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.

[Heromaker]

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.

[LEADERS EDGE]

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.

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.

[rhk3]

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

[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?

[6157]

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.