Rumble Strips Probable Cause in Loss of Life to Young Racer
 

http://public.fotki.com/DollarDave/c.../p8150946.html

The above link is to a photo of the "rumble strips" that were a part of the former Cajon Speedway in El Cajon , California. These strips were inside of the turns 1 and 2 ; 3 and 4 areas.

Cajon Speedway opened as a 3/8ths mile dirt oval in '61 ; was paved in '67. These rumble strips were added at a later date. Cajon lost their lease in 2005 and closed. Those familiar with this track may recall the murder of the promoter in 2003. Steven Bruckner was killed in a botched home invasion robbery.

Why am I telling you this ? ... Because Iam convinced that these strips took the life of 22 year old racer Kara Hendrick in 1991.

Kara was driving in only her third USAC Western States Midget Series event on October 5, 1991. And it was only her second time out in her new state-of-the-art full Beast Midget.

Initial reports believed there to be some sort of mechanical failure as on-lookers noted sparks coming from the undercarriage of her car and as she entered the third turn.

Others said that Kara was inexperienced and driving "over her head" that day.

What is not disputed is that Kara had driven up and onto those rumble strips , later to be referred as "ripple strips" in the media reports following her accident.
Striking these strips at speed upset her car causing it to flip violently with subsequent contact with another midget , striking the outside concrete wall ( top of cage first ) , flipping over that wall and coming to rest after hitting a billboard sign.

These "strips" are actually individual sections spaced about 12 feet apart. Each strip is about 4 inches tall. However , it should be noted that these strips are on a concrete curbing or slab that is 3 to 4 inches above the track surface. A typical "strip" may be a height of as much as 8 inches tall .

Pavement midgets ride at a very low "ride height" and in many cases only a couple inches to the lower frame rail. Striking something 6 to 8 inches in height and riding up and over it caused this accident.

While we don't have to worry about Cajon anymore , I do believe that some of these same and similar hazards do exist today at some Midget venues. And this is why USAC and all other sanctioning organizations have got to inspect the tracks where they approve event scheduling.

Iam convinced that in the absence of those ripple/rumble strips at Cajon , Kara Hendrick would not have lost her young life that day.

Cajon was primarily a stock car venue where Late Models , Street Stocks , Hornets , Bombers and Legends posed little in consequence to those rumble strips.
Midgets are a different animal and track owners and sanctioning bodies must be aware of that difference to run a safe show.

Re: Rumble Strips Probable Cause in Loss of Life to Young Racer
 

Thanks for dredging up horrible memories and being THE ONLY PERSON in nearly 20 years to blame the track for this.

Re: Rumble Strips Probable Cause in Loss of Life to Young Racer
 

Originally Posted by 6157:
Thanks for dredging up horrible memories and being THE ONLY PERSON in nearly 20 years to blame the track for this.

pgray has a theory about an accident and expressed it on a message board. what's the problem? in lieu of how USAC handled the "Liberty IN debacle" last season, his point has some merit.

Re: Rumble Strips Probable Cause in Loss of Life to Young Racer
 

On a side note, why the close of the Cajon Speedway?

Re: Rumble Strips Probable Cause in Loss of Life to Young Racer
 

Originally Posted by 6157:
Thanks for dredging up horrible memories and being THE ONLY PERSON in nearly 20 years to blame the track for this.

When an obviously intelligent, thoughtful, articulate racer posts his concerns about certain features present at some racing venues, how can you possibly respond in such a negative manner?

Re: Rumble Strips Probable Cause in Loss of Life to Young Racer
 

On a side note, why the close of the Cajon Speedway?

The track was adjacent to a regional airport and light industrial area. The land was more valuable to develop than it was as a racetrack.

Re: Rumble Strips Probable Cause in Loss of Life to Young Racer
 

I can't see how it could possibly be pinned directly on the rumble strips?
Had the strips never been hit before?
Why would it not be blamed on a wall that was unprotected on top, leaving a blunt edge to hit?
Why would it not be weak cage structure?

That's like blaming a vicious crash at Eldora on the concrete wall. Or blaming a bad flip at Gas City or Kokomo on a big rut. Or blaming the lack of fenders when someone rides a wheel and flips.

I've seen bad things happen when cars go into the grass at IRP. Or trip over the berm at Knoxville. Or hit an infield tire at Bloomington. There are things at every track that can cause someone to crash - the point is to make the objects that can be hit during a crash less lethal.

Re: Rumble Strips Probable Cause in Loss of Life to Young Racer
 

Originally Posted by Kirk Spridgeon:
I can't see how it could possibly be pinned directly on the rumble strips?
Had the strips never been hit before?
Why would it not be blamed on a wall that was unprotected on top, leaving a blunt edge to hit?
Why would it not be weak cage structure?

