From: Robert Johns
Subject: "Killed Myself When I was Young" Video
Yes , You can make a rather good case that we were crazy to race with out the
safety features used today, but in defense, every one was in the same boat.
As I have said, when in Europe we used the Nurburgring to practice on. A very
good friend, Norman Babcock, was driving his MG-TD on the Nurburgring and when
he came back up the straight, over the fence from the Start and Finish line,
into the first hard left, going over the bridge, he over cooked it and went
straight off the curve. The TD flipped end over end and he dropped out as the
car went over. He dropped onto the grass and was unhurt. The TD was
totaled. Dumb luck, but that is the way it was. Being in the Air Force, I
had access to the old belts being replaced with new, in the fighter planes
that I worked on. So I installed one in my car, but the Europeans did not
believe in them at that point in time. So, I certainly can relate to those
old photos. When I raced out West in 1956, roll bars were not required.
There was a fatality at Sebring in 1957 and at Meadowdale, IL.in 1958, both
with no roll bars. In fact, because I dropped out of racing after Sebring, to
go to college, I never got to drive a car with a roll bar or roll cage. I am
sure that Kas will concur with how things were in those early days of Sport
Car racing. I think roll bars became required by SCCA in either 1959 or 1960.
R.C. Johns
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