AutobahnRacer

Why do you pay $ 100+/hour for race prep, repair and safety mods? I did because I wanted it done right, and well into $ six - figures, I willingly wrote those checks to protect me, my car, and the safety of others around me for over 10-years of racing.




Lost ALL braking at 110mph, and impact with wall at 80mph due to NEGLIGENCE of Black Dog Speed Shop and their employees faulty installation of NEW front brakes, including S/S lines, rotors, calipers and pads by Brembo.

I believe this CRASH was the 5th such incident I had that was directly related to improper prep/repair by Black Dog Speed Shop, but I stayed with them up until this one - call me stupid, but "they were my friends", or so I thought.

We texted each other on Holidays, had lunch and talked about our familys, shared life-stories well beyond the business of our relationship. We hung out in Vegas during SEMA shows, gambled at the tables, and in-general had a good relationship. Each time my car was delivered 'wrong', I seemed to look past the problem due to our 'friendship'.

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Here's an excerpt from the LAWSUIT filed in July 2015

20. Unfortunately, the crash is not the first time that Black Dog has failed to properly care for Mr. Esbjornson’s car. In roughly June of 2012, Mr. Esbjornson’s car suffered a severe fire during a race that occurred immediately after Black Dog performed a LS2 engine rebuild on June 15, 2012.

21. In 2013, Black Dog had installed an Accu-sump which blew and which caused Mr. Esbjornson to lose control into the first turn and completely blew the entire engine.

22. On July 27, 2013, Mr. Esbjornson emailed Ray Sorenson and detailed the numerous problems he was having with the car:
Major issues with car:
Trans is crap. Does not go into 1st or Reverse.
Transponder does not work.
Dash Display said “Service Column Lock”
Front pads were shot, and found that one of the clamps was not like the others. Very thin. We (Eurosport) replaced.
Pads that went to VIR (Virginia Intl Raceway) did not come back from VIR and had to buy new front pads, but have some Monster sized pad that are not mine.
Right rear exhause hanger is missing. I used two coat hangars to keep it from laying on sway bar and rear diffuser. It melted the rear diffuser.
Right rear axle boot slipped off, blew grease everywhere in 1st race. I took off the clamp, refilled with grease and used wire to secure. It worked, but it is temporary. I think 2-weeks to next race. I WON both races yesterday. I really want to win the next 3-as well. Need your help to get it done.

Also, at this time the rotors were installed backwards by Black Dog.

23. On June 30, 2014, Mr. Esbjornson was at VIR and his car kept going into LIMP MODE. It was determined that there was a loose intake sensor, which is very dangerous as Mr. Esbjornson could be traveling at 150 mph or more and the car would lose power and simply coast to a stop. In racing, the cars are traveling very close to each other and are difficult to control at that speed, and if someone else is close to one’s bumper they very likely will cause a collision if there are no functioning brake lights on the vehicle.

24. On July 1, 2014, when Mr. Esbjornson still was at VIR, the rear wheel tore off the brand new wheel well inner. Black Dog responded via text “Ditch the wheel wells.”

25. On July 11, 2014, Black Dog installed the two “rear” tires on the left side of the car and the two “front” tires on the right side of the car. Mr. Esbjornson arrived at Autobahn minutes before the Qualifying run and thus did not have a chance to inspect the vehicle and thus ran it with the tires incorrectly installed by Black Dog.
III. The Day Of The Crash.

26. On May 9, 2015, Mr. Esbjornson arrived at Autobahn around 9:30 a.m. His sole purpose for the day was to ‘bed the brake pads’ that were part of a new installation by Black Dog for the front brakes, including new rotors, calipers, and stainless steel brake lines and pads. After bedding the new pads, he intended to drive the car ‘at speed’ to experience the difference in the new versus old brakes, and then prepare the car for the following weekend’s race on May 17th. The car had been delivered by Black Dog to his garage earlier that week, on Wednesday, May 6, 2015, on information and belief.

