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THR cancelled


jamie37

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I JUST GOT ONE THING TO SAY. THAT IS THE MOST PISS POOR ATEMPT I.VE EVER SEEN AT STANDING BEHIND YOUR DRIVERS AND CREW TO GET A RACE OFF, I WAS THERE AT 2.30 WITH MY CAR READY TO RACE THE WEATHER WES GOOD AND THE TRACK WAS IN GOOD SHAPE WE COULD HAVE MADE THE RACE EASY , I.VE SEEN THR OPEN WHEN IT WAS WAY WETTER THAN THAT I.M JUST PISSED OF BECAUSE THEY CALLED ALL THE LATE MODEL DRIVERS AND AND WE ALL DID WHAT WE COULD TO MAKE THIS RACE WE HAD ABOUT 10 COMMITTED, AND AT 3.00 AND TWENTY MILES FROM THE SHOP NOT A CALL TO AT LEAST GIVE US NOTICE SO WE COULD CHANGE GEARS AND GO TO SA, NO CHANCE TO MAKE SA BEFORE QULIFYING, SO MUCH FOR THR LOYALTY TO THE DRIVERS. ABSOLUTLY CHICKEN [edited out by Nick Holt, 5/1/05] ATEMPT....WADDY GONE TO SA TO WATCH THE RACES WE FINALLY GET SOME HOUSTON DR,S TO SUPPORT THE TRACK AND THEY HAVE TO TURN AROUND AND GO BACK HOME CHICKEN [edited out by Nick Holt, 5/1/-5]

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I have 75ft of cable and enough chain on my wrecker to pull anything out of the infield if needed on days like this. I say if you end up in the mud yuo get out and watch untill the race is over, then ill drag it up on the bed. no mud on the track, water hose on the back fence to clean the cars up . If the track is dry and the pits ok then i say lets get it on cleatus.

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Here's another point to consider.

 

Have you ever seen the THR track surface covered with rocks after someone takes an excursion into the THR infield? Just imagine the mess if someone were to spread mud, instead of just rocks, all through one of the turns. Just exactly how would Wes and his fine clean-up crew clean it all up?

 

I suppose you could have a fire truck ready and hose it all off and then dry it off with the track's blower. But that might take a hour or two. And you can imagine the mess if you simply tried to broom it off the track.

 

Nick Holt

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just cant imagine a race car hauling ass out of control thru the wet grass and smashing into the wall.............talk about a head ache...........

 

Having seen it a number of times, It ain't pretty.

A whole bunch of years ago, before the inner retaining walls at San Antonio, Ricci Ware JR hit an infield light pole in turn one after spinning into the wet grass. Pretty much wiped out the car; I believe it was a Bubba Storbeck car.

 

I was at Mobile one night in the 80's for an All-Pro race, and one of the guys got pushed off the track in turn one. The grass was wet, and he slid to within about 25 feet of the parking area for the drag strip. Those who have been there know this is a good distance.

 

Biggest issue for Kyle last Saturday would have been the guy who spun into the infield, and no matter how much you try to stop him, would have still driven back on the track. Mud is hard to clean, and harder to race asphalt cars on.

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Im not sure where he had the BAD wreck. I think it was at SAS. I do know he had a wreck that ended his racing career. I believe he broke his back. I could be wrong but thats how I remember it.

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Thanks Papa,

 

Kind of like you, I find myself being somewhat of an amatuer historian especially in the Austin and SA areas, regarding racing. So much of that history is so fragmented I'm afraid much of it has been lost forever. That's why I try to pick up little tid-bits of information here and there, anytime I can. When we get through, maybe they'll let us store all that info here on Txsz for everyone to study and use.

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Ricci Jr had a few fairly spectacular wrecks I witnessed during his racing.

One night, at Pan American, he slid into the turn 2 fence, and ended up suspended about 6 feet off the ground.

The wreckers had fun getting the car down.

The light pole incident was at Hwy 16, as SAS was known then. The timeframe is about '80 or so. It was a clean looking car, a Frank Deiny (Speedway Engineering)chassis

He was not hurt in either wreck.

