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

Bingo!  and a jury of people who I am sure are not familiar with sprint car racing.  There are so many variables about this whole thing.  I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that he still runs a car there after all this AND that WG lets him do it!  Crazy.  I wish him the best.

Why is everyone assuming a catch fence would have made any difference? Maybe he would have been killed if a catch fence was there. Maybe the steep drop off had nothing to do with his injuries, no one knows and especially no one on this forum.

To Larsonfan, why are you so angry? take a pill. Nothing good is gonna come from this, westbrook and hundreds of other racers have the choice to race or not race at Willimasgrove, if its so unsafe and stuck in the 1970's, why would anyone race there? But year after year Drivers and Car owners (like Westbrook) continue to take the risk and race there, but if they get hurt you think they have no responsibility for taking the risk its all the tracks fault. If he wins, I dont care who pays the 6 million, it will close Williamsgrove not improve saftey, cmon man i thought you were smarter than this.

I would argue that both parties assume the risks.  Dirvers know it is going to be dangerous, but tracks should also put forth a reasonable effort to have a safe track.  What is a reasonable effort?  What is a safe track?  I would think the result of this lawsuit will help provide that defintion.

  When my dad built top fuel and funny car engines back in the 70's there was a guy who raced a dragster that crashed and went under the guard rail, ruptured the fuel tank and caught on fire.  He lost a limb in the process.  Long story short he sued every sponsor on the car claiming that if it wasnt for the sponsors he wouldn't have been able to race therefore the crash wouldn't have happened.  End result: he won the lawsuit.

People like that need to just play golf, and leave the big boy toys alone

I mentioned in an earlier post Kenny Logan and Herm Petersen, citing "assumption of risk".  They were both top fuel dragster drivers injured in accidents at Orange County International Raceway (OCIR).  Both sued and won.  Feb. 1972, rear engined fuelers were fairly new.  Kenny lost his limbs in his accident as the car did slide under the guard rail, causing his injuries.  He did not catch fire.  All of his injuries were the result of the armco guard rail not fully extending to the track surface.  He sued OCIR, but not his sponsors. The NHRA report stated the cause of the accident was a faulty right rear chasis weld, Logan claimed oil on the track.  Regardless, he won his suit. On the other hand, Herm Petersen sued EVERYONE.  Herm was the driver of the Petersen and Fitz "Olympia Beer" rear engined fueler. At an OCIR summer meet in July of 1973, just beyond half track Herm's car broke an axle and flipped, trapping Herm in the cockpit.  When the car was sliding along the track, the lid on the fuel tank opened.  The leaking nitro was ignited by the sparks.  Herm would not have been burnt as badly as he was had the safety crew been furnished working fire extinguishers.  The first three were EMPTY, not WORKING.  Steve Kaiser, step=son of Gene Adams (Hillborn Injectors) as well as a crewman on Gene's "Adams and Enriquez Jr. Fueler", had to be restrained by five guys as he went after C.J. "Papy" Hart with one of the empty extinguishers. Unfortunately, I was within 100 yards of both incidents as a crew member.  The common thread of both incidients, the juries rejected "assumption of risk", (drivers knowing their endeavours were inherently dangerous), and awarded both drivers substantial awards.  Westbrook and his legal team will be awarded millions. 

Maybe he needs to include the EMT who yanked him out of the car that in the lawsuit.

Son, Herm was exactly who I was talking about!!  Wow didn't think anybody on a sprint car board would have known about this.  As they say "small world."  Lol

Aaron Ott broke his neck going out over turn 3/4 and there is really no drop off outside there.  He also landed on fireworks that had gone off inside his car and burnt him, he never sued the track, and continues to race there.   If i remember correctly Dewase broke his neck just by flipping about 10-15 feet in the air and landing just right that it jolted his neck.  Third example, Doug Esh at Lincoln.  I may need some help with this one but, didnt he hit the catch fence, land on the track and still break his back??

Don't know where to start, it's a sensitive subject obviously. But I think we all know unless the jury is filled with sprint car fans, Westbrook will win the case. 

I just find it baffling that he puts young Brock Zearfoss in a car that he owns and finances at such an unsafe, dangerous facility. 

I also wanted to add, that by him being in the pit areas still, isnt it more of a safety risk and concern now than before the accident??  I mean not to be a dick but he is in a wheel chair so if something were to happen where people needed to scatter quickly and get out of the way, he cant move as quickly as everyone else.  I know this sounds terrible but, then if something happens to him again while in the pits and in the wheelchair, does that mean another lawsuit with come forth because of them not having a place for handicapped in the pits to be with their cars?

