Very sad vintage racing pictures, don't look

Discussion in 'The "Other" Bench' started by Donny Brass, Jul 18, 2005.

  1. Donny Brass

    Donny Brass 12 Second Club Member

  2. Tim Clary

    Tim Clary Well-Known Member

    Wow

    Man the carnage!! Think of how much money was just lost and how many old cars at once..... :Dou: Oh yeah people to.. :pp
     
  3. Brian Stefina

    Brian Stefina Well-Known Member

    Any explanation on the chain of events?
     
  4. Donny Brass

    Donny Brass 12 Second Club Member

    [​IMG]

    there is a yellow Vette UNDER the blue Camaro !!!

    all I have found is:

    I was across for the start finish line as the green was about to come out and heard a car loose control. I was directly across the pit lane when this happen. Several cars checked up into one another under wide open throttle. The approach to the start finish line is up hill and I don't think these guys could see what they were heading for. Last report was no life threating injuries. I believe about 16 cars in all were destroyed. Hope all the drivers are ok, but what a bad day for many at a fun event.
     
  5. Brian Stefina

    Brian Stefina Well-Known Member

    Holy crap! In the other pic there is a Firebird on the back of that same yellow Camaro.

    Not that you can't smash up a car drag racing.....but that road race stuff has a lot more body damage on a regular basis.

    This though, is ridiculous.
     
  6. Donny Brass

    Donny Brass 12 Second Club Member

    wasn't that Boss 302 the subject of an American Muscle Car episode ?? I know I have seen that car.

    Tom Clary is saying that the '69 Trans Am was just bought from Jim Mattison by a guy named Colin..........

    I found this post at the supercar board:

    Rich Gregory's Email had the following..............

    "They can even have The Big One in vintage racing. Here are a few pics from the Road America Vintage Races this weekend. There was a huge wreck in Group 6 (Camaros, Vettes, Cobras, Jaguars, etc.) as the pace car exited and the racers came up to the start line. The total carnage was 16 cars which has to be one of the largest wrecks in the history of vintage racing. This was probably more spectacular than anything I have seen in a Nascar event.

    Some info about the wreck:

    * Colin Comers Trans Am (#31) sitting atop the pile (bent at the firewall). He has owned it for a month or two.


    * A good friend, Fritz Schiffmayers 65 AC Cobra is on the bottom of the pile with two cars on top of him. We saw the in-car video from his carDEVASTATING! ! ! A $250,000 car and all that is salvageable is the trunk deck and the engine. It took paramedics over 15 minutes to get to him and cut him out from under the other cars. His injuries appear to be minimal but you can bet he will be sore (especially at age 71). While being questioned by the paramedics, he said at some point he saw a wheel zip past his headthey found tire tread marks on his helmet!

    * The British Green 68 Camaro atop the front of the pile (in front of the #6 car) had the subframe knocked out of itthe entire subframe is laying on the other side of the track!
     
  7. Brian Stefina

    Brian Stefina Well-Known Member

    Interesting comments. Questions though.

    Was it a Cobra or a Vette at the bottom of the pile? Was there another pile, cause it sure looks like a Vette.

    If the green Camaro had the subframe torn out, what is the right front tire attached to.

    Just curious.
     
  8. Rusty Davenport

    Rusty Davenport Silver Level contributor

    I wonder how many of the cars were "real" or replicas? It would be a shame to lose a real cobra,boss 302,or Trans Am. :Dou:
     
  9. Donny Brass

    Donny Brass 12 Second Club Member

    [​IMG]

    look at the rf wheel again, the subframe could be knocked off the attachment points, it's way off angle..........maybe the subframe came off during towing ??


    user comments from the picture site:

    Mark 18-Jul-2005 14:06
    I ran with this group last summer, and we had about 10-12 wrecks in Group 6 over the course of the weekend. I'll never go back to the BRIC - to race. The cars are all "cheater" setups, with WAY BIG horsepower, and the drivers are way too agressive. Unfortunately, the track officials and the race sponsors do little to discourage the overly dangerous driving. It has been well known for years that Group 6 at the BRIC is a bunch of wild ass, ego manics, driving cheater cars with big stroker engines and no rules racing. I hope no one was injured, but it was bound to happen sooner or later.


    Guest 18-Jul-2005 16:45
    I was there. It was a sight to behold and very sad. Such beautiful cars. Word was yesterday that a Mustang blew it's engine at the start/finish line. That could have been the start of it all. Oil and tires do not mix.
     
  10. Donny Brass

    Donny Brass 12 Second Club Member

    I am under the impression that most, if not all of the cars are real, this race is on par with the Montery Races............
     
