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Anyone else hear about this?

http://jalopnik.com/instructor-killed-in-crash-at-summit-point-raceway-1588064352

Scariest job in motorsports as far as I can tell.

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Yup, no other details beyond what is in the Jalopnik.

Sad indeed

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having been in a crash last year (my student lost control in the esses at 110mph and we hit the tire wall at 95mph) i can personally attest to the danger of instructing. but the alternative is that no one will receive proper instruction and the track will be full of solo drivers ignorant of how to drive properly and safely.

More details.

http://www.your4state.com/story/d/story/deputies-release-identities-in-fatal-crash-at-race/22505/E1ISa3iYBE-k0_5mfp9cAQ

By the looks of the GTO, the instructor had no chance. Incredibly sad.

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09 Bullitt - DD
11 Fusion - Wife's DD
03 Mazda6 - Track car
00 PSD Excursion - Tow rig
67 Firebird - Don't you still own your 1st car?
61 F100 - Dad's truck
90 Moto Guzzi Calif III - Tourer
00 Cagiva - Adventure bike
00 DRZ400 - Woods bike

Never really paid attention to it before but looking at Summit Point video there are a ton of places where there is nothing between the track and tires. I'd much rather hit a bunch of armco and tires than a tree.

The fatality happened on Jefferson Circuit, which is not usually considered a very fast track- sounds alot like major driver error.

There was also a very serious wreck on Summit main, the driver ended up with a broken leg, a concussion and may lose a couple of fingers. Car left the track, went onto its side and hit a tree, crushing the roof at the top of the windshield. From the looks of it, the driver is lucky to be alive.

Yeah, sh!t happens, but stuff like this is a major reason that I have hung up my instructor hat. Call me a wuss, but I've seen way too many really fast/powerful cars with way too many drivers who have the wrong priorities/goals for me to risk my a$$ by getting into the passenger seat.

You can definitely argue the point that these people need instruction and guidance as much or more than anyone, but I'm not risking my well-being to do it.


/:soap:

RRAX has a huge thread on it. The race car that went into the trees was in a PTD race with another car. Both rolled, one hit the trees. Apparently the car that hit the trees had a bolt in cage and a stock style seat with a back brace. The seat part boggles my mind since it's not PT legal in any way shape or form. Haven't seen any pictures of the car but from what gathered from the posts of people who were there is that the car took a tree to the passenger side a pillar. The forward hoop then bent in to the center of the car, pushed the dash bar towards the drivers side which then tore the driver's side forward hoop from the floor pan. The car was so bent up that one wheel was about 2ft off the ground with the other 3 on the ground. The later reports seem to indicate that he lost part of a finger and got a concussion.



That's from a comment on Jalopnik about the incident involving a death. There are pictures of the GTO and the instructor didn't even have a chance, the b-pillar looks to be roughly centered in the car if not past center into the driver's side. They didn't even attempt to extricate the instructor.

Perhaps it's time to make some calls to our pro team friends and have a safety seminar at a meeting.

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Nope, Todd didn't break his leg, just a REALLY bad concussion and he lost part of his index finger. He is damn lucky to be alive.

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STF 9

Yeah, same here...gave it up long ago for the same reasons. It was one thing in the 1980s to instruct with cars having at most 250hp but on average in the mid-100s, speeds were reasonable, things happened more slowly. Summit was my home track during that period, so I know it well (there was nothing but the Summit main then, literally nothing else, no skidpad even). Really sad to see this news. It's always really bothered me that some tracks "allow" a car to have any possible access to a tree. I have the similar problem on ski slopes. If the opportunity is available, the risk will eventually be realized.

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IMO not having any safety barrier between a tree and a race track is near the top of blame for this tragedy. Being honest, sh*t can happen to even the most seasoned student or instructor, so knowing that at some point it WILL happen the track should be designed to mitigate the risks.

FYI, I do drafting work for a well known race track designer. He was asked recently to do some work on a road coarse to allow it to be run backwards. He told the track owners that it was a bad idea, and even if all the run-off areas were changed, the armco wouldn't be safe. Why? Armco is over-lapped at the seams based on the direction of travel to prevent it from being "peeled back" when contacted at the seam. When you drive the opposite direction you can basically turn the intended protection into a giant skewer.

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Vincent Keene
'06 Ford Mustang GT (track rat)
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'98 Chevy Z-24 (retired)
'93 Acura Integra (Team SWB 24HOL Car)

Rob Kheener mentioned it on Sunday when we were down at CMP; I had no idea that it had just happened. The PTD driver had a bolt-in cage like James said and the incident happened on the main circuit, whereas the instructor who was killed was instructing on the Jefferson Circuit for a Hyperdrive. Rob was saying that the Jefferson Circuit has zero armco separating the circuit from the trees.

In thinking about this further, it seems to be a perpetual motion type thing, but with money. If NASA, Lemons, and other renters all dropped Summit Point due to safety concerns, the track would be forced to make changes, or go under. If NASA drops Summit Point they would lose money, and since they are a for-profit venture they won't drop Summit Point, thus the track is not forced to make changes. Rinse and repeat.

_________________
Vincent Keene
'06 Ford Mustang GT (track rat)
'15 Dodge Charger R/T (yeah, it's got a HEMI!)
'07 Ford Fusion SE (205,000 miles and counting)
'98 Chevy Z-24 (retired)
'93 Acura Integra (Team SWB 24HOL Car)

NASA and Summit Point will probably lose a fair chunk of change on this one. At least their insurers will. Of course, that probably means that *our* insurance co is losing money and we will be helping pay for this.

I recall that from running it in iRacing years ago, and I thought it was nuts anyone would drive that track. I assumed it was just an early render of the track (having not been to Summit Point since 1989 when it didn't exist). This seems like a good potential challenge to the notorious "waiver" yet again. If a normal person would not typically be expected to encounter unprotected trees off the race track surface, a lawyer will head down the gross negligence path I would assume. It sure sucks like hell that something like this has to happen to get people's attention...unfortunately, that's been my experience through life. After all, when I was little, there were no seat belts in cars and then they only started out with lap belts (and all their associated issues...jackknife paralysis, etc).

_________________
Current stable:
2019 BMW M2 Competition slicktop 6MT
2011 BMW M3 sedan slicktop 6MT
2007 BMW 328i wagon (slushbox for now)
1975 CanAm 125MX2