Infineon, Saturday June 30 - crash


#1

Testamant to Safety

On Saturday I totaled my Spec e30 at Infineon Raceway and walked away from the crash.

The car was recently completed and I was testing in TT Saturday preparing to race Sunday. My times were within ½ second of Steve and 1 second of Donnie.

Coming out of turn 7 I caught a Mustang (which I later discovered had gone off course at turn 5). At the apex of turn 8 he dumped a bunch of fuel directly in front of me and I became a projectile into the k wall. Note – the impact broke (yes broke) the k wall in half.

The car is totaled but a few parts are salvageable. A couple of notes, I had a custom cage, a six point harness and a Sparco seat and I walk away from the crash.

To all of you now building cars – do not skimp on safety equipment. My only regret is that I did not have a HANS device – my fault and if I every race again I will have one.

This crash would have been avoided if the Mustang had a fuel cell but……

If I can convert my video tape to a file I will post it online at a later date as I have the entire ugly thing on tape.

As for Spec e30 in Nor CA – it is alive and well with a great group of guys. If you are thinking of going out you will be welcomed warmly and you will have a lot of fun. It’s a great group.

As for me, only time will tell as the car is totaled and my spirits are low.

To repeat – this is a great car and series – do not try to save money on safety equipment.

Best luck to all,
Steve.


#2

Darn glad you are ok. Would like to see the tape if you get around to it.


#3

Steve,

Very glad to hear that you are OK. It is, like you said, a real testament to not skimping on safety.


#4

I am glad that you are OK. I just spent the weekend building a cage for my first SE30 and really obsessed over all of the details including the foot box bars. We overbuilt the cage and I feel safe with the results. Thank you for the reality check. I hope that you will soon build another. Thanks, Wesley Jones


#5

wow, glad you are ok. Hope you are able to build a new car and get back into the series.
cheers,
bruce


#6

Sorry to hear about your bad luck but happy to hear there were no injuries. Fricken Mustangs:angry:


#7

Wow…I hate domestics…:stuck_out_tongue: Glad you are okay…


#8

some pics … ouch!
http://www.nasaforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=15974&highlight=


#9

Looks very familiar. Are you sure it can’t be fixed?

The inportant thing is you are alright. Sorry…


#10

Steve, Sorry to hear of your accident, but very glad the only thing bruised is your pride. Several of us have been there, done that so to speak, me being one of them. The car doesn’t look too bad. I wouldn’t call it totalled by any means. It looks like repairing it would cost less than building another IMO. Hope to hear you find a quick and relatively painless fix soon.


#11

Glad you’re ok Steve, it was great seeing you back at the paddock Sunday with a thumbs up. I’d be happy to help you rebuild/repair, just shout if you need an extra pair of hands.
-aj


#12

Thats not so bad. Fix it!


#13

Thanks to everyone for your comments and best wishes.

As I said in the prior email Spec e30 is alive and well in Nor CA - with special thanks to the guys at Valley Motorwerks a donor car has been located in their shop! Thanks Scott, Eric, Walter and Steve.

With much assistance from Fred (and Eric) at Wolfpac Racing we will be back on track soon.

It appears that my drive train is intact. Half of the suspension pieces and all of the rear are salvagable and various other parts.

We look forward to seeing all of you soon.

Cheers, Steve.


#14

Steve:

It’s good to hear that you’re planning to get back on the track.

I know you have a great group in the NorCal Region and I hope to visit a race weekend either later this year, or next season.

Carter


#15

Can’t beleive I missed this thread.

Glad you’re OK Steve. It’s hard to lose a car (glad it was just that) to an uncontrolable incident. Hope you get back in the saddle.

Rich.


#16

Carter wrote:

[quote]Steve:

It’s good to hear that you’re planning to get back on the track.

I know you have a great group in the NorCal Region and I hope to visit a race weekend either later this year, or next season.

Carter[/quote]

Carter, suggest to come next season when we have more than two cars on track. Maybe there will be an event at Buttonwillow where both Norcal and Socal can both attend. I’d look forward to meeting you in person.

Regards,
-aj


#17

Age wrote:

[quote]Carter wrote:

[quote]Steve:

It’s good to hear that you’re planning to get back on the track.

I know you have a great group in the NorCal Region and I hope to visit a race weekend either later this year, or next season.

Carter[/quote]

Carter, suggest to come next season when we have more than two cars on track. Maybe there will be an event at Buttonwillow where both Norcal and Socal can both attend. I’d look forward to meeting you in person.

Regards,
-aj[/quote]

I second that. Hopefully I will be out there… Buttonwillow is lots of fun…