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Kudos to Atomic Speedway
I just saw on Atomic’s fb page that they are getting rid of the opening in their racetrack and redesigning it.Thankfully,someone is the first to address this safety issue.I also hear where the World of Outlaws are telling tracks they run at that any tracks that have opening in them may be taken off of next year’s schedule unless a guardrail is put in,or a redesign is done.This is long overdue.Most of these racetracks were built way back,when safety was not number one issue.An accident now at one of these tracks with such a blatant safety issue could easily shut down that track and change the entire sport.Other sanctioning bodies should follow.How much is it to put a gate in versus the alternative.
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David, I agree with your passion, but without openings in the outer guardrails, we cannot get the cars in and out of the racetrack. One solution is to eliminate guard rails all together. How will that work at Kokomo, Lawrenceburg, and Tri State? Add the gate you say... Now we have to have a gate operator... and the gate must be of proper design or it will cause a greater safety issue. There have been two MAJOR incidents regarding guardrail openings with late models recently. One involved Hudson O’Neal and the other Billy Moyer. Now there is an emphasis on openings in the open wheel side since Beaver Dam. Let’s hope governing bodies like the World Racing Group (Outlaws) pursue this issue with intelligence and not a knee jerk reaction. Like all other safety issues our sport faces, we must have the driver’s interest at heart, but we should allow the experts to figure this one out.
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Re: Kudos to Atomic Speedway
Once again a post not based on Fact, Atomic said it's open to Suggestions. (Mine would be K-Rail the whole back straight up into the track entry)
While I Atomic's case, I don't think there's been a visit I've made there that a car hasn't either went outside the barrier or made a huge brake and dive move to miss it. Opening's aren't necessarily the problem. Leaving the ballpark is. I think all sanctions need to look at where they're racing, I think all tracks should do a assessment. Ultimately it comes down the racer if they chose to get in the car or not. While Im convinced many tracks can be made safer. THIS SPORT ISN'T AND NEVER WILL BE SAFE. And neither is walking down the sidewalk. |
Good post Charles! In fact, I’ll add there are three openings at Tri State. One to enter the track, one to exit the track, and one for the tractors. The tractors have a gate, so it’s a non-factor. I rarely see the exit opening cause an issue, but it could. It seems they try to keep the groove off the wall on the entry to turn one where the exit gate is. In fact, I’ve seen more cars leave the ball park in one and two than have had issues with the opening.... Right Brady Short??
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Re: Kudos to Atomic Speedway
:deadhorse:Nobody can spend a track owner/promoters money faster than a race fan:17:
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Once again the heads go in the sand.If it wasn’t so tragic you would be laughable.Especially,Mcrider.Nice caring comment concerning what just happened.You are truly incredible.Its like we are still racing in 1950.Do you realize that one bad accident at any of these tracks with something deemed unsafe,that track will go away.Sport can be changed forever.If one preson decides its time for legal action,things change.I applaud the World of Outlaws and their feelings on this.Again,hopefully other sanctioning bodies take this stance and tracks that can’t find 25,000,000 to put in a gate,that’s what it costs I think.Oh,we need a person to open it.There’s another big hit.Absolutely incredible.
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David you couldn't of said it better I agree
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Thank you Big Game Hunter.
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Re: Kudos to Atomic Speedway
If your talking about openings, Then all tracks should have walls and catch fences and gates with catch fence at the entry and exit.
That's Idea. The reality is there are tracks being run by promoters who don't own em. Tracks with any variation of walls, fences and even no walls or fence or any combination of the above. I stand by my statement, Yes, many could and should be improved. Ultimately if a racer thinks a track is unreasonably unsafe. THEY SHOULD NOT RACE THERE. |
Re: Kudos to Atomic Speedway
An earlier post mentioned that Billy Moyer recently had a horrible encounter with a track wall opening. It was one of the most chilling crashes we've ever seen that didn't result in significant driver injury. The Moyer incident took place at La Salle Speedway in Illinois and directly resulted in Billy taking some time off from driving. La Salle is less than an hour from our house. We've seen a couple of equally frightening incidents take place at the exact spot on the track at La Salle. Actually, many years ago Sammy Swindell hit the same blunt wall opening as Moyer did back when he was running a full WoO Sprint Car schedule. IIRC Sammy hit in the same spot twice. I don't know if this recent incident with Moyer will precipitate insurance company mandated changes in that part of the track, but it should. In fact, there should have been changes made to that area of La Salle Speedway immediately after Sammy's first crash and that happened 20 or more years ago. I was also there that night and it was very bad and Sammy was dinged up a bit as a result.
