NPR adds Runoff Improvements

Pat Joffrion · 01-19-2009, 06:13 PM

We have just completed our new “pea gravel pit” at the end of our drag strip. The pit is 300-feeet long, 60-feet wide, and is filled with 3-feet of pea gravel. Our shut-down length is almost ½-mile, coming in at 2,590 feet of asphalt after the finish line. Beyond the pit is another ¼-mile of grass area that is a portion of our road course.

While we have not had anyone seriously hurt in the old “sand trap”, the sand did cause two vehicles to flip, resulting with a driver breaking his left arm. At a cost of over $40,000.00, we believe that the money is well worth the expense towards racers safety. Fortunately, we have not had a single fatality on our drag strip or road course. We will continue working to make racer safety our primary goal.

Since we opened in 2001, we have had two individuals die at our track. The first was a racer who had a massive and fatal heart attack while exiting the drag strip. The other was a drug/alcohol case where a spectator fell off the back of a golf cart at 2:00 a.m., striking the back of his head on our asphalt. The racer’s family sent us a two-page thank you letter. They knew that their father/husband was not going to live much longer and they wanted to make sure he got to make “one more pass” down the track.

The spectator’s family sued us. The case was thrown out of court after we provided the judge with the hospital blood-alcohol and narcotics report. The judge agreed that cocaine, marijuana, beer, and golf carts just don’t mix! We guess it won’t be long before we get a call from the top end that some spectator in a golf cart is stuck in our gravel pit. Go figure!

01-19-2009, 06:13 PM	#1
Pat Joffrion Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Bayou Country, Louisiana Posts: 163 Likes: 0 Liked 6 Times in 2 Posts	NPR adds Runoff Improvements We have just completed our new “pea gravel pit” at the end of our drag strip. The pit is 300-feeet long, 60-feet wide, and is filled with 3-feet of pea gravel. Our shut-down length is almost ½-mile, coming in at 2,590 feet of asphalt after the finish line. Beyond the pit is another ¼-mile of grass area that is a portion of our road course. While we have not had anyone seriously hurt in the old “sand trap”, the sand did cause two vehicles to flip, resulting with a driver breaking his left arm. At a cost of over $40,000.00, we believe that the money is well worth the expense towards racers safety. Fortunately, we have not had a single fatality on our drag strip or road course. We will continue working to make racer safety our primary goal. Since we opened in 2001, we have had two individuals die at our track. The first was a racer who had a massive and fatal heart attack while exiting the drag strip. The other was a drug/alcohol case where a spectator fell off the back of a golf cart at 2:00 a.m., striking the back of his head on our asphalt. The racer’s family sent us a two-page thank you letter. They knew that their father/husband was not going to live much longer and they wanted to make sure he got to make “one more pass” down the track. The spectator’s family sued us. The case was thrown out of court after we provided the judge with the hospital blood-alcohol and narcotics report. The judge agreed that cocaine, marijuana, beer, and golf carts just don’t mix! We guess it won’t be long before we get a call from the top end that some spectator in a golf cart is stuck in our gravel pit. Go figure!