Falcon

I heard someone hit the tow truck that was on track at VIR this weekend, anyone there who can give details?

Everett Ogilvie

No, that was Juan Pablo who hit the jet dryer at Daytona.

travisnd

EDIT - Looks like I was incorrect on exactly how it all went down. I was relaying what I had been told at the track from various sources. It didn't happen on the start. Sorry for spreading incorrect information.

Falcon

Wow!

The NASA forum is eerily quiet aboout the incident.

jcsperson

I'm a complete noob, but even given my limited skills and knowledge I have to say the track was tricky. I was sliding all over the place and a Mini went off in front of me in Hyperdive. He hit the tirewall hard before 10 right before Oaktree. I saw several cars Saturday get the towtruck ride back to the paddock.

I don't know anything about the incident in question, but the carnage was pretty impressive. The weather up until around 12:00 pm was pretty bad and the track didn't really dry out until after 1:00 pm on Saturday.

travisnd

That it is... I'm sure it's being dealt with accordingly. Apparently dude who hit the tow truck now "owns" said tow truck.

travisnd

Just so you know this past weekend was an aberration. Hope you come out for another go

jcsperson

I'll definitely be back.

Both of us (my wife was in Hyperdive in her Mazda 3) had a great time. I spent the rest of the afternoon with the Corvette crowd up on the hill and got quite an education about my car and NASA in general. Those guys were great.

Bill, my instructor, was patient and informative. I was glad to hear he never really asked me to accelerate. He'd always tell me after the fact that I might've gone faster in a given section of the track.

I'll be there Friday for the charity laps to learn the course a little better. I'm also signed up for the NCM HPDE in June and an event at Nelson Ledges in July.

travisnd

Careful how much time you spend with those guys

jcsperson

As the old saying goes, "Birds of a feather flock together." They're all about the same vintage ('50s) as me.

drivinhard

I am a broken record about such, but a race license is like a street driver's license. It's way to easy to get one and about 50% of the people have no business having either.

Short-Throw

It's easier getting a racing license -- all you need is a checkbook.

I hope the tow truck driver and anyone else who may have been hurt only have short-lived injuries.

sperkins

Seems like there would have been plenty of time to throw the red before the 3rd group ever got close to that T3 area. I'd say the tow truck being smashed would be worthy of a red flag any day.

ZoomFreakinZoom

Yea but this is NASA!!!!! Common sense and great organization isn't high up on their list. The funny thing is, I find the NASA TT groups safer and better run than any of the NASA racing groups. I love running NASA and much prefer it to SCCA but these kinds of things just shouldn't happen lol. Glad no one was hurt

travisnd

I wasn't watching first hand... I'm not sure why the red wasn't thrown after the truck was hit. I will say the MA race director is very serious about his job as is Cobetto. The comp school in MA isn't easy. They take it very seriously. When I wnt through it last October they failed a guy. It's not like the instructor clinics.

Falcon

JJ isn't to be screwed with. When he's serious, he's very serious, and that is as it should be.

Oyishdog

The MA version of comp school is much different than SE. I believe 1 or 2 failed when I went through it 4-5 years ago.

Falcon

...and yet, the tow truck was hit at VIR by a MA driver.

Oyishdog

LOL...never said everyone was perfect

geerookie

As I understand it, VIR makes that call, Not NASA. When we run at The Glen they are in control of the track and flaggers not NASA.