???Don Eckel & Mike Saye CRASH at Z-Max???

[Woodro Josey]

Don, you won't even get a letter of opoligy from NHRA. Yes my brake rod fell out of car and i had put faith in the trap and net, boy was i wrong, i am very lucky to have survived the crash lil on landing upside down in a lake, very close to drowning! Sorry to hear about your wreck but they could give a crap less!

[bobby]

being a turnaround worker, i need to speak of this. I have seen a worker wave in a t/f car and the other one lost his brakes also. trashed both of them. Last year at Dallas, i was just about to open the second gate to let Shelly Payne in, luckily I saw the other P/M car coming up fast and waved her down to the 3rd gate. Avoided what could have been a big disaster. I know that now that one person pretty much travels to all the Nats and does the traffic cop thing.

You have to remember that you have 100's of cars coming down to the big end. It's very unfortunate, but it's like driving in rush hour traffic, you loose concentration. Of course, when cars are coming at you anywhere from 150 to300 mph, it hard to judge how fast they are going. Ecspecially when they are coming STRAIGHT at you.

Sorry it happens to any racer. I know how much time and money they put into their cars. It's a big loss when this happens.

[Don Eckel 111]

Woodro, although I understand what you are saying, I do believe that there are people out there who truly do care about our safety and well being, in all aspects. Unfortunately, I think they all reside in the middle and not at the top and bottom rungs of the ladder. We are held accountable for our appearance and actions at the track, at what point do they become accountable? Anyway, I'm glad you were OK after your incident also.

Bobby, your analogy of rush hour traffic is exactly why you should have the MOST concentration. There is alot more going on around you to require your attention. And in the case of my incident, neither car was going nearly that fast. I was going maybe 5 MPH and I'll guess at that point Mike was going 30-40 when he hit me. The real problem I have is that after speaking with the turnout worker, it became apparent to me that he knew there was a problem, yet he STILL made the wrong decision. There are alot more of these incidents and near misses than you can imagine, many unmentioned. I'm curious, did you receive or know of any formal training for the job at the turnouts? If not, then what qualifies you or anyone else to be out there with the potential of someones safety in your hands? Its easy to say that its just unfortunate when it's not you.

[Charlie Yannetti]

You hit it on the head Don......... with the key word beng "accountable".......... the NHRA should be held accountable for incidents like this, especially when an accident occurs as a result of an employees actions........ Mr Light's explanation of it being an unfortunate racing incident is a lame attempt at avoiding accountability and is unacceptable........ wonder what his response would be if someone threw an anchor line into the props of his yacht and apologized claiming it to be an unfortunate yachting incident........

Do you think that incidents like this should be brought to the table during the off season by our SRAC reps???........ and would it be out of line to ask for compensation as a result of negligence???........ I think not........

[bobby]

Originally Posted by Don Eckel 111

.

Bobby, your analogy of rush hour traffic is exactly why you should have the MOST concentration. There is alot more going on around you to require your attention. And in the case of my incident, neither car was going nearly that fast. I was going maybe 5 MPH and I'll guess at that point Mike was going 30-40 when he hit me. The real problem I have is that after speaking with the turnout worker, it became apparent to me that he knew there was a problem, yet he STILL made the wrong decision. There are alot more of these incidents and near misses than you can imagine, many unmentioned. I'm curious, did you receive or know of any formal training for the job at the turnouts? If not, then what qualifies you or anyone else to be out there with the potential of someones safety in your hands? Its easy to say that its just unfortunate when it's not you.

No we don't have any formal training. In years past we just use to vote we got to guide the cars in, now there is the same person working most of the tracks with that job. It's one that i wouldn't want to have anymore. Did it for one year and didn't want to be responsible for any accidents. Now I just push cars out of the way and roll up parachutes.

Yes, I believe that NHRA needs to do something about that, esp after seeing a coworker guide 2 t/f cars into each other.

My anology about the freeway is that if you are standing between 2 cars and they are coming straight at you, you cannot tell how fast they are going. And you cannot tell who is in front of the other.

[mopar68]

Originally Posted by Dave Robertson

Relatively simple. Car on exit hole side of the track ALWAYS has the right of way. When that car is by, the other lane car has a clear path off the track. Odd car need a push or pull? Safety first at the cost of periodic inconvenience.

Regards,
Dave Robertson

Makes sense to me.

M68

[Robert Simpson]

When I worked at my local track when I was younger it was told to everyone that the car on the inside lane (the exit side of track) ALWAYS had the right of way. If the faster car was in the outside lane and finished first would wait at the turn off until the inside car turned off. Everyone caught on and it worked. I still do this till this day when I race at other tracks. It works!! Very simple...... I am sorry this incident happened. Thank goodness everyone is ok.

Robert

[on the chip]

In 93 at the fall Nationals in Topeka the same thing happened to me. My car was totaled! I was unhurt. I talked to the worker who waved me in front of the other car and it was the same story. (didn't realize how fast I was going). After talking to the workers, I found out that it was the workers FIRST race and had had NO training. Later that weekend I stood where I could see the turn off and watched them try to crash two pairs of F/C's that weekend. NHRA avoided me like when ever I asked questions. Even my Division Director. No help at all morally or financially.
It's sad to see that NHRA still haven't fixed the problem. When you have an "Official" directing you, you follow his lead.