It is a fact of life that operating and construction costs are a huge factors in race track budgeting and I don't advocate for standardized engineering changes but on the same token there should definitely be specific criteria in play at this juncture of race track design in regards to wall openings. |
Re: Kudos to Atomic Speedway
How about we get rid of ALL track walls... Nice run off area all the way around. Tear down all grandstands, install cameras, then livestream to the audience. Upon selling the PPV we must mandate all customers to wear bubble wrap and helmets just in case they can't contain themselves from the "edge of your seat" excitement. Or how about pulling drivers out of the cars completely? We can make all cars remote controlled. It's certainly possible with today's technology and would make things MUCH SAFER for all involved....
Part of the titillation of racing is the constant dance with fate. You take that away, you really gut a core ingredient of the sport. Sure there are a lot of things that could be done better or smarter, but at the end of the day it's our freedom of choice that matters so long as we are willing to live with the consequences. |
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Re: Kudos to Atomic Speedway
Several thoughts. Facebook suggestions probably are not the best way to solve the issue. I would actually pay an engineer to come look at a possible solution. Blunt walls are something that need to be addressed, but they are also probably the hardest item at a race track to fix. Most tracks are land locked and are using all of the spaces available. For many tracks the entry/exit points are the only points that make sense. With that being said, it is an item that needs to be addressed.
However, for most tracks, I would rank it fairly low on the track improvements needed. My priority list would be: Walls with out catch fences, catch fences that have been comprimised and only patched back togehter, telephone poles/ railroad ties used in the guard rails/ catch fences, and poor lightning |
Re: Kudos to Atomic Speedway
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Re: Kudos to Atomic Speedway
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Thats exactly what WoO is trying to do, as a group. If they left it up to individual drivers, they would all be pressured to race everywhere for fear of losing points or being called a wuss.... |
Re: Kudos to Atomic Speedway
Good lord... people can't seem to pick up sarcasm very well and completely missed the point. The point is if you are truly worried about driver safety in all things EVERYTHING must be done to protect them right? It's just common sense right? That's what being said by a select few. If that was a true sentiment then why would the same people want to see racers put themselves in a position to get hurt in the first place? Don't try to play the middle ground when you keep trying to get behind the idea of saving lives and then turn around and want drivers to entertain you. The best way to save lives is to not put them in a position to be lost in the first place.
I've worked on the other side of the fence for tracks and the tracks are tired of being told what to do by everyone who doesn't have a single cent invested in their facility. "Sanction body says do this, group XYZ says that." Get real man. Where is all this magical money going to come from? Who's going to pay for it? You seem to think the only tracks that deserve to run are the ones that fit your standard of safety. By time you add up the cost of everything it takes to be "safe~ish" every track around will cost millions of dollars and the sport isn't strong enough to support that which leaves a smattering of facilities left across the country running. Tracks are NOT beating down the WoO doors for shows, it's the other way around because they are already too expensive most local venues. WoO is just not in a position to dictate anything when they are struggling to fill out their schedule as is. Quote:
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Re: Kudos to Atomic Speedway
Sheesh, I’m not sure whether to respond to that or exercise my freedom to risk walking into oncoming traffic on the interstate. Do you peel all the safety stickers off your appliances and your lawn mower deck?
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Re: Kudos to Atomic Speedway
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I was at a race ten years ago where a sanction pulled out. It wasn't pretty, They still had a race and many stayed and raced, But wasn't upset with those who left. I was upset with the sanction for situation. Basically the Sanction visited beforehand, Said the track had to take care of three safety conditions before race date and when they showed up. None of them had been fixed.. Two of the three got fixed on race day but they coudln't drag a grader that was sitting outside turn one out of four feet of mud. |
Re: Kudos to Atomic Speedway
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Re: Kudos to Atomic Speedway
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People who want to end deaths, paralysis & fires are also 100% right. The only way to make it 100% safe is to stop doing it altogether But everything in life is about BALANCE! We're just trying to figure out the best point of balance between racing & safety (have our cake & eat it too?) I don't have enough experience in this stuff to know what specific measures are necessary. But anything that will keep these guys alive & functional is OK with me |
Re: Kudos to Atomic Speedway
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People who want to end deaths, paralysis & fires are also 100% right. The only way to make it 100% safe is to stop doing it altogether But everything in life is about BALANCE! We're just trying to figure out the best point of balance between racing & safety (have our cake & eat it too?) I don't have enough experience in this stuff to know what specific measures are necessary. But anything that will keep these guys alive & functional is OK with me |
Re: Kudos to Atomic Speedway
I've raced everything but airplanes, I guess, not too many of those tracks around, altho I'm older now, it still doesn't make me any wiser, I've had a lot of enjoyment racing, never thought it was any more dangerous than just getting to the track, at least there, 99.9% are going the same direction, haven't just loaded up on drugs or alcohol, so I still felt safer in the car, and on the track, than just getting there and back, nothing is safe, nothing, just don't let it get in your way of doing it as safely as you can. Bob
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