[Dalton Dietrich]

Blunt force neck injury. meaning the head and neck didnt fail. He was struck by something.

[RacingGirl10]

I, for one, know that these are sensitive questions but are also extremely important questions. Safety companies and fellow racers need to know what happened, what went wrong and if it was something that can be prevented in the future. Jerry and I discuss at great lengths what happened when fellow racers are injured or killed to give us a better idea what can be done to improve safety equipment. He has always made safety his first priority when racing (and now even more so with his job at Impact) so knowing the answers to these questions can only benefit other racers. I have read and heard all the details that have been released on Jason's accident because its such a high profile case, but have not heard what may have happened in Josh's accident.

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[Jerry Spencer]

You are right on the money Amy, Josh, Sarah and I were almost sick when we got the news.
One of the guys standing there had a pict. of the car and Josh studied the pict. as best he could trying to see what may have went wrong, sad to look at but if a pict. can save another driver by showing something that can be done to prevent it from happening againg we will look at it.

The day Jason came to Mini Indy was a day we will never forget as we had been friends ever since. Josh was racing and Jason was there hanging out with the kids.

This has been a very sad few days and the thought of his best friend wondering where his daddy is is almost more than we at Spencer Racing can stand.

Like I have said before tell them you love them every chance you get.

Jerry #66j

[KKinser99]

What of the biggest problems in sprint car racing is limited energy absorbing zones around driver. Non wing mainly but wing as well. May seem silly but if air bags were strategically placed around driver and expanded on impact it would help. Another issue is large opening around drivers head. Maybe add some additional framing to keep objects from entering the cage. Have to be careful not to prevent escape from fires though. Track safety a big problem as well. Ex: fence posts located around track. Blunt concrete barriers.

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[sc96]

To prevent a injury like Jason had should the dirt cars be built wider??? I am looking at a car in my shop and the head support only has about 1inch of clearance on a side impact (so its 1inch inside the frame) the rib support has a little more clearance. I can say that with a hard side impact it would be very easy for the head support to be hit and break then be pushed into the drivers head and neck area.

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[KKinser99]

Getting cars wider would help but are limited on the rear axle width. The ***** bar on the left side is the best for impacts I think. Then you have some available crush zone before contact with seat

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[sc96]

Originally Posted by KKinser99 Getting cars wider would help but are limited on the rear axle width. The ***** bar on the left side is the best for impacts I think. Then you have some available crush zone before contact with seat Posted via Mobile Device

To maximize the width on the left side of the chassis instead of the shock mount being outside of the frame could it be put on the inside it looks like the frame could be built wider put the shock towers inside and the radius rods could run flat along the frame rail

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[darnall]

I can't see any reason why a wider frame, especially in the cage area, wouldn't be a safer design.. Unfortunately unless it is mandated very few would use it. The stealth midget chassis was considered to be the best chassis you could get for years and years...they also offered a widebody version and I have heard way more negative feedback about trying to make those cars work right.. so people automatically assume a wider frame won't be as fast...so it will be much more difficult to get the masses onboard with using them. Just like the vertical sidebar safety cage bars...they obviously help keep a car out of the cockpit, but less than half the cars being raced use them, and the more professional the series is (USAC, WOO) the fewer sidebars you see on cars...people are convinced that the sidebars bind up the frame and don't let it flex correctly, so they don't want them on the car. I was talking to a very successful car builder a few years ago (actually was given the USAC builder of the year award more than once) and he said he refused to put the sidebars on any car he built...he followed that up with a comment along the lines of "If you think you need a safety cage you shouldn't be racing....if you aren't willing to have a car get inside the cage with you you shouldn't be driving one at all..besides, they don't let the frame flex correctly"... Going to be difficult to get changes made when people have attitudes like that. A few years ago a company came up with a weld in hoop deal that ran from the buttbar to each side lower frame rail that practically eliminated the chance of a rearend striking the bottom of the seat in a hard flip, and had been proven not to affect chassis flex at all....but I still don't see any chassis being built with this as a standard component, and come to think of it I don't remember ever seeing it on the list of options from any chassis builder.

As drivers we are responsible for what we put on and what we buckle in to. The double edge sword to that is that somebody who makes a living as a driver has to accept the best ride he is offered if he wants to make more money or increase his stock. There is a line a mile long of guys willing to take any ride away from any driver. So if I get offered a high profile ride am I really going to go in there demanding that the owner buys another chassis with a halo, safety cage bars, the buttbar addition, a wider cage, Jeff Swindells new seat mount system, etc? I may ask or mention it, but when that car owner or crewchief says "We don't use that crap on our cars...they won't handle right with it".. I have to decide if I want to go ahead and walk away from the opportunity or if I want to assume the extra risk in order to win races, make money and make a bigger name for myself. There are way more drivers than rides and a guy who turns down too many soon realizes there's nobody left to hire him.

I fully believe that I have no control of how long I have left on this earth...that being said, I do feel like it is still my responsibility to do my part to help maintain the quality of life I am used to. If that means my car won't hook up quite as well as the next guys on a slick track because of a couple extra bars, so be it...I will just have to get better at pedalling it off the corners. I race for fun, for a hobby, to fulfill a passion. Racing is not my livelihood. I don't have to run top 5 every night to be able to eat through the week. If driving a sprintcar was my primary source of income I can't be sure my opinions would be the same.

[ThePurple73]

I have often thought some type of mini airbag halo system built into the upper seat system may help. The airbags would deploy on hard contact surrounding the helmet area somehow. Again just a thought.

I think all Sprints wing or no wing and midgets should have an RII (remote ignition interuptor) where if a car does get in trouble maybe shutting it down may help save the driver or anyone that has to get close. I seen a few time drivers are knocked out foot still in throttle. Luckily both were still upside down and didn't land on wheels. If monster jam trucks use them and they do use them why can't sprints or midgets. I hear it cost to much but what's another 1500 to an already 60grand plus car.

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