Official Discussion Thread: SCCA Runoffs

[brian]

Having helped Steve put the car into the trailer and seeing Eddie's car it's safe to say both cars were really hurt. From Steve's video it appears that Steve spun on the exit of 2 and was off track, running backwards parallel to the track when Eddie, blinded by the dust, went off wide outside of Steve striking the left side of Steve's car and getting airbourne.

Steve's car entire left side was damaged including the motor and brand new intake manifold.

[brian]

I should mention that many cars had handling issues caused by lost grip on Hoosier 45's. Although the temperature was not high, the right rear 45's suffered from a fairly abrasive track and 11 of the 14 turns going right. Turn 3 seemed to be the hardest on tires. I talked to several guys who said everyone was really loose and some were caught out cooling their tires for the finish by the late yellow.

My compliments to SCCA and Topeka for a well run event. I'm gona actually miss the place. Unlike next year, everything is close to the track and resonably priced.

[smsazzy]

The car has a bent front beam, broken steering arm, bent rear trailing arm, bent rear shock pushrod, dented valve cover, dented header, dented manifold, and some fiberglass damage. All in all, not too bad considering.

I will have some video of the event shortly, once I get it converted to WMV format.

Here is what happened as I see it on the video, data acq, and memory.

I was drafting by another car on the front straight and had not quite cleared him, although I had the inside line for 1. When I turned in for one, the car seemed to straighten out as I ran over the curb for 1. Once I hit the drag strip transition, the car was not willing to turn any further. This caused me to hit the dirt on the left of apex in turn 2 (basically going straight across the apex like a SM or SRF would do. I couldn't make the turn and started to spin in the dirt. I was 4 wheels off in the dirt and going backwards when Eddie's car made contact with the left side of my car. As I was going backwards and was 4 wheels off, Eddie must not have been able to see with the dust as he was actually further off track then I was when we hit. I think he was trying to go outside to avoid me, when really had he stayed on the pavement we never would have touched. Hindsight is always 20/20 as they say.

I heard Eddie had a cut on his arm that required stitches, but was not able to find him on Saturday to see how he was doing. I was not injured.

It is hard to remember how these things happen at speed, at the time I thought I had actually been hit from behind, but the video indicates otherwise. I'll post a clip later if anyone cares to see.

Up until then, we had a great 5 car race going on. It was a shame it had to end like that, and I feel bad for Mike Veracins and all the others who had good battles going at the time.

[smsazzy]

I have posted the crash onto our website. It is on the Multimedia page.

http://www.tcrmotorsports.com

[Cooper 64]

WHAT A SCARY VIDEO, BAD LUCK ALL THE WAY AROUND: IS THERE ANY WAY TO POST THE WHOLE RACE. I WOULD LOVE TO SEE THE START.
BILLY COOPER #64

[Dietmar]

I believe Speed will show the start on Nov 26

Dietmar

[FV80]

At least according to the Speed schedule
For those that haven't found it yet, here's the link
http://www.scca.com/documents/2008%20Ru ... hedule.pdf

Steve

[hardingfv32-1]

Steve

What did you think of the new Goodyears? Are the rear tires the same diameter as before?

Brian

[FV80]

Brian,
The new GY tires are significantly different from the old 430 and 420's from previous years. I consider them to be measurably better and the circumferences are the same (within 1/2 inch) for the fronts and short rears and about 1.5 inches less for the tall rears (better I think). They have gone back to the 430 compound and expect to 'stick' with that till they decide on a construction type. They appear to be selling off the old stock for cheap (see Eric's post) and are planning more changes before the next run. I'm not sure when the next tire will come out, but would expect it to be near the end of the first quarter of next year (around March - but I'm just GUESSING - I have *NO* data on that). I have no idea how many of the Runoffs Sales tires they made.

Steve

[Al Craighead]

Hi gang,

Just got an email from Ed Cadena, who was involved in the race ending accident, so thought I'd pass what he had to say.

From his car he stated he was mixing it up with four or five guys early on with lots of good clean racing. His old car - his words not mine - on Goodyears was fast in the corners, but didn't have much on the straights, resulting in cars pulling away from on every exit. Just prior to the accident he was little behind he believes it was Dave Scaler and Stephen Saslow. Being as he wasn't lifting through one, he closed up Dave fast, tucking in behind and drifting to the outside edge of his normal line on the exit. This is where things happened really quickly. He could barely see Stephen maybe getting in trouble and lifted as Dave seemed to check up a little to avoid hitting him. In that split second his car wasn't turning any more without power on and all he could see was dust and dirt as he went off-course. The last thing he saw before the incident was Stephen turning sideways but was unable to tell where he was headed. With the dust he never actually saw the contact between he and Steve. He said he doesn't know how many times he flipped, but there were some pretty good shots.

Thankfully both he and Steve were able to walk away from the crash. After being examined trackside and at the medical center he went to the local hospital to get his cut elbow stitched up. Turns out however that his right shoulder had a big chunk of bone that attaches the deltoid muscle had broken off, he had some cracked ribs, a mild concussion, bruises and dents all over and a likely broken foot. He didn't notice his foot was injured until the drive home. With his black eyes now almost all gone, Ed recently had shoulder surgery, which has ended up hurting worse than everything else combined. He'll have his arm strapped in place for another 4 or 5 weeks while the shoulder mends, but it should be okay after that.

As far his Protoform goes, while the main integrity held, there's not much left that's not bent or broke including the intake. Being as it is truely trashed, and that he wants something more competitive going down the straights, he said he likely be looking for different car once he's healed up.

Cheers,

[FV80]

Al,
Thanks for the report. Glad to hear that Eddie's OK, though it was a good bit worse than at first thought. Hopefully, he can find a car he likes better .
Steve

[72jeff]

can we possibly see photos of the car? We may be able to learn something.

[Brian Holtz]

I viewed the tape copy from SPEED that is provided after each race to the stewards. They got a good shot of it and as violent as it was, I can understand Ed's bumps and bruises.

Brian