M758

His worst burns were to the back of his neck. If you put a helmet on and zip up the race suit and move the head forward a bit you get open skin just I the are he was burned worst. A balaclava would have help reduce those burns greatly.

Tage is still out racing just needs to wear large hats to keep the sun off the healing skin.

Sean F

just ordered a balaclava from OGracing

tomburdge

Whats with NASA not requiring rear windows?

Did they not see the "Anatomy of a car fire" posted on this and I'm sure many other sites about two months ago.

I did one race and one lap with NASA before being wrecked.
Haven't been back since.

There is a reason their rule book is so thin.
You get to pay your money and take your chances.

Tom B.

smsarchitects

wow, very scary.
another serious wake-up call to double check that your fire system is armed before EVERY session, wear all your fire gear even in DEs and practice getting out of the car via door AND window.
glad the driver is OK.

jrgordonsenior

Tom this is that same incident. It just took a few months for him to release his video....

gums

Am i correct in thinking that these LeMons cars are encouraged or even required to knock out windows?

jrgordonsenior

Besides practicing getting out of your quickly while upright, lay off the end of a couch or club seat with your head touching the floor and visulize getting out of your car while upside down. Just lay there for a few minutes, it's damn scary and worth practicing. Think about dropping to the floor (ceiling) when you release your belts and where your containment seat will direct your body's fall. Realize that your window net release is now down near the floor and that the net now hanging from up near the lid waiting to catch on your helmet or hans device as you try to scramble out. I think that it might just be easier/quicker to crawl to the passenger window....

tomburdge

JR,
Thanks, it sure looked similar.I was thinking "wow,two of these in two months".
Once again though, I would hope NASA would take a hard look and consider some rule modifications , not for my sake but for everyone else that runs in that series.
Tom B.

multi21

I think I'm going to put on all my gear and practice, practice, practice getting out of the car and time myself. I can only imagine that 8 seconds seemed like 8 hours to this driver.

Mahler9th

Good reminder about safety gear and practicing getting out of your car. Tucking your pants legs inside your race boots, and making sure you wear a balaclava and tucking it inside your suit. And so on. The balaclava has a real significant benefit in that it helps keep the inside of the helmet from getting more wet and soiled.

Of course there are a variety of fire-resistant materials and brands, and obviously folks can get informed and make their own choices. And just because one set of gloves or a balaclava is more expensive than another doesn't mean it is better or safer. So "skimping" doesn't really factor in, in my opinion.

Regarding safety and rules and sanctioning bodies... I am pretty familiar with most of the amateur racing stuff. I do not find the NASA rules "thin" or "weak" in general, and I know they take safety seriously. They examine and discuss things carefully each season.

I race under NASA sanction here in NorCal where it all started, and I know many in teh NASA leadership team, including the Medical Director for NorCal. I have been there and seen them save lives and so on. ANd I have heard testimony from some of the folks they have helped. One guy I met last year had a bad one at Sears Point and wound up in the turn 1 grandstands. Yes, in the grand stands. he had a broken back. He and his doctors gave tremendous credit to NASA in terms of his extraction and post-accident care.

I am not familiar with NASA events in other parts of the country, but if folks find things lacking, they should address the local leadership.

M758

Firstly... this is not a LeMons car. Not by any means. It is very well build fast Civic that can give a cup car a run for it money on a track.

Tage I believe was running in super unlimited (few rules and the fastest NASA class) and took the rear window out to save weight. Seems like that was a bad idea and probably not good for aero either. In any event this car has been a test bed for tage constantly working to make it faster than you would ever expect. So every event it usally has some new part or system he is testing.

That is not a crap can car by any means.

Veloce Raptor

IMO it's one thing for the rules to not "require" having a rear window.

it's another thing entirely to be so stupid as to not use one.

Sorry to be so blunt, but everyone is dancing around the second real issue here: this driver--talented as he may be--is a dolt to run any car, much less a highly modified car like this, w/o a rear window.

M758

Yes you are correct. Plus he has a balaclava, but chose not to wear it for this session. Sometime you have to learn the hard way.

I have seen guys head on track with the pin still in their fire bottles as well.

Richgreenster

This video really freeked me out to how important the safety stuff really is. It is kind of long but really changed my mind of where to spend some more money.

Check out this video
Glad you are ok.

gums

A brutally accurate and poignant documentary, "The Killer Years" has been the focus of many other forums, and to me is one for the ages.