PAPosse

Jeez, I’m a big U2 fan. For a second I thought Bono put his foot in his mouth (again).

I think if he had designed airbags, he would have driven in to a wall head on to test them.

I agree Reb. I didn't mean to imply it was an anomaly so it doesn't need to be looked at to see what could have been done to keep it from happening. Ideally, the cell would have stayed in the car and, if it had, the chances of fire would have been minimized. The device you posted addresses a worst case scenario which, of course, is what safety is all about. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best. Anybody who's watched the various angles of the accident available thanks to social media knows there are a lot of things to look at with this accident - on the track, in the cars, in the infield - it could have been so much worse...thankfully everyone is still here to try and learn from it.

As a matter of discussion, because I am no engineer and the farthest thing from an expert. I think with Bonnett’s accident I would really look at how the cell came entirely out of another car in the first place.. How could it have been better secured? Without rupturing of course. The freak nature of that accident resulted in the fuel cell from another car coming to rest against Bonnett’s. Safety crews went in and got him as he struggled to get out with a broken leg. There is a lot to look at here. The device seems practical enough, just wondering what kind of testing has been done?

Didn’t keep the fans away

49 cars within 1/2 a second of each other. That’s crazy.

It’s been awhile since I’ve visited the site, but I just had to give a shout out to Aaron Reutzel. I don’t know him personally, but met him briefly at one of the ASCS shows about 10 years ago while I was stationed in San Antonio. He seems to be doing Texas proud as he is showing up everywhere in the national results - doesn’t matter if its WoO, All Stars, ASCS or non-sanctioned events - he is a threat to win every time out. Most recently he took the Tuscarora 50 at Port Royal, PA which is a very prestigious race in that area. I was a bit of a fan of his in Texas, but can’t say I envisioned him accomplishing all that he has. I am happy to say “I saw him when ....”. Hoping for continued success...

He does.

He does.

Friesen drives his backup truck to a 2nd place finish.

I was surprised to see Perris mentioned. To put it in perspective: I didn’t want to get on my soapbox either, but there were a few things my dad drove into me when I was a kid: 1. The corners are a dangerous place to watch a race. 2. Don’t ever turn your back to the track. 3. Don’t sit where the cars are coming straight at you - “But dad, those Outlaws look awesome coming down the straight away” 4. Once physics takes over - you can’t predict whats going to happen. As most of us know, sprint car tires are lighter than they appear to be, and they will bounce quite a ways. You would not catch me on that catwalk. My mom almost got hit by a tire in the pits at Fonda, NY in the mid 80s. She luckily jumped into the hauler and closed the door before the tire reached our pit stall. We were a good 200 feet from the fence and it totally caved in the side of the door. Back to Perris, I agree the fence is one of the highest I have seen, and it looks to be pretty darn strong.

Higher, stronger catch fencing. https://autoweek.com/article/racing/watch-brinton-marvels-sprint-car-flies-stands-ohio

Or at least build a separate wing.

I liked in the interview how he said Menard just came down on him, then when they rolled the “tape” he just stumbled on his words. I agree he messed up - it wasn’t intentional, but he did screw up.

That's just collateral damage.

Wow. Just.....wow. I am too young to have ever seen him race, but I know he was very popular in my neck of the woods.

We’ll disqualify you if your car is 3/1000ths of an inch too low, but go ahead and punt the leader out of the way going in to turn 3. We’ll let that stand.

Working together. What a concept! Though I am no longer living there, its good to see a track in the works. Out here in CA, the drifting and drag races at Irwindale attract good crowds (even though the place seemed destined to close recently). Best of luck to everyone involved.

My first thought after I read the title was “he almost won the first time out”.