Little Eldora

Mud Packer · 9/27/10, 9:52 AM

I attended the Four Crown show this past weekend at Eldora. Tony Stewart has again put money back into the facility by adding the Little Eldora track for go karts and .25 midgets. In these tough economic times it is great to see a racer put money back into the sport in which he grew up.

Since my friends grandson races .25 midgets I ventured over to the track on Saturday morning. To my surprise over 240 cars were entered into the competition. It was great to see so many kids and their parents there racing. The age group was 5-16 according to the announcer. It was also nice to see people helping others working on racecars together.

Just another reminder why this sport is so special.

With that being said, I have some questions and observations. The races were run under the USAC series sanction. USAC has always been a leader in the industry when it comes to safety and technology. Here is what I would like someone to help me with.

1)Why does USAC allow the kids to lean to the left outside of both the rollcage and the nerf bars? Their head and neck are completely outside of the protective bars. If a 5 point safety belt is the standard, how can this possibly be installed correctly to allow this to happen? They look to be almost laying down in the cockpit. I was shocked to see kids coming out of the pits already leaning to the left with USAC officials helping push them off.

2)Second thing that jumped out at me was even more astonishing. Where was the ambulance? Apparently there wasn't an ambulance on site since they had to call one on Sunday from what I was told. I personally didn't see one on site and when I asked the question was told that it probably was someplace around close by.

3)The last question that I have is concerning parents being allowed on the track when cars are running under yellow? It seems that they allow parents and "handlers", the announcers term, to come onto the track under yellow flag conditions and push their car after a spin. Seems to me to be a really dangerous situation since they seem to only be concerned about their car and driver.

When I heard that USAC was getting into .25 midget sanctioning, I thought that the safety level would increase. From what I saw this weekend, apparently my thoughts were totally incorrect. I am interested in hearing from others and their thoughts on this as well.

MarkHarden · 9/27/10, 10:15 AM

The whole leaning to the left thing isn't to smart, I'm sure they do it for left side weight. My son raced .25 for a couple of years and I wouldn't let him lean out of the car like that. Thats what the springs are for. Maybe 27 wins was a fluke, but probably not... as in everything racing monkey see monkey do holds true.

Pat O'Connor Fan · 9/27/10, 10:21 AM

Two of my three grandsons formerly competed in QMs, and one has since advanced to mini-sprints. I agree with Mike's concerns on safety issues. Some of these same issues were seen at all of the QM events I ever attended, starting in 1958 in Cedar Rapids, IA.
The drivers leaning out to the left doesn't seem to end. My son told me that the vertical bar attached outside the cockpit on the driver's left is sometimes referred to as a "Bobby East bar" after a serious neck injury was incurred some years ago.
I think that some of these things we see as potentially unsafe will not be changed until someone gets hurt badly enough that "ambulance chasers" become involved.

KRJoyce1 · 9/27/10, 10:52 AM

I also am a firm believer that we need to keep these drivers inside the cage area. USAC Has had meetings regarding this safety issue and others that I have been included in. I am pretty sure they are putting rules in place that will take care of this in the near future.

Perhaps James will be able to give us an update on this to help answer your questions and concerns on this issue. It is a concern of many and is being seriously reviewed by USAC.

Thank you,

SPRINTCAR · 9/27/10, 11:52 AM

The accident requiring an ambulance was on Saturday and they did have to wait for it to arrive. It looked like another car got inside of the cockpit as the injured drivers car was sitting with the left side towards traffic. It took quite awhile to get the driver out as they used a neck and back brace. I hope they are alright. I agree with leaning out the left side, if no one is allowed then there should be no advantage.

sprintcar39 · 9/27/10, 3:33 PM

I dont get this at all ??

The quarter midgets are much safer than just about anything else a child can do. I wish I had the time to look up the statistics on how many children are hurt playing soccer, football, go karts, riding their bikes, riding four wheelers and dirt bikes and compare that to the sport of quarter midget racing. And I understand that many more kids ride bikes and play sports compared to qm racing but even if you broke it down I would bet that qm racing has less hospital visits.

I would also agree that some do lean out way to far - elbow dragging the ground would be excessive.

All the quarter midget kids wear SFI rated safety gear such as firesuits, arm restraints, gloves, seat belts and helmets. I for one like the idea of a roll cage that allows my driver even more protection that what a go kart ever will even if he is leaning to the left.

The ambulance was called for the child as a safety measure. As a matter of fact he was seen throwing a football and playing with all his fellow racers 15 minutes after that race.

Pushing the cars off with handlers is much safer than using a motorized vehicle. I read just the other day where a go karter about the age of nine was killed when he ran into a four wheeler and trailer that was headed onto the track to help another racer.

just my 2 cents

Mud Packer · 9/27/10, 4:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sprintcar39

I dont get this at all ??

The quarter midgets are much safer than just about anything else a child can do. I wish I had the time to look up the statistics on how many children are hurt playing soccer, football, go karts, riding their bikes, riding four wheelers and dirt bikes and compare that to the sport of quarter midget racing. And I understand that many more kids ride bikes and play sports compared to qm racing but even if you broke it down I would bet that qm racing has less hospital visits.

I would also agree that some do lean out way to far - elbow dragging the ground would be excessive.

All the quarter midget kids wear SFI rated safety gear such as firesuits, arm restraints, gloves, seat belts and helmets. I for one like the idea of a roll cage that allows my driver even more protection that what a go kart ever will even if he is leaning to the left.

The ambulance was called for the child as a safety measure. As a matter of fact he was seen throwing a football and playing with all his fellow racers 15 minutes after that race.

Pushing the cars off with handlers is much safer than using a motorized vehicle. I read just the other day where a go karter about the age of nine was killed when he ran into a four wheeler and trailer that was headed onto the track to help another racer.

just my 2 cents

Pardon me for being stupid.

What don't you get?????????????? I asked three questions concerning safety issues and wanted some feedback on this. I applaud Tony Stewart for building Little Eldora and USAC for being part of this as well.

I wasn't trying to compare .25 midget racing to any other sport including go karts. My comments were purely from my observations on Saturday morning at the track. It is a great form of racing and if conducted correctly with solid safety rules and regulations in place and enforced, should provide a fairly safe avenue for kids that age racing. RACING OF ANY TYPE ALWAYS INVOLVES SOME RISK AND THAT ALSO INCLUDES SPECTATORS AS WELL!