Papa, Hwy 16 is where he also vaulted the backstretch fence in his own car, and it was the track he broke his neck at about '87 or so, which ended his driving. They were running a sort of "modified" class, basically late models with the front fenders taken off, similar to the way they ran them the last year Pan American was open.

 

Still see Ricci JR , he lives about 5 minutes away, and he has built a great looking track roadster to run around in. Another Pan Am name, Gary Mahoney, helped build it, and also Harry Kinsey, who is the current USRA official.

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and it was the track he broke his neck at about '87 or so, which ended his driving. They were running a sort of "modified" class, basically late models with the front fenders taken off, similar to the way they ran them the last year Pan American was open.

Tom,

 

Actually it was August 26, 1989, at San Antonio International Speedway (now called San Antonio Speedway) when Frank Howell owned the Speedway and had hired Ricci Ware Sr as the Promoter and Consultant. I was sitting right next to Ware Sr. in the press box as the accident took place.

 

At the time, I was the motorsports writer for The San Antonio Light and I wrote about the wreck in the Sunday, August 27th edition.

 

Veteran stock car driver Ricci Ware Jr. was seriously injured after slamming head-on into the steel front straight retaining wall during the Open Wheel Super Modified main event at San Antonio International Speedway.

 

Ware, 29, who lost control after making contact with Audie Howell coming off the fourth turn as the pair diced for second place, was transported to Wilford Hall Medical Center by MAST helicopter in undetermined condition.

 

Track safery workers , who managed to get Ware out of the mangled race car and into the helicopter, were unable to determine the nature or extent of Ware's injuries, but reported he was "hurt bad."

 

Track officials reported that Ware was conscious and his vital signs stable, but were not sure of his condition.

 

Ware, who has been racing competitively since the age of 3, was competing in only the second Open Wheel Super Modified race ever at the half -mile oval.

 

Then, in a follow up story a week later, I wrote:

 

Ricci Ware, Jr, who broke his neck and suffered numerous internal injuries in a serious stock car racing accident a week ago Saturday night at San Antonio International Speedway, underwent major surgery on his neck Friday.

 

According to his father, Ricci Ware, Sr., Ware is expected to make a full recovery and should be released from Wilford Hall USAF Medical center "in about a week."

 

Ware quoted the doctor who operated on his son as saying, "We've got to thank God for this one.  I've done a zillion of these, but I've never seen one this bad where the patient was not already totally paralyzed."

 

According to Ware Sr., Ware's condition is still listed as critical, but should be upgraded to serious by today.

 

"He'll be wearing a halo and have four screws in his head until December and he'll be facing therapy, but at least he should be OK."

 

Just a week later, on September 4, 1989, the worst wreck involving fire any of us had ever seen took place during a TIDA SLM event. Four cars were engulfed in flames on the front straight for what seemed like an eternity. You could feel the intense heat all the way up to the press box. What a totally helpless feeling -- four of your friends were burning alive and there was nothing you could do about it.

 

Beaver Stelzig and John Walker managed to get out fairly quickly, but John Denman and Mike Meeks were serously burned. Meeks was the most seriously burned and spend several months in the hospital.

 

Nick Holt

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I remember that fire, Nick. Right in front of the gate at the south end of the stands.

That was the night Dave Despain was here to

do a story on the TIDA late models for the ESPN show he had at that time. I don't remember the show's name.

Meeks got it the worst, Mike Denman was more fortunate.

I think Rick Rapp won that one, with Greg Davidson second.

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Yep, Rick Rick led every lap (103 laps due to the fire on lap 98). As you say, Davidson was second followed by Jay Watson, Larry Schild and Tommy Grothues.

 

John Kelly, Rick's arch rival at the time, dropped out early with carburetor problems and finished 23rd in the 25 car field.

 

Nick Holt

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Keep talkin guys,

 

Don't stop now. We can get the "Racing History Channel" started right here and now. I know for every racing story I know, there must be hundreds I don't, and that's just in the Austin/San Antonio region. I'm sure there is at least every bit as much or more in Houston and Corpus.

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