That's like blaming a vicious crash at Eldora on the concrete wall. Or blaming a bad flip at Gas City or Kokomo on a big rut. Or blaming the lack of fenders when someone rides a wheel and flips.

I've seen bad things happen when cars go into the grass at IRP. Or trip over the berm at Knoxville. Or hit an infield tire at Bloomington. There are things at every track that can cause someone to crash - the point is to make the objects that can be hit during a crash less lethal.

Or the white paint at IMS

Re: Rumble Strips Probable Cause in Loss of Life to Young Racer
 

Spridge and 6157, now that i think about it, you guys are right. Why worry about the facilities? I mean if a track has spikes sticking out of the top of the wall and a dumb driver can't control his/her car well enough to keep from getting impaled by them, WELL, whose fault is that???!!! Hazards make openwheel racing more more interesting for the fans!! leave'em there!!! :doh:

on a more serious note, the way pgray describes the "rumble strips", it sounds like a very unusual design situation that needed to be corrected with a back hoe and a dump truck before allowing openwheelers on the track. Just going by what Paul described. I've never actually been to Cajon.

Re: Rumble Strips Probable Cause in Loss of Life to Young Racer
 

I've gotta go with Kirk on this one... I've driven at some of the worst tracks in the midwest and at the end of the day the driver is always responsible to deciede if he or she wants to compete. If you feel like you can't keep the car off the rumble strips then maybe you shouldn't run that track. A great example that comes to mind is the speedrome in Indianapolis and their infield "pods". They are basically a concrete trashcan lid marking the inside of the turns and all it took was hitting one once and you never got close again. Blaming the rumble strips is pretty weak in my opinion. I for one don't drive a racecar to be safe, I do it for the enjoyment and whatever happens...happens. There isn't a safe place to be found at any racetrack, grandstands included, that's what the big sign "enter at your own risk" means.

kevin studley

Re: Rumble Strips Probable Cause in Loss of Life to Young Racer
 

I was told years ago that it was believed that the throttle had stuck open in Kara's accident. Story had it that there was some contact with another car, possibly inflicting damage to the injectors sticking out of the left side of the cowl on her car, which may have in turn caused the throttle issue.
I wasn't there, didn't witness it, only repeating what a Western States car owner had told my late car-owning brother.

Re: Rumble Strips Probable Cause in Loss of Life to Young Racer
 

Originally Posted by Pat O'Connor Fan:
When an obviously intelligent, thoughtful, articulate racer posts his concerns about certain features present at some racing venues, how can you possibly respond in such a negative manner?

Be thankful thats all I posted. There's a lot more I feel like saying to Paul Gray for this irrelevant, pointless, 100% uninformed post.

She's gone. We don't need some Don Moore-light stirring up the internet with his opinion on an accident he never saw and a track he'd never been to.

Re: Rumble Strips Probable Cause in Loss of Life to Young Racer
 

Originally Posted by cecil98:
Spridge and 6157, now that i think about it, you guys are right. Why worry about the facilities? I mean if a track has spikes sticking out of the top of the wall and a dumb driver can't control his/her car well enough to keep from getting impaled by them, WELL, whose fault is that???!!! Hazards make openwheel racing more more interesting for the fans!! leave'em there!!! :doh:

on a more serious note, the way pgray describes the "rumble strips", it sounds like a very unusual design situation that needed to be corrected with a back hoe and a dump truck before allowing openwheelers on the track. Just going by what Paul described. I've never actually been to Cajon.

Did you even read my post?

Originally Posted by :
I've seen bad things happen when cars go into the grass at IRP. Or trip over the berm at Knoxville. Or hit an infield tire at Bloomington. There are things at every track that can cause someone to crash - the point is to make the objects that can be hit during a crash less lethal.

I'm not a fan of the Bloomington tires, or really most of the tires that mark the inside of a track, but how is that any different than the rumble strips? You do run at Lawrenceburg, right? If you hit an infield tire, does it not often result in crashes?

Re: Rumble Strips Probable Cause in Loss of Life to Young Racer
 

This topic will do nothing but promote mud slinging. Therefore, I have no comment

:checkered:

Re: Rumble Strips Probable Cause in Loss of Life to Young Racer
 

Jay Drake here, (using my wifes login.)