27. Since the car had just arrived from Black Dog, Mr. Esbjornson checked his tire pressures, refueled, cleaned the car, and was set to go for the 11:25 a.m. A-Group session. This session is a relatively ‘slow’ drive for bedding brakes, not more than 60 mph, and was completed in two laps on the 2.56 mile course. After bedding the brakes, the car/brakes need to completely cool, so the next session he could participate in was scheduled for 2:25 p.m., after which Mr. Esbjornson intended to prep for the following weekend.

28. Immediately after entering the race-track, Mr. Esbjornson knew something was wrong. The car was ‘darting’ from left to right, and difficult to control even at slower speeds. He did complete the bedding process, and returned to his garage to inspect the car. Unfortunately, this ‘darting’ was not an entirely new experience for Mr. Esbjornson, as he had the same thing happen during a Qualifying Session in 2014. At that time, a technician at Black Dog had mounted a Front Tire/Wheel on the Right/Rear of the car, and the Rear Tire/Wheel on the front of the car (Driver’s side). The difference in both wheel and tire size between front/rear is pretty dramatic, and should never happen. During his 2014 Qualifying session, the car had 2-Rear wheels mounted to the Right side of the car, and 2-Front wheels mounted to the left side of the car.

29. Upon discovering this, Mr. Esbjornson texted both Ray Sorenson (acting General Manager for Black Dog) and Joel Justus (a technician at Black Dog) about the error by their shop and proceeded to jack the car up in the garage and make the ‘swap’ himself. He used a Snap-On battery operated Impact Tool to remove the lugs, and noticed that they came off ‘way too easily’. Mr. Esbjornson grabbed his torque wrench and tested the passenger side wheels, only to find that they were not properly torqued. He got a good ½ turn on the wrench . . . which should not have moved at all. This reveals that the technician at Black Dog not only mounted wheels/tires incorrectly, he never torqued them to the proper spec. This is very dangerous, plain and simple. The car would be traveling at 140 mph, braking heavily, and loading substantial lateral G’s during high speed cornering. A wheel not torqued is bound to loosen under those conditions, and Black Dog did not torque any of them.

30. Mr. Esbjornson completed the wheel swap on the driver’s side of the car and torqued all of the wheels and then recalled seeing a ‘dash light’ while bedding the brakes “SERVICE ABS”. He texted both Messrs. Sorenson and Justus again, inquiring about the ABS warning. Joel Justus responded and said “ABS light should not be on”, and that Mr. Esbjornson should not drive the car as-is. Joel asked him by text to “double check that the wheel speed connections are plugged in”. Mr. Esbjornson did not respond immediately by text and Joel called his cellphone. The two had a conversation and Mr. Esbjornson conveyed that he was upset with the condition of the car. Mr. Esbjornson mentioned that he is not a mechanic, that this was a safety issue, and he was concerned about the safety of the car. Mr. Justus offered to drive to Autobahn to inspect the car and Mr. Esbjornson agreed. Meanwhile, he did check for the wheel speed sensors, and found that the ‘jumper’ cable from the frame to the hub on the front/right wheel was missing; it was never installed. He called Joel back and told him “don’t bother coming unless you have a jumper, it’s missing.” Joel responded, “I think I have one back at the shop” . . . and he did, most likely it was Mr. Esbjornson’s since they never installed it on his car. Mr. Justus picked up the jumper and proceeded to Autobahn.

31. Mr. Esbjornson had the front wheel off and the car jacked up when Joel arrived. Joel attached the wheel speed sensor to the front/right wheel/hub, inspected the brakes, mounted/torqued the wheel, and then proceeded to check the front/left wheel as well. Joel suggested Mr. Esbjornson take the car out to the paddock, bring it up to speed and do heavy braking to check the car. In hindsight, this was dangerous and irresponsible. The paddock is full of cars/spectators and other race drivers. Had the brakes failed, Mr. Esbjornson could have killed someone. He did what Joel instructed him to do and the car performed very well. By the time he returned to the garage, there was about twenty minutes until the 2:25 p.m. session he intended to drive in. Mr. Esbjornson told Joel that he was ‘good’ and that Joel could leave from the Autobahn.

