kam

Here are a few pictures after my crash at Waterford Hills on friday.
While breaking at the end of the back straight going into turn 6 I lost the left rear tire. Tried to keep the car under control and get it stopped but was unsuccessful. ended up spinning it off the turn, through the pea gravel trap and into the tire wall. No injuries. By the time I hit the wall I was nearly stopped in the pea gravel. A few scratches on my helmet where it hit the targa top above the window. 3 tires needed remounted. Pea gravel everywhere in the car. The wheels are scratched up from the gravel. Minor body damage to the right rear there I hit the wall. All done, I feel lucky it wasn't worse. Had it back running for sunday's events. Only completed 4 of the 7 events on saturday.

Out of car against the wall.


Checking out the damage


Car in the infield. getting ready to mount borrowed wheel and tire so we can move it back to the paddock.


Picture of damage. (this morning with the car cleaned up)
scratches on bumper and breaks circled in rear panel.


I was nervous on sunday but ran all 7 events with no problems.
Watched tire pressures very close sunday. We have several possible ideas why the tire came off the rim but can't prove any of them.
I hope I learned something that can help me stay out of trouble in the future.

kam

BMW hit the wall in turn 8 head on. moved the cement barrier back nearly 6 inches.
This was at the low speed event that I wasn't running. I was working corner 8 for the last session after her crash.

fire_n_ice

Glad you are okay, and presumably the driver of the Bimmer as well. So when you say you lost the tire, you mean it came off the rim completely while you were still on the track?

kam

The bead came lose from the rim while I was braking. We think I may have loosened it up when I ran that wheel over a very rough rumble strip earlier in that run. It may have been slowly losing pressure and when I started braking for the turn it broke lose. The man who was taking pictures of me, using my camera heard and saw it go. The driver of the car behind me saw I had a problem before I started trying to turn, But he couldn't tell what it was. I know this is more guessing than real answers, But it is all I have. Both front tires had to be remounted because of pea gravel in the bead. Several others said they heard the pop but couldn see what happened. I I know is I felt a hard jerk while braking and knew I had a problem. At the time I had no idea what it was. Couldn't keep it under control in the turn with the tire off the rim.

I think I am very lucky that the damage is no worse. Not many places to go off that track without damage.

Driver of the Bimmer is OK, but shook up. she was very upset about wrecking her nearly new car.

the blur

street tires or track tires?
what pressures were you running?

kam

Bridgestone Potenza RE760 Sport have been running them for several months at Putnam Park and autocross with excellent results. 36psi front 32psi rear. when it was repaired the valve stem was bad. but we suspected that was a result of the crash.

This was the first event on the new track alignment instead of street alignment. would the negative camber put more stress on the bead?

01Pewter

You asked me to take pictures of you on the track.
But, I did not expect to take those pictures.

Armycop

Kam, glad to see you were okay! A bunch of us in Group I were sittin' around in the paddock when we heard that gawd-awful screech of the tires, then the crunchy sound as you peeled off into the kitty litter! Hell of a dust cloud you put up too! Some anxious moments just before your helmet popped up from the rise, all good. Glad to hear you were able to get 'er back on the track the next day. Oh, and welcome to the Waterford Kitty Litter Klub!!

the blur

IMO, ... street tires generally need more pressure for the track. maybe the pressures wern't enough ??

just a thought....

L98Terror

Sorry to here the news, glad you are OK.

What did the times look like, this is the first time since I live in MI I missed these events.

AUTO_X_AL

73's out of a stock Z06 with A6's.

I think Ray M was running in the 73's and 74's as well.


BTW Keith, I think I was the first one in the pit in 6 after it was put in.. There's a lot of us that are thankful it's there.

kam

I think that pea gravel pit saved the car for me. stones are still falling out of the car.

kam

Now that you guys are posting here I am putting names to the faces I have seen at this and other events. Sure appreciate the help everyone gave me getting the car back going. couldn't have done it without your help. Thanks guys. Hope a lot of you can come to Tire Rack for our MCC autocross Aug 9 and 10. after all the help I got I'll make sure I have snacks and drinks there to keep everyone refreshed. Hope to be at Gingerman in October.

We checked the alignment this morning. nothing wrong with the car. just the minor damage in the rear needs a bandaid.

kam

I'm not sure it is a club I really wanted to be a member of, but after hearing stories from everyone who runs there a lot I think I am glad they now have the kitty litter box there.

BrianCunningham

I used to hit that track quite a bit. Could have been a lot worse. I remember when they had to fish someone out of the drink!

Best of luck getting it fixed.

vettehardt

Sorry to hear about this keith. Glad the car isn't badly damaged. Will you, sam, and troy be going down to anderson on the 19-20th? Hope to see you there.

David

kam

David, Won't be able to go to Anderson, It is the opening weekend of our Elkhart County fair and I have been on the fair board for many years. Will be busy at the fair all week. Will be flying balloons that weekend. Sam is planning to crew with us at the balloon festival. Can't say what Troy is doing.

Keith

rasrboy

Keith,
Sorry to see the damage, but glad you were able to continue on.

69mako

and..."They walked away"

WNeal

Kieth,
Glad you are OK and that it was not as bad as it could have been.
Hope to see you soon