moves like this...with Rahmer not far behind (Montieth) and we all remember the night Kevin took his turn to put Montieth in the FS wall at full speed a few laps before being awarded "Rocky the Flying Squirrel" in the maiden voyage out of the ball park.

all in all, i do belive that the track would have been forced to issue a penaly if therer was an injury...and herein lies the problem...its pretty clear what they are waiting for until the official address the problem.

we are forunate to have a good saftey crew at the grove and some of the best drivers on the planet but crap like threatens to turn that all around.

guys get the boot for 2 weeks for throwing a punch...which is a far cry less dangerous than a 130mph thrashing.

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

hmmm... so reprimanding Rahmer and all others who exhibit rough driving is the only solution?? Just wondering if (looking into) making the barriers safer is a more viable course of action. Thanks for your thoughts.. again, glad Lucas walked away..

To me (speaking from an outsider's point of view), it sounds like both issues need to be addressed.  If the track is able to make the wall safer, that doesn't mean the drivers should be allowed to crowd each other into it without reprimand.

Signature here.

That was the same crap Layton pulled on Dewease last year, and at THAT time I couldn't beleive Dewease and/or Layton made it into and out of the turn. Been a Rahmer fan for years... YEARS, and that itself isn't easy. Even his fans put up with a lot from other fans, crew members, etc. For the most part it's just joking around, but there are those who make a much more serious point of their views. If it would have been mechanical failure bringing the 51 down on the 5, that would have been one thing. But after Fred admitted it was all his fault, I've lost a lot of respect for him. I can't beleive Lucas climbed out of that car, but am definitely gald he did. I'm sure Fred didn't want to injure anyone or destroy someone's equipment, yet that move was absolutely uncalled for. Right now I'm about ashamed to admit I'm a Rahmer fan... or was.

I was there. By all means, view the video clip from cubic's second post. The inside pit entrance wall had "zero" to do with the crash! The "rookie" driver in car No. 51 was responsible! What bothered me, and was rightly pointed out by the first turn's King-of-Link-Kong, was the apparently "SLOW" response time of the fire truck and ambulance to the crash site. Not usually a problem at the GREED. Maybe it's time to re-evaluate and re-position the vehicles? Or maybe it was just a one time thing? Whatever, safety cannot be compromised. E-Mods.

From Brad Vores' website ijustwannarace.com

Rahmer Penalized

Williams Grove Speedway race director Butch Book said Monday
night that Fred Rahmer will lose all his points (160) from Sunday night
and will start from the 24th position in this Friday night's feature event.
The penalty stems from Sunday night's violent crash involving
Lucas Wolfe. Read more in Thursday's column.

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

For those of you who don't believe in head and neck devices and full containment seats, Lucas is probably walking around today because of them.  Safety equipment won't guarantee a driver's safety, but it's foolish not to use what is available today.       

Did Lucas have a stuck throttle or could he have lifted?

That's quite the conundrum... Kind of like the question of whether or not Rahmer would have been penalized if it were Esh or Dewease that he stuffed into the wall instead of Alan Kreitzer's nephew. I'm not even really sure if there's ever been a penalty as such, levied before here in Central PA. Usually dirty driving just results in a black flag, and Layton didn't even get that when he intentionally sent Hodnett cart wheeling into the parking lot at the Grove the other year. The only difference here is the people on the tow truck were also put in serious jeopardy. (And about 50 mph!)

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

you would have to believe Rahmer had no steering...but some probably could believe that!

the film just played on TV...high speed blocking at its most dangerous with contact and the incredibly violent crash. folks in the pits and infield were just as lucky as Lucas.

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

If crap like that is what makes posse drivers so great you guys can keep them. I prefer drivers that have respect for the other drivers lives and equipment. Go ahead and bash me, I don't care, shit like that doesn't happen here in Ohio.

Does anyone remember Randy Wolfs Syracuse crash back in 79 on the back stretch when he climbed Paul Pitzer's left rear at 140 MPH. Almost identical results and Randy walked away .

Lucas has to be counting his blessings .

Don't try to hijack this thread into the usual PA versus the world crap. This has been an interesting thread up to this point, with various opinions about what happened Sunday night. I wish there would be more threads on the board where people actually discussed controversial incidents or topics in a civil manner.

The footage from Sunday night is accessible on the Internet. You could have watched and gave your opinion of the incident. Instead, you chose to try and turn the thread into the usual nonsense.