32. Mr. Esbjornson entered the race track, did a ‘warm up’ lap to get the fluids/tires hot, and proceeded to drive the car ‘hard’. In addition to new brakes, which allowed him to carry more speed and brake ‘later’, he had authorized new wheel bearings on all four corners. They are expensive and typically he had replaced them when the car started to perform poorly. This time Mr. Esbjornson decided to have the car ‘as good as it gets,’ and it was. The second lap Mr. Esbjornson only turned a 1:35 minute lap (he can turn a sub 1:30 lap), and continued to ramp up speed on the third lap. The course has fourteen turns, and at turn #8, while traveling 108 mph, Mr. Esbjornson hit the brakes for a nearly 90-degree turn. It was very heavy braking and the brake pedal went ‘click’ and then to the floor. There was nothing. He turned the wheel hard to the right in an attempt to slide the car sideways and slow it down, but the turn came up way too quickly. It had rained the night before and the grass was wet. Once Mr. Esbjornson hit the grass, there was no slowing down. He hit the tire-wall at 75 mph (he has Traqmate Data Acquisition in the car). The car was nearly a perfect ‘pancake’ hit on the driver’s side. Mr. Esbjornson’s helmet hit the top of the cage hard and he was severely shaken. His entire left side from hip to shoulder was aching and he was unable to exit the car.

33. An emergency crew (EMT) was on the scene pretty quickly, but Mr. Esbjornson does not know how long it took due to his shaken state. When asked if he was “OK”, he responded “No”. Mr. Esbjornson was asked what his name was, and he paused, it took a few seconds, but he was able to respond. After several minutes of ‘in car’ EMT discussion and vital sign checks, he was helped by EMT to exit the car. He was able, with help, to sit on the ‘door bars’ of the driver’s side cage, and additional tests were done by EMT. Several minutes later, he was feeling a little better and chose to stand up. With some assistance, he chose to walk to the ambulance waiting on-track. Mr. Esbjornson spent 25-30 minutes in the ambulance, talking with EMTs while they did vital sign checks. With information from the EMTs, he made the decision to waive the ride to the hospital. The ambulance would be on-site all day and Mr. Esbjornson owned a garage with beds.

34. After the crash, the car was inspected by George Weathered, owner of Eurosport Racing (which is located on the grounds of Autobahn). Mr. Weathered is one of the most respected and liked shop owners at Autobahn. He has built, from the ground up, a Corvette Race Car. Mr. Weathered crawled under Mr. Esbjornson’s car before anyone else had looked at anything and immediately identified the brake line was cut and stated that it was due to a faulty installation, which caused the wheel to rub through the brake line in under seven miles of driving from new brakes.

35. At 4:13 p.m., Mr. Esbjornson sent another text to Ray and Joel with the picture of the car and the caption “No brakes”. There was no response from either one of them. At 5:27 p.m., he sent another picture of the severed brake line with the caption “Here’s why”, and again no response from either one of them. He sent a third text that read, “Front right brake line was loose, and cut through. 75 mph impact”. Ray Sorenson finally responded, “Is it still connected”? Mr. Esbjornson did not receive a call from anyone at Black Dog.
IV. Black Dog’s Inspection Of The Car And Black Dog’s Admissions.