  11. Andy Tantes

    Andy Tantes Silver Level contributor

    "It has been well known for years that Group 6 at the BRIC is a bunch of wild ass, ego manics, driving cheater cars with big stroker engines and no rules racing."

    well thats not limited to just those guys.. :Brow:
     
    Last edited: Jul 18, 2005
  12. Donny Brass

    Donny Brass 12 Second Club Member

    another 'FOUND' post:

    Here is a recap from a member that was in the race.
    I also read on another site that it was a real Cobra.
    Seeing that Trans Am was surprising as you don't see alot of 69 Trans Ams out there. The Boss 302's are more common

    those pics make me sick inside, most of them are my friends and our own C/F member BJM AND his father were involved (there is a yellow mid year roadster UNDER the Camaro and BJM is on the outside of the track in a yellow 71 roadster). I was in the second row...we came up the hill as always and as the front row accellerated the starter did NOT throw the flag, the front row let off the gas and I hit my brakes as did the Jag next to me also the third row and fourth row...someone maybe 5 rows back hit the car in front of him and that caused all of this. You are looking at a few million dollars in wrecked cars. I originally blamed the starter but was later told that the blame should go to whoever wasn`t paying attention and hit the car in front of him...I still place alot of blame on the starter and would ONLY ask him "what the hell were you waiting for"?? as it turns out the (novice) race director told ONLY the front row he wanted a 50 mph start.....these cars do not do 50 mph......redvetracr
     
  13. Donny Brass

    Donny Brass 12 Second Club Member

    the driver of the yellow 71 Vette speaks:

    YOu are wrong and have NO CLUE what you are talking about. the Cobra was real, the starter was VERY late and in my opinion caused this incident...and how do I know this you might ask...I was in the second row (p3), this all happened behind me due to a rediculiously SLOW start.......................
    ...redvetracr

    PS: and to the rocket scientist "Mark" who wasn`t in the race because the BRIC is full of overly agressive drivers YOU ARE A PUSSY who doesn`t belong in a race car.....remember they call it RACING not track touring or autocross around cones in a parking lot.it is flat out foot to the floor RACING at 175 mph.
     
  14. Brian Stefina

    Brian Stefina Well-Known Member

    That's another interesting comment

    "these cars don't do 50mph"

    Hmmmm, I seem to recall even Nascar racers doing 50mph or less driving back to the garage.

    Oh well I'm still looking for the mystery Cobra at the bottom of the pile and the subframe the flatbed guys dropped across the track for some reason.

    Not being an ass, just curious.

    The Cobra sure does look like an aluminum real one.......dang.
     
  15. Mr Big

    Mr Big Silver Level contributor

    Don't know much about this type of racing but last time I herd...regardless of where you are doing your racing, the starter decides when to start the race...not the drivers. It's totally at his discretion period!

    Blaming the guy with the flag in his hand is just plan stupid
     
  16. Tom Miller

    Tom Miller Old car enthusiast

    I'm glad to hear that nobody was killed, but.....

    I sure hope this was captured on video, I gotta see the replay.

    It does make your stomach turn a little :ball: What a shame.
     
  17. Floydsbuick

    Floydsbuick Well-Known Member

    Its sad allright. But these things weren't hidden in some building for nobody to see. They were being used. Every time you use your old car, you introduce folks to the hobby. Maybe even inspire them to bring their old classic out of the garage. These cars were crashed doing what they were meant to do...race. You can't take 'em with you when you go anyways. Tragic? Naw...not if everyone is OK. Sad...absolutley. But keep racing then folks!!!!!!
     
  18. Donny Brass

    Donny Brass 12 Second Club Member

    another found post:

    I was the operating steward for this race. The pace car did what was the right thing to do. We gave them instructions for each group. The two pole guys admitted to running up the hill at 5000 rpm in 3rd gear. The fifth place guy was racing well before the green flag and tryed to force his way between the wall and the car in front of him. He started scraping the wall and the guy behind him checked up and the car that hit him started to spin and then it was one after another into them. I am amazed that no one was killed. All the drivers except two had hans devices.

    The green flag was in deed thrown. I red flagged the race with in 3 seconds of the green. Even with the red flag the drivers in the back just keep driving into the rear. The red was shown at corner 15(the walk over bridge). The drivers just did not pay attention. All drivers were forced to attend a meeting right after the incident. They were all yelled at. Interesting that in a few classes they are not allowed to pass until after turn 1 (Historic Gran Prix) and turn 3 for Can Am. One historic Gran Prix driver was banned from their series for life due to an incident in the kink.

    I have to agree that the drivers in this group are some of the most agressive drivers I have ever seen. More distrubing to me were how many fist fights started after drivers started getting out of there cars. I feel that if they were able to get out they should have been happy they could even move after a incident like this.

    I was very happy with how all of our crews came together to work in the heat. We had a steady flow of water for all the rescue crews, ambulance crews and wrecker crews while they were working in over 90 degree heat. What a great team.

    Mike Engelke
     
  19. bob k. mando

    bob k. mando Guest

    regardless of where you are doing your racing, the starter decides when to start the race...not the drivers.

    weird. at every circle track (i know, this is a road racing venue) i've ever been too there is a 'recommended' start area (usually coming off of turn 4) but it is the pole sitters discretion what pace to set (including increasing and decreasing speed) after the pace car is off the track.

    you watch the field fire in the middle of 3/4 or sometimes even running down into 3 and the flag man will wave them on after the fact.

    there have also been 'controversial' starts at the NASCAR road races ... i think both of those were paced by Tony Stewart.

    read the commentary from the drivers ... it sounds to me like a combination of an inconsistent speed by the pace car/failure of the back of the field to maintain position piling into a wreck caused to two VERY overly aggressive drivers somewhere around row 4.

    the other thread we've got on this:
    http://www.v8buick.com/showthread.php?p=602622#post602622
     
  20. BlackGold

    BlackGold Well-Known Member

    As sad as all this is, most of those cars have probably been wrecked just as bad at least once in their life. "Original" has to be taken with a grain of salt when you're talking vintage racers.
     

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