I want to interject here as this topic hits close to me. Kara was one of my very best freinds. She was also a fierce competitior of mine while we raced TQ midgets on the west coast. A very talented driver. I was at the race that day, in fact I had just won the TQ feature. I sat on Kara's LR tire as she got ready to push off for the main and she congratulated me for the victory and told me that after her race she would be my trophy girl, and that if she won, I would be hers. These were the last words we ever spoke.
I stood at the fence and watched the race. As I remember it, Kara had made contact with another car a lap prior to her accident. She had an old style Fontana engine, which had the injectors sticking out the left side of the car quite far. When hers and the other car bumped side to side in the corner the injectors got askewed, subsequently when Kara mashed the throttle (she was a "masher") coming out of turn two, the throttle linkage flipped over center and hung wide open. As she approched the turn and lifting point, the car would not decelerate and her only option was to turn early onto the rumble strips which did then launch her car across the track into another and eventually up and into the crash wall.
It was a very hard thing to see, and still is a very sad memory.
Had the rumble strips not been there, perhaps the accident would not been as severe, but they were not the sole cause of it.
The following year, the race was called the Kara Hendrick memorial, and I was fortunate enough to win it as well. The two trophies are a part of my collection that I will keep forever.
It's good that Kara is remembered. I got to visit with her brothers Kenny and Danny (also former west coast TQ racers) recently in CA. as they remain good freinds.

Jay Drake

Re: Rumble Strips Probable Cause in Loss of Life to Young Racer
 

I still have my Kara Hendrick T-shirt. I treasure it.

BTW, I think Jay said it better than anybody could. He should know.:respect:

Re: Rumble Strips Probable Cause in Loss of Life to Young Racer
 

Thanks, Jay...
We always followed Kara's results very closely - being that my sister shared the same first name, we always had an interest in how she did! It would have been interesting to see how her career progressed....very sad indeed!

Re: Rumble Strips Probable Cause in Loss of Life to Young Racer
 

Originally Posted by Heidi Drake:
Jay Drake here, (using my wifes login.)

I want to interject here as this topic hits close to me. Kara was one of my very best freinds. She was also a fierce competitior of mine while we raced TQ midgets on the west coast. A very talented driver. I was at the race that day, in fact I had just won the TQ feature. I sat on Kara's LR tire as she got ready to push off for the main and she congratulated me for the victory and told me that after her race she would be my trophy girl, and that if she won, I would be hers. These were the last words we ever spoke.
I stood at the fence and watched the race. As I remember it, Kara had made contact with another car a lap prior to her accident. She had an old style Fontana engine, which had the injectors sticking out the left side of the car quite far. When hers and the other car bumped side to side in the corner the injectors got askewed, subsequently when Kara mashed the throttle (she was a "masher") coming out of turn two, the throttle linkage flipped over center and hung wide open. As she approched the turn and lifting point, the car would not decelerate and her only option was to turn early onto the rumble strips which did then launch her car across the track into another and eventually up and into the crash wall.
It was a very hard thing to see, and still is a very sad memory.
Had the rumble strips not been there, perhaps the accident would not been as severe, but they were not the sole cause of it.
The following year, the race was called the Kara Hendrick memorial, and I was fortunate enough to win it as well. The two trophies are a part of my collection that I will keep forever.
It's good that Kara is remembered. I got to visit with her brothers Kenny and Danny (also former west coast TQ racers) recently in CA. as they remain good freinds.

Jay Drake

VERY NICE POST:thumb

Re: Rumble Strips Probable Cause in Loss of Life to Young Racer
 

Jay, Thank you for bringing intelligent, informed information to this topic. So many topics degenerate into the abyss of mud slinging and half informed opinion. It is refreshing to see this board function in a manner that educates. The personal side is interesting as well and I applaud you for having the fortitude to speak of such a great personal loss.

Re: Rumble Strips Probable Cause in Loss of Life to Young Racer
 

I have attended races at Cajon Speedway. A couple of sprint pavement shows .The Piper rear engine car.Wally was a terrior in that car on west coast.At the time it was dirt they ran Super Modfieds.Anyone on here remember the all black CRA team in the 60s ?Mr Drake will you be racing in 09?Hope see you at Chili Bowl!!!

Re: Rumble Strips Probable Cause in Loss of Life to Young Racer
 

Originally Posted by Heidi Drake:
Jay Drake here, (using my wifes login.)

I want to interject here as this topic hits close to me. Kara was one of my very best freinds. She was also a fierce competitior of mine while we raced TQ midgets on the west coast. A very talented driver. I was at the race that day, in fact I had just won the TQ feature. I sat on Kara's LR tire as she got ready to push off for the main and she congratulated me for the victory and told me that after her race she would be my trophy girl, and that if she won, I would be hers. These were the last words we ever spoke.
I stood at the fence and watched the race. As I remember it, Kara had made contact with another car a lap prior to her accident. She had an old style Fontana engine, which had the injectors sticking out the left side of the car quite far. When hers and the other car bumped side to side in the corner the injectors got askewed, subsequently when Kara mashed the throttle (she was a "masher") coming out of turn two, the throttle linkage flipped over center and hung wide open. As she approched the turn and lifting point, the car would not decelerate and her only option was to turn early onto the rumble strips which did then launch her car across the track into another and eventually up and into the crash wall.
It was a very hard thing to see, and still is a very sad memory.
Had the rumble strips not been there, perhaps the accident would not been as severe, but they were not the sole cause of it.
The following year, the race was called the Kara Hendrick memorial, and I was fortunate enough to win it as well. The two trophies are a part of my collection that I will keep forever.
It's good that Kara is remembered. I got to visit with her brothers Kenny and Danny (also former west coast TQ racers) recently in CA. as they remain good freinds.