36. On Sunday, May 10th at 7:01 a.m., Mr. Esbjornson sent another text to Ray and Joel. It read, “Please call me on Monday before picking up the car”. There was no response from either one of them. On that same day, after not having a response from anyone to his text, Mr. Esbjornson checked his camera system in his garage at Autobahn. The car was gone, no longer where he left it. Mr. Esbjornson reversed the recorded video, and found that two Black Dog employees had arrived at 8:30 p.m. the night before and loaded the car into their trailer. Mr. Esbjornson decided to drive by the Black Dog shop on his way to a Mother’s Day event in Mundelein, and saw his car parked inside of the shop. He decided to arrive early (6:00am) the following morning, May 11th, and demanded that his car be returned.

37. On May 11th, after picking up the Corvette from Black Dog early that morning, Ray Sorenson called Mr. Esbjornson while he was en route to his warehouse and the Black Dog truck/trailer following him. Ray called four times before Mr. Esbjornson picked up and during the course of that conversation said, “I take the blame” for the errors to his car. Dick Behrendt, that same morning, said that Joel dismantled the old brakes. Dick had started to install the new brakes, but did not finish, and that some other ‘kid’ finished the install due to Dick having to leave early, and Black Dog wanted to ship the car to Autobahn the following morning. When Dick came in the next morning, he asked “any issues with the install” and was told no. That was the extent of the oversight.

38. After Mr. Esbjornson removed the car to his facility, on May 20, 2015, Tony Gaples and Ray Sorenson, traveled to Mr. Esbjornson’s facility at 490 W. North Frontage Road, Bolingbrook, Illinois to inspect the car in person. Ray is a technical person, with a long-time career in racing and shop managment. Ray used Mr. Esbjornson’s jack and impact wrench to remove both front wheels and inspect the car. Ray spent a substantial amount of time, had high-powered lights to see what was happening, and was careful to inspect the 'rubbing' with the wheel turned in both directions as well as straight with the wheels on and off. After his inspection, Ray stood up, put out his hand with his head low to shake Mr. Esbjornson’s hand and said, "I am really sorry this happened. We fucked up".

39. It was immediately after this that Tony Gaples offered to repair the car at his expense with this statement, “I'd like to repair the car for you, better than new.” Mr. Esbjornson said no, and Tony seemed to be expecting that. Mr. Gaples responded with, “I know how you feel, and I understand. You can pick the shop of your choice, and I will pick up the bill.” Mr. Esbjornson responded, “No, that won't work for me.” Mr. Gaples was noticeably surprised with that answer. Mr. Esbjornson went on, “I no longer want the car. As far as I'm concerned, YOU broke it, you bought it, I don't care if you fix it, part it out, or whatever, but it's now YOUR car.” Tony said, “I wasn't prepared for this.” Mr. Esbjornson responded, “I know, but that's how I feel.” Mr. Esbjornson was emotionally upset and had to walk away for a bit to gather composure. When he returned, Tony said “we'll get a number together for you on the value of the car,” and Mr. Esbjornson responded “that's not all, you also need to take into consideration that I too am broken and not yet recovered physically from this. Additonally, I am mentally broken. I no longer think I can race a car on track at the level I used to. I don't think I can trust a shop, any shop to properly care for my car and my life, and I am equally concerned about the 'other' cars out there, and their shops, and whether this sort of thing could occur causing them to crash 'into me'.” Messrs. Gaples and Esbjornson agreed to talk on Friday (two days later), but Mr. Gaples did not contact Mr. Esbjornson on Friday.

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EVERY SINGLE INCIDENT ABOVE, caused by Black Dog Speed Shop, resulted in a FREE repair. They rebuilt a motor after the accu-sump blew up . . . NO CHARGE. They repaired the fire damage when the motor caught on fire, and this time they offered to FIX THE WHOLE CAR (estimates were over $ 40,000) . . . all to cover up their incompetence.

I've never had to file a lawsuit until recently, I'm over 50-years old, I've owned a business for nearly 1/2 my life, and yet I tend to interact with people of integrity where 'THE LAW' isn't the answer. I've never been sued, and hope that this is both the 1st and last of its kind. The LAW is a double-edged sword, and in the hands of those in the wrong, they use the law to delay, attempted dismissal, and deep pockets combined with patience will win more times than not. I'm not going away on this one. It's principal!

