[Mud Packer]

Originally Posted by psullivan Steve, I love you to death - but somehow pointing the finger at Tom Hansing in this situation is a bit like this logic. Darren gets hurt, falls in love with a knock out nurse at the Miami Valley Hospital - they get married, and have a son who is very smart and in time becomes a real mover and shaker - The son, in turn, marries an exotic Russian beauty who is well connected politically, and through the union, Darren's son becomes the most powerful man in Russia. Unbeknowst to him, his bride is evil, and she slips him a tonic which causes him to lose all bearings - So while derranged, he sets into motion events that lead to a nuclear holocaust --- and this all started because Tom Hansing threw the yellow on a lazy 360 spin during a sprint car race at Rossburg Ohio.

Pat,

Somehow, I think you have outdone yourself.:respect: Now that is absolutely hilarious.:O::rolling:O::rolling When in doubt, blame USAC.:headbang

[sceckert]

Pat--
Dare I ask how long THAT one took to conjure?
I'm not blaming the flagman for obeying the orders that were given to him, unless HE was the one who cooked them up. I DISLIKE unnecessary caution flags. I feel this one was not required based on commonsense, but obviously required based on the edict put forth at the driver's meeting. Rules are rules, I understand, but as far-flung as the "Commie-Nurse-Hagen-Holocaust"-scenario is, there is nothing far-flung in perceiving that caution flags breed bunched-up fields, and exponentially increase the likelihood of "incidents"--which, frankly, I more expected to see in turn two on the restart off of what I presumed would be a Hagen slider right out to the cushion to shut the door on Ballou. My relief that Hagen shortened his slide and settled for second lasted about 5 seconds, whereupon he was offering his candidacy for "Highest Altitude of the Year", which I would hope he wins.
On the lighter side....I'd like to learn more about this Nurse Zhivago....

[coondog]

I would just like to make a comment on the rule. This is a rule that we, the drivers, asked for. Too many of us have been taken out with people doing 360's. Not having a rule like this promotes drivers doing stupid things when they spin. If a car spins, it spins. Whether is goes 180 degrees or 360 degrees. I wish Darren a speedy recovery so he can continue to kick our buts in the midget as he has been doing this year.

The x-factor here, previously unmentioned, is that the accident never should have happened had the flagman not thrown a nonsense yellow for a lightning-quick 360 that Kevin Thomas did and kept going.

Steve - the above was your quote and it is grossly unfair. How would you feel if it was directed at you, and a person you work with, interact with, and given the two great personalities involved probably are very friendly with, was involved in a horrific crash that could have been much worse? Pointing a finger isn't necessary and it is hurtful. These are professional drivers. Over the course of the year they will make starts and restarts hundreds of times - and there are hundreds of different variables involved in each case - some mental and some physical. You cannot pin this on one factor. You just can't. And I think you know this. Laps are turned there in 15 seconds - Tom and any flagman, with help from race control, has a split second to react. What happened after that is in the driver's hands. We are all disappointed that Darren got hurt, but here is the deal - sometimes there are situations that just happen.

For the record - I'm not a dumb guy - the previous post took about a minute - but I did make a typo that I had to correct and that took another 15 seconds because it involves the oldest science fiction story line of all time - a notion that a random event has large consequences. This one took a bit longer.
-

[sceckert]

Pat, I agree.
After I was informed that the rule was established and announced at the driver's meeting, I realized right away that the flagman had no choice.
But I am no fan of that rule and that won't change.
Over half of all spins--WAY over half--are no-brainer cautions. No ifs. No ands. No buts.
If the rule is set in stone one way or the other--if there is to be NO interpretation of the events of the moment--than certainly erring on the side of caution is going to win out. Personally, the black flag idea for a last-place car spinning out on his own doesn't make me the least bit bothered.
Nobody made that cushion extra dangerous at that moment when Hagen jumped it. Hagen's crash was his and his alone. I cannot "unwrite" my morning-after vitriol that I posted while still bitter at the half-dozen utterly unsubstantiated "reports" I heard in the hours following Hagen's crash and excavation and medical attention. In that post, my directing of specific rebuke upon the flagman was unwarranted, because the rule IS the rule.
I can understand that Jerry and the fellow drivers prefer it, and I respect their position. In by far most of the cases, a yellow flag is completely necessary.
I would prefer to see the occasions when it is NOT necessary recognized.
I feel that Thomas' hasty spin-and-go was a textbook case of a caution not needing to be thrown. NOT because he didn't earn a black flag, but because he compromised nobody's pace but his own. Those occasions are rare. But this was one such occasion.
The flagman indeed deserved NONE of my frustrations, as his job is clear, and I did NOT know that rule until after my post. Just as I did not know through any confirmation until Sunday afternoon that Darren was, in fact, in the lifeflight. By the time that helicopter left, there was only speculation as to how hurt he might have been, and the foolish pronouncements of "I heard Hagen is...(fill in the rumored injury)" were background noise the rest of the evening. It built my frustration up, and I vented the next morning.
The flagman did his job. The safety crew did their job. The EMTs in the copter did their job, and that rule is the rule.
I just don't like the blanket "no exceptions" aspect of that rule.
But I'll keep going to the races, because the racing action between the caution periods on Saturday Night was why my money is there.

That's a great post - and I direct you back to the first sentence of my first post.

For the record - when the yellow came out I said bad words out loud too.

[Motormasher]

Non wing sprint cars shouldn't be on a half mile like Eldora or Terre Haute anyway, and this wouldn't ever happen.

Get well quick Darren!

[Joltin Joe]

[QUOTE=Motormasher;96760]Non wing sprint cars shouldn't be on a half mile like Eldora or Terre Haute anyway, and this wouldn't ever happen.

Motormasher,

if this is true, explain the reason two drivers last year got injured badly, one at padukah(1/3 mile) and one at laweranceburg (3/8 mile)?

regardly the size of the track, all froms of races are dangerous. THE DRIVER ASSUMES THE RISK!!!!!!!:loser:

GET WELL SOON BUDDY

[JordanBlanton]

Originally Posted by Motormasher Non wing sprint cars shouldn't be on a half mile like Eldora or Terre Haute anyway, and this wouldn't ever happen. Get well quick Darren!

Does this mean your car will stay parked when the savior steel block series (which runs a DT-3 tire...the ambiguity must be killing you) runs at Terre Haute and Eldora?

My hopes for a speedy recovery for Darren.

[6157]

Originally Posted by Motormasher Non wing sprint cars shouldn't be on a half mile like Eldora or Terre Haute anyway, and this wouldn't ever happen. Get well quick Darren!

Chad Boesflug, Kenny Biro, and Jimmy Weller say hi.