Hello fellow car lovers! I just returned from Elhart Lake and the SVRA
races.
It was NOT a great day for all. The weather was great, the cars were
great, some of the drivers left their SMARTS at home. During qualifying
I watched as cars began to accelerate out of corner 13 and race thru 14
and up the hill toward the green flag; that's right they were still on
the pace lap! An overzealous driver squeezed and cut off another. This
second car hit the binders and was promptly rear ended by a third car
who spun and collected a couple of more cars. One car turned into the
concrete barrier rather than broadside another car. Fortunately no one
was seriously hurt--physically.
All involved will be very sore tomorrow but will race again. One of our
Shelby Mustangs got rearended, a Cobra had it's aluminum nose flattened
a second Shelby may be totalled, and the Corvette (also ours. My son
crews for a team) that hit the barrier is badly bent.
Everyone understands that there is the risk of something happening. If
you can't pay don't play. However, this is supposed to be fun and not
the IRL or CART or Winston Cup or........ We must remember to think,
anticipate, and have our priorities straight.
I am not scolding anyone... I do not have that right... I am a lover of
the automobile and racing and do not race myself. But let's be careful
out there and enjoy exercising the cars. For those that do race, keep
up the great fun and thanks for giving us a chance to see great
machinery used as intended. Drive within your limits and be careful.
To Team Thicko: I hope things went better at Gingerman!
Take care,
Dave
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