I decided to sue for a number of reasons, the primary being that in hindsight, I BELIEVE that Black Dog Speed Shop will end up causing physical harm and/or death to one of their customers. I hoped that my lawsuit would be a WAKE UP CALL to their owner, manager and employees (I'm told that things changed dramatically after my crash).

It's been 21-months since the crash. I've driven a friends Cayman on track for 6-laps last summer, mostly to shut him up, and I've lost the desire, in part due to fear, to continue in the hobby. I've sold (2) of my race-cars, the race-garage (www.autobahngarage.com), the dually to pull the trailer, and my Autobahn Membership is for sale. I'm OUT, in a moment of others negligence, my life changed. I'm OK with it . . . I guess. The biggest loss is that camaraderie with other racers, during practice, Q and post race. Sharing the joy of the hobby. You can't replace that.

I thought this was a story to share. It's a BUYER BEWARE story, and so much more. Don't let your emotions accept sub-par performance when it's YOUR LIFE and the safety of others in your shops hands.

StreetSpeed

Wow. Really sorry to see this. Makes me glad however that I'm capable of addressing all these "nut and bolt" issues myself. Engine and drivetrain I leave to the pros.

Any chance you can post a picture of the brake lines? I've installed lots of stainless brake lines on all kinds of cars, and I don't even know how it's possible how they could be installed in such a way that total catastrophe could occur so quickly.

AutobahnRacer

Just imagine the brake line coming off of the caliper HORIZONTALLY instead of vertically. EVERYTIME I turned the wheel to the right, the wheel rubbed on the brand new line, and after just 2 1/2 laps the steel braided line was rubbed through, causing ZERO pressure and total failure to the entire system.

redvetracr

so let me get this straight, your talented enough (or lucky enough) to afford $100 an hour and a $$$K toy (it`s a track day car right?) plus an Autobahn membership a dually and a trailer but your not smart enough to walk away after the first screwup or the second or the third or the fourth or the fifth or the tenth?

AutobahnRacer

Yes, you have it straight. People all over the world, and for a variety of different reasons, are in relationships they should leave, but don't. Mine is different, but similar. I liked the guys, I trusted that they had the talent and expertise, and they did . . . They just seemed to focus that talent on the owners cars (PWC driver), and team. I got the best quality 'when it was available', and the rookie kid when it wasn't.

FASTFATBOY

I think your wife may have upped your life insurance and planned on splitting it with Blackdog.

I was a tech for 12 years and have a lift/shop at my house, there is no way IN HELL I will trust some guy that may be having relationship problems that's possibly been on a drunk all night to work on a car I'm about to drive....much less drive on a racetrack. I do all my own work and am lucky I can, the day I can't do it I'll hang it up.

I can't believe your car wasn't inspected prior to delivery after the first snafu.

Damn dude, I'd rent a prepped car....arrive and drive if I were you.

sperkins

What a joke. You trust your life, in a high powered race car, on a race track, to someone else simply because you stroke them a check?
You show up minutes before a qualifying session and don't even bother to check the lug nuts?!
Did you pay any of the guys from that shop to be at the track and provide track side service? If not, your "arrive and drive" mentality does NOT mean that you actually employ any of those people. YOU have an obligation to look after your own safety. You're an embarrassment to all grassroots racers and you deserve a good kick in the nuts.

AutobahnRacer

You're a funny guy. I'm guessing you kick you dog, and think girls in short skirts deserve to be groped (or worse). You can't fix STUPID - you're proof of that. Best of luck in your janitorial career. Hilarious !

Reggie Dunlop

Your story redefines stupid.
And I too believe a swift kick in the pouch is in order.

