JW in Texas

No, it had a Safety Devices bolt in cage with no knee or crossbar. This incident illustrates why we need mandatory weld-in cages built to a spec specified in the rule book. This was a bad hit & Bob is very lucky to be here after it. He is in much worse shape then another close friend was after his 160+ mph incident @ Daytona last year in his 996 cup. A REAL cage would have made a world of difference in this incident. I have already discussed this briefly with a couple of PCA officials & submitted it as a rule suggestion for next year. We also need to mandate HANS devices but that's a no brainer.

PS: George, one of the best cage builders in the country is in the garage next to yours. Get your car over there & get a real cage put in it I've spent enough time in hospitals recently wondering if close friends were going to make it or not after accidents

TR6

The track itself was fairly dry with no standing water anywhere by the time this race was running (I had been out in a DE session just prior). The problem was the ground was so muddy and soft that the cars that dipped a wheel off would drag mud on the track. When I was in the DE session, I was coming down to the bottom of the new section and saw the debris flag, rounded turn 7, and the track was covered with mud where someone had gone off and come back on. Yikes.

Greg Smith

JW, topp racing?

JW in Texas

Greg,
That's Todd Oppermann's operation. His shop is in Barry Moore's building. His crew maintains our cars & travels with us for support. Great group of guys who have saved out butts too many times to remember

Toby Pennycuff

Amen brother! And they do all kinds of cars. Todd's tearing out my existing cage and building a new one for me once the crew gets back from the soiree up east.

And +1 on the HANS, or other approved H&N restraint (no, I'm not trying to start WWIV here). I was reticent at first, but I'm glad I bought mine and wear it for DE's as well as races.

rickdm

I was at the DE this weekend, and there were about 15 of us on the upper porch watching as this accident unfolded. First seeing the dirt get thrown onto the track, and then the results. It all seemed to happen in slow motion as the red car went off on the inside and then rolled back onto the rack onto the path of the white car. The impact was unbelievable, it had to be about 80mph. There were many wives and girlfriends on the balcony who literally screamed at the impact. I just pray the driver of the red car recovers fully.

After watching Toby and Pat run their first race, I was beginning to think racing might be a fun thing to do. After watching the accident I have begun to think that I should wait until I get a full cage in the car.

rickdm

Toby Pennycuff

Rick,

C'mon in! The water's just fine. Yes, you ABSOLUTELY want a cage welded into the car. And spend the money to get whatever H&N device floats your boat. Just get one!

TBP

Greg Smith

I've heard several times before that he's THE man around here to do cages. I need to talk to him about some designs and talk $$$, I was thinking of having him do it over winter. I know which building it is, but I forget, is there a door or office that I should knock on? Is there a good time to talk to him?

Definitely, I wouldn't ever do any w2w racing in anything less than a 6pt welded cage with side protection. The PCA rules really are lacking here IMO.

cooleyjb

After reading this I decided to go look at the rules to see what htey were.

They let you race with a bolt in roll bar if you are in stock classes. ARE YOU KIDDING ME. A roll bar in a wheel to wheel race. What a joke of a rule. I personally wouldn't want to be on the track with someone who just had a bolt in rollbar.

Is this ever going to be changed. However I have yet to see someone in a CR that has had just a rollbar.

bmoore

You can reach Todd at 214-469-8391 or toddoppermann@yahoo.com
I tested one of his cages after going under the bridge at Road Atlanta and hitting the inside concrete wall very hard. Car was totaled but I was ok.

Veloce Raptor

Whatever you do, do NOT, under ANY circumstances, knock on the door marked Container Waste.

Greg Smith

Error 404: teh funny failed

Thanks Barry.

Dick Dobson

Great pics, thanks for posting.

amondc

Just got an email from Todd that he changed his email address to toppracing@gmail.com

Veloce Raptor

Actually, the people who got the joke laughed a lot.