You are so stupid it hurts. This has nothing to do with the unintelligent, flawless, Rahmer loving, Central PA fans that you make reference to at least once a week. Get that through your ego of yours. 

He is an Assclown because he is still racing a car at the track.  Hypocritical assclown.  If the place he is suing was unsafe enough to sue for his injuries, then he should not be running a car there, for it to possibly happen again.  Total Assclown.

And your arrogance (and ignorance) makes me laugh. It definetly has everything to do with it - you love your drivers until something like this happens, then you call him every childish name in the book and throw him under the bus for doing something he has the legal right to do. My ego is tiny compared to yours.

So, how is that different than someone sueing WalMart for Negligence if they slipped on a wet floor there (that wasn't marked with warning signs) and broke a leg, yet still shopping there??

No difference.  The lawsuit is claiming "negligence" on WG Speedway's part (same as Wolfgang's suit where the track and WoO were Negligent because they had a negligent fire crew) for poor safety (steep embankment, no catch fence).

My guess is that WG will lose the lawsuit but mostly because they are stuck in their ways (as Donny Schatz has said before, that dent in the top of the fence that was there the first time he raced @ WG is still there again this upcoming weekend, they don't make any updates unless they are forced to).

Safety is a moving target, (take a look at seat systems, safety belts, etc.).  If you're not moving forward with innovation and change, the increased speed and danger are flying by you like it's doing 90 you're on the shoulder of the road with a flat.  If you continue to innovate, update and be as proactive as possible, it's just passing you doing 90 while you're doing 75.  (and that goes for every industry, not just racing).

I like anything that goes fast on four wheels and I hold in esteem the individuals who have the intestinal fortitude to drive on the high level of their class. 

I'm thinking you are not suing Walmart for 6 million dollars.  The slipping on the floor is maybe a one in a million situation, whereas the track must be very dangerous, with cars flying around, rubbing, bumping, etc. You ALSO have the reasonable expectation that you are not going to slip on a grape, or a spill of water.  When you strap into a Sprint Car, at ANY track, the inherent danger is ALWAYS there, you KNOW the possibilities.     I do agree, that if you sue someone or someplace, you do not frequent that place again.  You would be an assclown if you did.  Simple

Oh my friend, how - to use your words - arrogant and ignorant can you be. This has absolutely nothing to do with the Pennsylvania fans. Say an ex-driver at Knoxville gets injured and becomes a car owner and then some 6 years later after the accident files a lawsuit against the track. The same conversation happens. The majority of the people that are calling him names (which I agree with you is 100% wrong) are upset because he continues to field a sprint car week in and week out at the same track. I'm sorry - I know you love ripping on PA fans - but location has nothing to do with this one. 

"Right to sue" We are truely an entitled generation. Sad that greed can get the best of us where we would be willing to hurt a sport that we love or once loved to just get rich. He knew and we know the risks we take weekly. We also all know how the jury selection will go out there as well. Anyone who enjoys racing will be considered a conflict of interest and the jury of nonrace fans will NOT be sympathetic towards the track. They will probably feel that they can afford it when they dont fully understand the actual final consequences.

Quite frankly, if anyone on that jury lives within the general proximinity of Williams Grove and is not a sprint car fan, Westbrook will most likely win. I don't know how many of you live in the area, as I do just down the street, but the surrounding area is getting smaller and housing is closing in on the grove. If it were up to the rich people building houses on the surrounding land of the Grove, they'd have this place shut down in a heartbeat due to traffic, noise, dust and trash. A big case that could cost the track millions of dollars.....tell me there are not many chomping at the bit for them to lose this case. Many would love nothing more than to never see another Outlaw trailer pull in those pits on a big weekend or another cooler toting fan pull in on a Friday. I think this spells nothing but bad for the fans, drivers and Williams Grove Speedway. Not to mention, many claim that the Pink Haired lady is only in this buisiness still for the money and does not care about the racing aspect of things. Let her insurance premiums go up due to a 6 million dollar judgment and see how much she still cares about a dirt track? Yes, it's his right to sue. Legally, he's doing nothing wrong and just using the rights he's earned as an American citizen. But as a guy who claims to love this sport and if there was a way, I'm sure would still be driving...he's morally wrong and doing nothing good for it or himself. 6 Million sounds great..but as I said before..the sad truth is he's not leaving that chair anytime soon and he's still going to be the same guy hating life and feeling bad