Mordeth

Real sorry to hear about your misfortunes. It is easy for us to be back-seat drivers here and give you the shoulda-coulda-woulda speech. I am sure that if you could go back, you would do things differently. I can say that about many, many things in my own life. Additionally, we all end up in relationships we have trouble getting out of, so I personally understand this as well. It also seems like the shop was willing to fix their mistakes in the past, so that likely kept you coming back, along with the friendship that was created - these are all human things.

I realize you aren't here for advice, but rather to spread a message, and I appreciate that. I am also glad you were not physically injured.

However, the saddest part is that you allowed this to end your racing, cease all track time, abandon/sell your cars and give up the camaraderie, which it is clear you derived much enjoyment from. Regardless of what monetary award you may win, it doesn't change this fact. Regardless of who you think you might save in the future, it doesn't change this fact. I realize that it was likely their actions that precipitated and ultimately directly caused this choice of yours, but in the end - it was your choice. And I personally think it was the wrong one.

Years ago I used to fly airplanes. One weekend I was to fly with the chief instructor and owner of my local flight school. He was a veteran pilot with literally tens of thousands of hours. He was picking up a twin that just had one of the engines overhauled. As fates would have it, I didn't go. He ran out of gas (so says the FAA), crashed the plane and died. There were probably other contributing factors. But, it was up to someone else to fuel his plane. And up to someone else to overhaul the engine. I never flew again. It makes me sad, and I question and sometimes regret the decision almost every day - because I loved to fly.

One piece of honest advice: You won't get much satisfaction from posting here. So the back and forth quibbling will net you nothing. If your intention was to spread a message, consider it done with your first post and let members respond as they may. I wouldn't look again. However, if you continue to "debate" back and forth and toss around insults, then it not only detracts from your original message, but it also calls your motives into question. I realize you are a grown man and say this with all due respect.

fatbillybob

Well I think many who posted are correct. But I also commend the OP for posting his tragic story. I'm glad that physically he is ok. The mental can take time and don't be surprised when the next mid-engine vette comes out if there is a tip-toe back into HPDE.

To the OP every driver can learn basic mechanics like "safety tech" that can keep you safe. I hear you loud and clear. I don't get into my friend's car who has been drinking. You blurred the lines between personal safety and friendship. I bet you don't make that mistake again. At 50 the game is half over. Make the 2nd half a good one in whatever you do. Time is wasting and you may not be able to physically race into your 60's and 70's like some do. At 56 I think I got 10 good years left of declining physical abilities. I'm only good for sprint racing, can't flyfish for big fish all day, have a bent arthritic index finger that messes with my competition shooting, and good for about 3/4 of a day aggressive skiing. It is only going to get worse from here. So if you are going to die...have fun while doing it. There are many ways to build a really safe car and I will bet you dinner if you post pictures of your cage and safety system I could make it better. I had to race at Daytona where my top speeds in my restricted and ballasted SCCA T2 car hit 160mph and physically overload the Hoosier A7 tires on the banking. I needed a new clutch that I lost in the race prior. I could have sent my c5Z to a chevy dealer in Naples to fix it. Instead I rented a garage in Naples and flew from Cali with my new clutch and installed it myself. The fear of someone not doing something right at 160mph was too much for me to bare. So I feel your pain but there is a solution if you really want to stay in this sport. And the final datapoint is I have had my rearend taken off my vette in a race and I have been spin into a wall and rolled over in a prior racecar. Both times zero injury with my own welded rollcages and safety system of my own design. I am 100% certain I am safer in my racecar than my 7000lb Ram 2500 diesel battling Honda civics and toyota camary's on my local freeways. I'm not an engineer and you don't have to be. You don't have to be able to fix or build this stuff but you should learn enough about it so you can direct every aspect of what needs to be fixed and what needs to be built.

Yeah you had some words with Sperkins but he isn't "mean" but more tongue in cheek. He is a huge wealth of knowledge on these cars and just watching his videos, even if you never pick up a wrench, will give you a huge understanding of what it takes to make these cars work and arm you with knowledge to know if your mechanic is doing the job right...in a 5 minute video.

rbl

I also agree with many of the posters and believe venting your story seems to serve little purpose. But, that is just my opinion and worth exactly the price paid.

