JETninja

From the weird crash on 6/24.....Lucky I have Pemco Insurance cause they are covering it. Pulling out some of the custom stuff that is mine and waiting on their offer.

After it landed on the Drag Strip and I'm still in there a tad dazed and big time lower back pain...



After they moved it to a safe place off the track, one of the guys lives at the track and he was great, even put a tarp over it to protect it.



And where it now sits in the back of my garage. (2 cars deep on this side)




See the doctors in a few days to see if I can remove this shell I'm wearing and get to work in a little over a week.

Also searching for another just like it. Notice the value is holding and even slightly increasing on these cars, surprise!

Thought about keeping it and parting it out, but too much work and I don't really know the condition of things like the engine etc.. so I think I'll let them take it.

And I highly recommend Pemco! The policy says no coverage for racing or preparing to race, which was not what I was doing. Most would not cover something like this.

Mufflerbearing

Sorry to see your car used up but glad you pulled through.

So was this turn 9 by the grandstand corner? We had a very good driver from Z06vette, (Subdriver) wad up his C5 there many years ago.

four0nefive

Oh man! Again, I'm just glad you're safe! I hope recovery is going well.

ExRedRacer

Thank God you're OK. Hope you can find another yellow one to suit your tastes.

JETninja

It was the Turn leading on to the main straight.....I was in 3rd and just lightly fed in some throttle when the rear went out and I had no time to respond....hit the inner wall and airbags went off dazing me, changed direction and went across the track and climbed over the concrete barrier and landed on the drag strip. If I hadn't been so out of it I would have hit the brakes and had a lot less damage to the car and myself. Found later the owners haven't repaved it in decades.....Bums that they are!

Mufflerbearing

What you describe is the same that happened to the guy I mentioned above. Although he was a veteran driver he was new to that track. Cars with less power can accelerate through that turn without issue usually but most with more power need to hold what they have going in until clear of it.

AaronZ51

That's awesome news that your insurance is going to cover it! That ought to take some of the sting out of it... Hope you're still mending on schedule. It feels so good once the body jacket comes off.

ErikwithAK01

Well, thank god your alright John. I'm sorry about the car though man! That really sucks, I feel for you

LEAVINU

Ouch, glad you made it out safely.

JETninja

Thanks all, healing slowly...but I'll be back in the Vette game soon I hope...

JETninja

Good news bad news day. Insurance gave me a fantastic offer for the car. Bad news, doctor wants me to wear this shell another 4-6 weeks, and then my back muscles will be toast so lots of PT after. So no going back to work for quite awhile. Bah!

MACE_Hardware

I'll have to look into Pemco. I would never have expected to be covered for a track day.

JETninja

Yeah, their policy only says that they don't cover racing or preparing for a race. Track day was neither....

AaronZ51

I can sympathize and know how much that stinks. If they tell you to wean off the body jacket, I'd follow their advice. I went about 10 hours without the body jacket the first day I was allowed to have it off and it was a big mistake - very sore back the following days. Your body gets used to using the clam shell for trunk support and the back muscles, as you mentioned, will be quite atrophied. Keep up the good spirits!

JETninja

Thanks Aaron, When I take showers I keep it off for maybe 2 hours so I can use the back muscles a bit with hurting anything.

And about PEMCO, not a fan anymore. Yes they gave me big bucks for my Vette, but they are dropping us end of September. Saying my fault for the Vette accident, late tags on the wifes TT 2 years ago, and she got a speeding ticket coming back from WSU for Son #3's orientation there. (Her first in like 20 years) So screw them!

JETninja

Well if anyone wants to bid on it, its at Insurance Auto Auctions in Seattle:

https://www.iaai.com/Vehicles/Vehicl...3&RowNumber=38

nolimits

Glad you're ok, that part of the track is especially nasty. Several vipers and other power cars have had issues there, same result. The undulations unsettle the car and it's just not safe to get into much throttle till after that, tracking out, and pointed straight.

Rest up, you'll be in the seat in no time.

Kamran

Sorry to see and hear this. I hope you have a speedy recovery.
It could have been worse, and I'm glad it wasn't. You will recover, and you will have a new car, with new insurance.

mikeCsix

Sure hate to see this and glad you survived it. I hope your back mends quickly, I've had a bad back for many years and it takes a long time to learn what it takes to keep it healthy and relatively pain free.

The instructors I've had at turn 9, will tell you to accelerate and as you do, let the car drift out to the edge of the track which takes you right through the bumps. As I've followed their instruction, I've disliked the bouncing around which has been violent enough to knock my head into the seat back and side of the window frame. I've since learned to pinch a bit, staying away from that part of the track. I watched the SOVREN racers go through that area really upsetting their chassis. Trailing throttle oversteer in these cars is sudden and very quick, I had something similar happen at the Ridge, turn 3 and was completely unexpected. It was my second lap of the first session so too much power on tires that were still a little cool for the conditions. The tires were Michelin PSS's and for some reason had trouble getting them to grip all day long.

JETninja

Tomorrow I go for another CT scan and then Thursday see the Neurosurgery Doc and see if I can ditch this shell and report back to work next Monday. Fingers crossed!