OCBen

For those of you interested, there's a ton of threads on 6speedonline:

http://www.6speedonline.com/forums/f...php?forumid=12

http://www.6speedonline.com/forums/f...php?forumid=54

1080iAddict

When the shock of this passes, etc., I have a ton of questions. Causes, Insurances, Liabilities, preventing future accidents, etc. I did not know Ben or Corey, but this is impacting my life, my driving habits, etc. My wife, about the farthest from a car nut, asks me daily for updates about this tragedy. I have about 3 hours of reading into the othet threads. The newleyweds, the children.... this tragedy is about as bad as it possibly could get. As I live on the east coast I cannot attend the presumed memorial service. But I definitely would attend if I could.

OCBen

Yeah, I hear you. Me too. Here's a really heart-wrenching, chronological account of the story as it unfolded on 6speed:

http://www.6speedonline.com/forums/s...5&pagenumber=1

From what I've read so far, it appears to have been an egregious error on the part of track officials. According to an eye witness account (quartermile): (excerpted from: http://www.6speedonline.com/forums/s...5&pagenumber=4)

"I have tears in my eyes as I write this. I witnessed the whole thing.

IT WAS NOT BEN'S FAULT!!! THE ORGANIZER HAD PICKED THE 150MPH ZONE AS THE ENTRANCE TO THE TRACK AND THE F-CAR DRIVER PULLED IN FRONT OF HIM NEAR THE END OF THE STRAGHT. THERE WERE NO CORNER WORKS AND NO FLAGS!!! HE TRIED TO AVOID HIM AND SPUN OUT AND HIT THE WALL AT NEARLY THAT SPEED..."

OCBen

For those interested in seeing the detailed news video of this story as it aired on KNBC4:

http://mysite.verizon.net/res7weom/carrera.mpg

1080iAddict

That was interesting. Even more interesting that apparently the real facts, identities, etc. made it onto these Boards within minutes of the accident. That news story really does not tell anything we did not already know and/or assume from all the posts (but admittedly that story aired within hours of the accident). Thanks for posting. I am curious as to the status of the investigation and ultimately what has developed since the accident. One thing for sure...the PGT was NOT the only car on the track as reported in the story, as we now know from eyewittnesses that posted on the various car Boards.

OCBen

That was aired on the 4 o'clock news hour as the story broke, before the very first post here. So, no, we did not know anything already at that time.

Details were obviously sketchy then.

OCBen

What's interesting about that video is that it shows how far those massive concrete barriers were shoved as a result of the impact. Don't know if accident investigators have made an attempt to ascertain the approximate speed of impact, not that it would matter really, but in the course of a thorough investigation I would suspect that such an attempt would be made. And I can see how an approximation can be made, given the mass of the barriers, the distance they were moved, the approximate coefficient of friction between the concrete and grass field, and the mass of the car. The only unknown is the velocity, which can be solved for from the conservation of momentum to arrive at an approximate speed of impact. But just by seeing that aerial wide shot and seeing how far those concrete barriers were moved, it’s obvious it took a lot of energy to do that.

Red Blur

I just spent over an hour reading all the different threads on all of the different boards. This is hard to believe and hard to understand why something like this had to happen. Unreal....

God Bless them and their families.

Marv

I would rather hope that maybe something good can come out of this and a substitute for the concrete used that would do a better job of absorbing the energy rather than deflecting it into the car and its occupants.

Marv

OCBen

Well, unfortunately, I think it simply boils down to economics, as crass as that may sound. I’m sure you’ll recall that it wasn’t very long ago that they developed the energy absorbing barriers currently in use in professional races, such as at Indy and other major NASCAR races (not sure about how widespread the usage). My understanding is that this infield circuit is just a temporary layout, and as such it wouldn’t be feasible to deploy such costly measures on a temporary basis. Someone in another thread suggested that if it had just been asphalt instead of the slippery grass, the driver and/or PSM would have had a chance to recover control. Perhaps car clubs will be better off requesting layouts that have ample areas for recovering instead of a grassy infield that essential behaves like a ice at high speeds. But then that may not be practical either. I know that if I were to ever track my car that would be something I would now be concerned with.

1080iAddict

This Memorial gathering thread is pretty amazing....

http://www.6speedonline.com/forums/s...5&pagenumber=1

-adam

OCBen

Regarding barriers, I wonder why bales of hay can't be placed in front of the concrete barriers, or better yet, stacks of tires as you see all the time on race tracks. I mean, how expensive can that be? The rubber tires will certainly absorb a lot of energy, and may well have made the difference in this case. I don't know, but it just seems like not all safety precautions available in this day and age were taken. I’m not suggesting negligence because I’m not a track person and I just don’t know how other tracks are typically set up. But heck, I’d sure hate to think it came down to cost. And these guys were paying something like $600+ apiece to track their cars that day? You’d think for that price you’d be buying just a tad of safety.

OCBen

As published in today's edition of the San Diego Union-Tribune:

http://legacy.com/signonsandiego/Leg...sonId=14186153

OCBen

http://www.latimes.com/news/obituari...ews-obituaries