The cage is a great idea. Then he won't notice (or won't be able to do anything about) me taking his money and being constructive with it. The whole Road America episode is here: http://myelcamino.net/cars/RoadAmerica/index.htm The picture in the control tower, with all the monitors, is where we were standing when the GT hit the wall. I saw it on the screen, and the guy sitting down went in to action calling safety personnel. Details on the crash here: http://myelcamino.net/cars/gt40/index.htm That was one hell of a ride in that Noble. We could only hit a little over 160 in the straight, but it is largely up a steep hill. The next day, Richard set the course record for a street legal car. This season, he bested that, and was the fastest car on the track at the same event. This is against race prepared cars. I never thought I would see Ford GT's, and 427 Cobra's disappear in the rear view mirror.... but it happened many times on those 6 laps. They saw us coming, and waived us around. I am getting a rush just thinking about it. My friend Stan (Rich's Dad) drove the Noble home from the track. Rich had gotten off in the dirt, and Stan had just finished washing it all off. Then he drove it to the store to say hi. Stan's cancer is so far in remission again. He is on the beach in Mexico as we speak. Good for him. I worked at the Award tent with his wife Carmen, volunteering at the Concours. Great couple of human beings. This should fulfill my requirement of cute chick pictures for the day. (Carmen and Stan Drab) Stan was playing goalie in a soccer league and hurt his hand. He was diagnosed 4 years ago with lung cancer, and given 7 months. He is tenacious! JC --- John A. Christensen, G.G. State Street Jewelers, Geneva, IL http://www.statestreetjewelers.com On Thu, Nov 19, 2009 at 10:17 PM, Ray Buck <rbuck@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > Ouch is right. I think I have a fairly good idea for the tubing in his > garage: Build a cage for him and don't let him out unless he's on a leash. > :) > > The chance of something happening at that venue in Florida might go like > this: One of the cars that hasn't been teched closely (or maybe even one > that has...it happens) loses something like a sheet metal screw or other > sharp object. Too small to be easily seen, but not too small to go through > a tire. Then one of the cars in the middle of that 5-wide drag race runs > over it at about a buck-fifty. That leads...at the very least...to a severe > swerve and a collision with at least one of the other cars. The real bad > scenario would be the swerve turning into a pencil or barrel roll taking out > several other cars with fire involved. Multiple fatalities aren't > inconceivable in that case. And that's the end of "Land Speed Racing" in > Florida and possibly other areas...probably for the foreseeable future > unless it's at venues with a good safety record (which is a relative thing. > There was "only" one fatality at Bonneville and one at Maxton, NC; none at > El Mirage nor the Texas Mile...both motorcycles...one a motorcycle liner, > the other a partially-streamlined sit-on bike.) But aside from the human > tragedy, the amount of work that SCTA-BNI and USAFRA (and ECTA at Maxton) > puts into safety and a "safe racing image" will be virtually wasted for > God-knows-how-long. > > I hope someone like ECTA can come in there and take over the sanctioning of > the venue. Btw, did you notice the advice given to the drivers to take the > corner at 60-70 and then they should be able to hit 200? That perpendicular > start to a supposedly straight line race (admittedly, most of the cars there > were capable of it) is one reason that numerous motorcycle riders don't run > at the BUB meet on the salt. That and the "Run What Ya Brung" class...that > allows pretty much anything to race. Check out this photo: > http://www.chevyasylum.com/lsr/bsf2009/bub/pix/20090830_0475r8a_jpg.htmland > the whole "quick pix" section...I haven't gotten thru with editing the > Speed Week photos...and all the others...and this eyeball thing has set me > back. Nonetheless, the shot of Mark Assen of New Zealand leaning into the > turn around the mile marker is basically the same thing. Fortunately nobody > laid a bike down at that point (a couple of them did further down the > course, but injuries were minimal...if ya count a compound fracture as > minimal.) > > RtR > > > > At 07:35 PM 11/19/2009, you wrote: > > That was pretty cool. You're right about the chances of something > happening. More money than brains I would suspect. > > This is what happened to one of those weekend warriors with a ton of money > shortly after we got off the track in the Noble. See pic. The owner was > laughing about having half a mile of tubing in his garage he was wanting to > do something with. Now he'll take the parts from the wasted GT and build a > project. > > > JC > --- > John Christensen > Saint Charles, IL > > > > On Thu, Nov 19, 2009 at 3:48 PM, <humminboid@xxxxxxxxxxx > wrote: > > O wow! Cool sounds, and the photo opportunities! Thanx, Ray. > > > > Lemmesee...240 mph; the angle of the dangle times the focal length divided > by the square of the f/stop...hmmmmm...Bright sunlight...should be~ > f/11@1/500th sec. to give really nice wheel blur with panning. My Bogen > tripod > with video head would be just right. But, carrying that beast; Bombsville! > C. > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Ray Buck" <rbuck@xxxxxxxxxxxx> > To: ratpack@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > Sent: Thursday, November 19, 2009 2:17:19 PM GMT -07:00 US/Canada Mountain > Subject: [ratpack] A totally insane "LSR" event in Florida > > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NAvWbv5-Vs&NR=1 > > This has been an item of "discussion" (condemnation would be a better > word for it) on www.landracing.com ( > http://www.landracing.com/forum/index.php/topic,6902.0.html ) and I > finally watched the long video with my blurry eyes. Yeah, I prolly > otta be doing other stuff, but what the hell, huh? > > I'm assuming that the orange/green critters are Lamborghini > Murcielagos...but I'm not all that familiar with the supercar > thing. But running 4 or 5 cars abreast from a standing start > is...well, only a matter of time before someone blows a tire or a > motor and then..... > > Wacked, man. > > RtR > > > > Content-Type: image/jpeg; name="IMG_4679.jpg" > Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="IMG_4679.jpg" > X-Attachment-Id: f_g28c76j60 > >
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