[ISF]

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.

[Spi-nex]

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.

[JordanBlanton]

Originally Posted by Spi-nex 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.

This idea that any move to kill less racers is akin to wrapping ourselves in bubble wrap and being afraid to cross the street is absurd, and a really tired argument. Nobody is asking for that any more than you would advocate for taking cages off and banning helmets and fire suits while installing spiked poles in the middle of the back stretch. Asking tracks to address design flaws that inure, maim, and kill drivers is not bubble-wrapping our world, nor is it seeking to fundamentally alter what racing is.

[Jonr]

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

[revjimk]

Originally Posted by Spi-nex 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.

So are you gonna race in a no roll bar, no seat belt sprint car? good luck....

[revjimk]

Originally Posted by Charles Nungester 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.

" if a racer thinks a track is unreasonably unsafe. THEY SHOULD NOT RACE THERE"
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....

[Spi-nex]

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.

Originally Posted by revjimk So are you gonna race in a no roll bar, no seat belt sprint car? good luck....

I would. I personally don't think safety related things should be mandated. It should be up to each individual to decide what their lives are worth and how far they wish to push the issues. Look up "The Isle of Man" motorcycle race and see how many stars they end up losing every year in just 1 race. You have to respect peoples choice of what to do with their lives even if you don't agree with it. It's the same mentality people have about motorcycle riders on whether they should wear helmets or not... some say it's stupid not to others think the freedom they experience is worth the risk.

[hoosier race fan]

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?

[Charles Nungester]

Originally Posted by revjimk " if a racer thinks a track is unreasonably unsafe. THEY SHOULD NOT RACE THERE" 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....

I realize this.
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.

[Spi-nex]

Originally Posted by hoosier race fan 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?

I don't need a sticker to tell me that I shouldn't be sticking my hands into a mower deck with spinning blades or that I should dunk my microwave in the sink to clean it. It's common sense. No amount of advisories are going to stop stupid people from doing stupid things.