BAD Crash @ US60 tonight

Really bad crash, Jim Ray from Hebbardsville,Ky wrecked his Blown BBC Batam Roadster after going 4.94 @ 143mph. I was the 1st one to him and thought it was his son Jeff (a really good friend of mine) driving it. He lost one hand and maybe his arm and broke his other one really bad and was unconscious when I got to him.This was seriously Ugly and rattled me to the core after it was over and the helicopter left. Please put these people on any prayer list you can,they are super people!

That sucks,Dan were you in the other lane next to him?

Later Mark.

No ,I was 2 pair in front of him. He made a single,he'd been adjusting on it.I was parked the closest to the end of the track

Yike's..... Terrible to hear, Hope he makes it.

Man sorry to hear.Thats terrible.

Bad deal for sure. We will say a prayer. One never knows when we buckle in,thats why I always give the belts one last tug before I stage.

I just got off the phone with his son Jeff.His Dad made it through surgery ,they are waiting on the doctor to tell them how bad it is now. He did tell me that it broke his collar bone and both arms,now they're just hope they can save his arms.

Sorry to hear Dan, we send our prayers.

terrible deal, with the arm injurys I will ask if he was wearing his arm restraints though?

Prayers going out from here. There is nothing that will shake a guy up like that. I still vividly remember coming up on an ambulance that had crashed into an irrigation canal in bad snowstorm. Kinda makes you think about things for a while.

richter69 wrote:terrible deal, with the arm injurys I will ask if he was wearing his arm restraints though?

X2... It's always a bad deal when ANY racer has a bad crash... I thought the restraints were required on the open wheel/open cockpit vehicles? It does sound like he wasn't wearing them, but who knows. We weren't there. I'll send up a prayer that he is ok...

I can't say if he was or not, when I got to him ,it was on it's top .Then his son got there ,I actually thought it was his son driving.If they were on ,they were loose.We flipped it back over and Jeff unhooked him and got his helmet off then.I think he would have bleed out if we hadn't got him right side up .Blood was sprayin all over me when I got to him,we put a belt on his arm and slowed the bleeding until the EMT's got there.None on scene at this track....but the lifeflight chopper sits only a half mile from the track.[img][/img]

These guys have raced the big time circuit.I know they had all the safety equipment,but I do know the chute had a string through it and couldn't deploy. And this track is Outlaw with No Tech....I think they may have been lax on there restraints at the wrong time.I've seen some bad shit over the years,but this one was my friends and it shook me up...And I don't get shook up ..

prayers go out to the families and hope he recovers ......



but damn i will not race at a track without emt on site nor theses damn guardrails .....we are going faster and faster each and every year i hope everyone is keeping up with there safety equipment and chassis's ......



ps ....was there an emt on site @ us43 ????????? .....we have to be aware of these things ...seconds could save our lives

That's a tough one Dan, we hope he pulls through OK. The cage looks like it held up really well, I hope it wasn't an over-site of not putting on the arm restraints.

My buddy was in the staging lanes at Grand Bend Motorplex getting ready to do his burnout a few years back when one of the driverss ahead of him had a heart attack at the end of the track and crashed badly. He passed away and they put the car on the tilt-and-load and drove it right back up the track and through the staging lanes. Pretty ignorant thing to do. My buddy just turned his car around and put it on the trailer.

Take care, we're praying for him.

Bill

Many prayers to the family and to all racers that pull the straps down. We all know there's a risk when we pull into the staging beams, but this is unimaginable. I've raced at US 60 numerous times and it's always kinda bothered me with there layed back approach to tech. Never once have they asked to see any safety gear or even look at the car. Last summer I seen a dude there running a low 6 second s10 wearing shorts, a single layer jacket and a helmet older than I am.

Bottom line is we're all responsible for our own safety!! My stuffs up to standards. I hope some others take a look at a situation like this and take a good hard look at their own safety program.

I'm not bashing US 60 but we all need to be weary.

Maybe your fast action saved his life...prayers sent.

Sorry to hear of accident.Sounds like ya'll did everything right from a emergency stad point and gave him a chance to live.Prayers sent out for him and his family.Some times it is amazing the degree of recovey some one can make.
Remind's me of what Barney said the race in Tenn. when we were complaining wanting to go faster.We talk about 5.40's like it is nothing. But this stuff is dangerious .
Every body be carefull out there.

dr's wife racing wrote:Sorry to hear of accident.Sounds like ya'll did everything right from a emergency stad point and gave him a chance to live.Prayers sent out for him and his family.Some times it is amazing the degree of recovey some one can make.
Remind's me of what Barney said the race in Tenn. when we were complaining wanting to go faster.We talk about 5.40's like it is nothing. But this stuff is dangerious .
Every body be carefull out there.

AMEN Ward... Very well put... Ya know, the fastest my truck has been is 6.15 @ 113. And it's very surprising that alot of people don't realize, that that's actually pretty fast. IMO, anything running 7.50's or quicker is starting to get pretty quick...

A tragic story indeed. I hope he survives it reasonably intact. Just another thought as we talk safety. If you haven't got an onboard fire suppression system, please get one. When I was driving our '93 Foxbody, I had a hoodscoop fire after a 5.08 pass at 140mph. I didn't even have a regular extinguisher onboard, I was at the top end of the track trying to save our carbonfiber scoop with my gloves. Needless to say, we had a system next time out. Food for thought, we all seem to worry about going faster while not being concerned about what could happen if something goes wrong. Safety should be priority one!

I just talked to Jeff again ,he said they won't know for a few days how his body will accept the reattached parts.But ,they are lucky he is still alive,and thanked me for helping him upright the car to keep him from bleeding out. We did all we could do ,for not being trained in this area,just glad it worked out as well as it did! I thought he was dead when I got to him ,then noticed the blood pumping and I figured his heart must have been beating. What a scary and sickening feeling....I'm still about to puke seeing it in my mind over and over! Right now, I'm not sure I want to go fast anymore. I'm sure I'll get over it in time, BUT that was a sight I'll never forget.I wear my safety gear at all times. I've tangled with a concrete wall , I'm not sure I'd have been so lucky had it been a guardrail! I don't recall seeing an EMT @ US43 ,and I know that no safety equipment was checked.Thank God we all made it home safe!!....P.S Snake get a window net and roll up your dang window!!

Dan,

It sounds like you were in the right place at the right time to help save this guy. Hope he recovers OK and doesn't lose any limbs.

Remember guys, Nobody is responsible for your saefty but YOU !!!

the tracks down will not send a car down without the emt's in place and ready...... even the " outlaw" tracks.

and Dan, you are a true Hero.....

richter69 wrote:and Dan, you are a true Hero.....

I'm not sure about that Jon, but I've been there twice at this track.I guess I'm just lucky to keep my shit together and help my fellow racers. If I was younger ,I think I'd get into being a 1st responder or EMT.I don't seem to panic in these situations,but I'm truly shaken up after this deal.The last time was a blown dragster with a hung throttle at over 200MPH. He went through the traps at 168MPH and by me at the end of the track so fast I couldn't hardly see him about 30 feet from me. I was stopped at the top end picking my chute up when went by.I was the 1st one to him too. I'm buying lifeflight insurance this week ,I got a thing in the mail this week. It cost $50 for 1 year and $135 for 3 years ,and I know if I ever crash there ,I'll be leaving on a helicopter! Hopefully if I get the insurance I'll never use it and it'll just be wasted money!