Bad news at Road America

[The Commissioner]

The following link shows photos of why my 67 GT350 is no longer seeing any open track action like at SAAC. This occurred at Road America recently, at the vintage race festival held every year, evidently for the rolling start, the front pack got way ahead of the mid pack and when the starter didn't throw the green flag, the front few rows slowed, and the rest of the pack plowed into them thinking they needed to go hammer down to catch them. 17 cars badly damaged. These are purpose built race cars, fuel cells, roll cages, and look at the carnage. I ran the Shelby at the SAAC event in 1997 at this track, and looking at this makes me realize how stupid I've been taking a stock street car on open track events with a regular gas tank, no roll cage, etc. For anyone else who runs the SAAC events, I did them for 8 years, I will consider myself lucky nothing ever happened. For those who've never seen the track, the main straight is over a mile long, and about 1/3 of the way down, there is a huge climbing hill with zero forward vision, it's so steep you're looking at the sky, and when the hill is crested, it's a few hundered yards from the start/finish line. Very ugly sight to behold.

http://www.pbase.com/atrltd/bric2005

[DeLa1Rob]

Originally Posted by The Commissioner

The following link shows photos of why my 67 GT350 is no longer seeing any open track action like at SAAC. .... For those who've never seen the track, the main straight is over a mile long, and about 1/3 of the way down, there is a huge climbing hill with zero forward vision, it's so steep you're looking at the sky, and when the hill is crested, it's a few hundered yards from the start/finish line. Very ugly sight to behold.

http://www.pbase.com/atrltd/bric2005

Ugly indeed. This has been a hot topic on the Shelby Mustang List.

Remember to post any replies to this thread as the Shelby Mustang List is view only.

robin

[rshelby]

Ouch!

[doc]

There are more pictures posted on Club Cobra. One of the vehicles involved was an original CSX 2000 series AC Cobra. Fortunately no one was seriously injured. I am sure that will be some changes added to prevent this type of mishap occuring in the future. I think the difference with SAAC open track is most of the events are at a controlled speed and the run groups are established based upon the experence of the drivers as well as the cars. Except for the vintage racing most of the heats are not competetive but nothing assures you this type of mishap cannot occur. Certainly the track officals have some investigating to do especially with the speculation and rumors of the Pace Car creating the stage for this mishap. I don't know and I am not a race expert by any means so I will leave such speculation up to the people who do. Vintage racing is awesome and hopefully the events leading up to this mishap can be expeditiously corrected to prevent further occurances in the future. Note that this mishap could have occurred in any road race and not necessarily just Vintage racing. The cars will be repaired and the fact that there were no fatalities speaks volume to all the safety improvements incorporated into the cars and equipment.

Doc

[roddster]

Well, every time I've ever posted something about "concours", numerous folks reply with something like "I don't care, I DRIVE/RACE/ AUTOCROSS my Shelby.
So, just like if some cement truck ran over my car trailer, this is an example of what possibly can happen to vintage racers.
They're out there enjoying thier cars. Now they have experienced a different kind of enjoyment.

[doc]

In true fairness, if you race a car, any car..., it is not of matter of "If" but "When" with regards to an accident. The guys who race their cars know the potential outcome. I seriously doubt many of these cars are wearing their original/vintage sheet metal. They can afford to replace what gets damaged and if it becomes unattainable they move on to something else. I am not a racer but I stayed at a "Holiday Inn" last night. Just kidding, I spent a lot of time around racers and their cars. These cars are hammered and pounded for their intended purpose. Racers didn't give a crap about preservation when the cars were being campaign. A car only gain prominence with victories and when they were retired, they were sold to finance other pursuits. Whether a piece of history is lost is in the eye of the beholder. I salute the guys who bring these Vintage racing cars to track and give the sport the aura it has because many of us would never get to see some of these cars except in Museums or on displays. I also salute those who preserve the legacy of these cars by meticulously preserving them for future generations to admire. How's that for being PC

Doc

[95CobraR]

Originally Posted by doc

In true fairness, if you race a car, any car..., it is not of matter of "If" but "When" with regards to an accident. The guys who race their cars know the potential outcome.

You are correct.

I've raced with ten of the guys on the 58 car grid at that race. The AC Cobra was a guy who has raced that car for many years (at least 15). The Camaro was a former T/A car that won the best restored car award the night before.

The pace car driver nor the flagman was at fault. It is useless to point fingers at one or more of the drivers. It was just a racing incident and something that can happen anytime you buckle up in a race car and go out with 58 other (very) fast cars. I am glad no one was hurt. An event such as this will only help future events to be safer. Everyone will be more careful, double check their safety equipment, check their ego at home before firing up the car, and the organizations will re-think their rules.

Quiz. What group had the most deaths in the last 2 years: open track, amateur racing, or pro racing? O/T is the correct answer. Why? Lack of safety equipment.

I suspect that most of those cars will be fixed and ready to go at Monterey next month.
Doc