Ed Runnion wrote:
>For those that don't know, there was an SCCA AutoX event held at Summit
>Point Raceway (WV) this past weekend where there were THREE major wrecks!
>Good news is that no one was seriously hurt. Bad news is that 3 cars
>(prepared Saturn, Boxster S, Corvette) were all badly damaged or destroyed.
>
>http://www.i-club.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=71693
>
>A friend of mine (with a 625 HP Impala SS : yikes!) was there as well and
>wrote about it. I know he was quite sobered to see 3 cars wreck like
>that!
>
>So, what can we take from it? Just keeping in mind (as course designers
>AND participants) that following our safety stewards advice to keep the
>sport SAFE is a vital part of it! While doing 100 MPH in the Candlestick
>Parking lot SOUNDS like fun, it's probably a bad idea (tm) from a safety
>perspective. And maybe, just maybe, running an AutoX on a ROAD RACE
>circuit is not the best idea :^).
Without having any knowledge of the above event, I can't comment on it. But,
in the last few weeks I've been told, by participants who attended events,
both at Mather and 3-Com where stock-class cars were reaching speeds
approching/exceeding 90 mph. When everything goes well it's a real "treat"
to explore that speed area but, those kinds of speeds just not smart.
It doesn't take an un-expected mechanical failure to get in, potentially,
serious trouble. Last year at an event, billed as a warm-up for Nationals,
my car came loose at the end of a slalom where we had, on some runs, just
touched the rev-limiter in 2nd gear (<75 mph). Fortunately, it was a fun run
with no workers on the course, because the car spun/slid off-line for as
much as a couple hundred feet right through the area of a (previous) worker
location. Now, since that was on a "clean", flat concrete lot, what are the
chances of increased problems on un-even, loose-surface lots --- even at
lower speeds. We really do need to continue keeping our max-speeds in check.
The obvious is that we need to stay safe distances from obstacles/fences and
position worker stations in the safest spots. But, among the many
not-so-obvious situations, is the need on any lots, bordered by loose dirt,
to avoid fast sections leading to abrupt turns near the edge of the
pavement. A driver goes in too deep, gets off-line, slides sideways into the
dirt, the wheels dig into the dirt and we now have a "rolled" car.
Don
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