Jay Drake

End of discussion.

Re: Rumble Strips Probable Cause in Loss of Life to Young Racer
 

Originally Posted by Heidi Drake:
Jay Drake here, (using my wifes login.)

I want to interject here as this topic hits close to me. Kara was one of my very best freinds. She was also a fierce competitior of mine while we raced TQ midgets on the west coast. A very talented driver. I was at the race that day, in fact I had just won the TQ feature. I sat on Kara's LR tire as she got ready to push off for the main and she congratulated me for the victory and told me that after her race she would be my trophy girl, and that if she won, I would be hers. These were the last words we ever spoke.
I stood at the fence and watched the race. As I remember it, Kara had made contact with another car a lap prior to her accident. She had an old style Fontana engine, which had the injectors sticking out the left side of the car quite far. When hers and the other car bumped side to side in the corner the injectors got askewed, subsequently when Kara mashed the throttle (she was a "masher") coming out of turn two, the throttle linkage flipped over center and hung wide open. As she approched the turn and lifting point, the car would not decelerate and her only option was to turn early onto the rumble strips which did then launch her car across the track into another and eventually up and into the crash wall.
It was a very hard thing to see, and still is a very sad memory.
Had the rumble strips not been there, perhaps the accident would not been as severe, but they were not the sole cause of it.
The following year, the race was called the Kara Hendrick memorial, and I was fortunate enough to win it as well. The two trophies are a part of my collection that I will keep forever.
It's good that Kara is remembered. I got to visit with her brothers Kenny and Danny (also former west coast TQ racers) recently in CA. as they remain good freinds.

Jay Drake

As a witness on this horrifying night, Jay could not have been more right on.

I, while not disputing what Jay said, heard that it was also in fact a stuck throttle. I heard that one of the tiny screws in the butterflies got loose and hung it open. She then turned to the infield where the car got out of control and climbed over another car (Ricky Grey innocent bystander) and got airborne hitting the wall cage first.

Again this was a freak incident that could have happened to anyone, not anything to do with an inexperienced driver. I think Jay would admit that Kara maybe had more driving experience than more than half the field that evening.

On another note. How did Kara do early in that evening....... It was fast time with a New Track Record that never did or will never be (track no longer in exsistance) broken.

Re: Rumble Strips Probable Cause in Loss of Life to Young Racer
 

I don't know Paul, but I am siding on the side that he was just making a point about track safety. I think this topic is officially closed.

Re: Rumble Strips Probable Cause in Loss of Life to Young Racer
 

Tragedy is always hard to talk about and unless you can learn from it and correct problems leading up to accidents it is pointless to talk about them. My wife and I were members of the International Council Of Motor Sport Sciences and had our own firm called Racing Safety Research and tried to investigate accidents and provide a clearing house for solutions and there are a number of firms that do that. Perhaps that what is needed is a national group similar to ICMS that could gather a route information to the affected mfg.
or track without bias and understanding that it is a dangerous sport but there are ways to reduce the hazards. I really wish there was a way to educate the bullet proof rookies.

Re: Rumble Strips Probable Cause in Loss of Life to Young Racer
 

Sounds like Paul has way to much time on his hands. Maybe he should investigate the Kennedy assisination???????

Re: Rumble Strips Probable Cause in Loss of Life to Young Racer
 

Thus far, there have been 24 replies to Paul's post which started this thread. Only two have been negative toward Paul in a personal manner. So what is the problem with those two people? Are they jealous of Paul because he is a race car driver? Are they jealous of Paul because he is intelligent, thoughtful, erudite, and articulate?

Re: Rumble Strips Probable Cause in Loss of Life to Young Racer
 

Originally Posted by Pat O'Connor Fan:
Thus far, there have been 24 replies to Paul's post which started this thread. Only two have been negative toward Paul in a personal manner. So what is the problem with those two people? Are they jealous of Paul because he is a race car driver? Are they jealous of Paul because he is intelligent, thoughtful, erudite, and articulate?

Or we're angry this nobody chose a tragedy that hits close to home to make a very poor effort in his attempt to blame it on the racetrack instead of where the fault really lies: The stuck throttle.