However, read your "excerpt" and then get a real attorney. I would be embarrassed to actually file a pleading so poorly written. More of my opinion.

For example:
Sounds like a romance novel.

Best of luck

Bill Dearborn

OP I sympathize with you but you did forget that in the end it is your responsibility to make sure your car is safe. I spun into a wall at Watkins Glen in a student's BMW because of a similar failure on the left front wheel. In his case the steel braided brake line pulled out of the fitting attached to the caliper. There is no way to know what the cause of the failure was. It could have been a manufacturing defect, an installation defect or the caliper could have been dropped when the shop that prepped his car changed rotors.

Whatever, it convinced me that we all need to have back up procedures in place for when Murphy shows up to ruin our day. In your case and in the BMW case there is one common thing. Both cars have a dual braking system. On 97-00 C5s that is a front/rear split system, on 03 and newer Vettes it is a dual diagonal split system. I am not sure which way the BMW is built but I suspect it has a dual diagonal system as well. After my thrilling ride I started wondering why the dual system didn't work on the BMW. Even losing one brake hose shouldn't affect the other circuit. After some thought I came to the conclusion that half of a brake system may not have the same pedal response as a full system. I firmly believe when the pedal goes to the floor when there is a serious brake fluid leak the brake pedal has to be pumped rapidly to get the other side of the system to apply its max pressure. Granted with a dual diagonal system you are only slowing with one front wheel and one rear wheel but it will work to slow the car.

Due to what happened in the BMW I have changed the way I coach my students. When the brakes failed in that car the student was working on driving further toward the corner before hitting the brakes. After multiple attempts when he hit the brakes that last time he yelled into the communicator "NO BRAKES". We were going 135 mph downhill into a 90 degree corner with 350 ft to go when the brakes failed. There was another 200 ft of run off pavement and then the tire wall. When he yelled that is when I realized he wanted me to tell him what to do. Not having a lot of time I told him to spin the car which he did. Some where during all of the tire squalling and rotations he pulled the parking brake and we slid the final 50 ft backwards into the tire wall and broke a tail light.

Now when I first meet a student the first question I ask them is what will they do when the brake pedal goes to the floor. Some give the right answer and others just stare. After that we talk about it. It isn't anything you can safely practice without some special equipment but it is something that you can mentally prepare for.

The same goes for all of the other crap things that happen on the track. Drivers should be prepared with a Plan A, Plan B and Plan C for everything. Most of those plans are variations on a couple of different things they can do with their hands and feet but just having thought about them makes it more likely they will react quicker and do the right thing to minimize the damage or eliminate it.

For the individual driver their isn't time to think about what to do they have to react. Throw an instructor relationship into the mix and there really is not enough time for a student to realize **** just happened, yell for help, the instructor to hear the yell and think about what to do and give a clear command, followed by a scared student hearing it and doing it. Too many milliseconds at 130 mph or 191 ft/second.

Bill

nskyline34

Makes me sick to see, just glad you're ok and I really hope they make it right. good job for scrubbing speed while you still had some grip before hitting the grass.

I will say though, this is why I wont let anyone touch my car - I'll die at the fault of my own hands before putting that trust in someone else.

Unfortunately, rbl is pretty correct with the writing in the filing - there are lots of loopholes for the defendants attorney to try and pry apart. If you're going to go after them, know you will need to lawyer-up, and it will be tied up for a year or two potentially.

Just glad you're ok and the car still has 3-1/2 corners on it and isnt sitting in several garbage cans...

nskyline34

That student should get a solid A for that move in driving, but a D+ at best for his wrenching skills. haha I bet that made your *** pucker... Tail lights are cheap though!

Rx7Rob

Damn Bill, and you still get in the passengers seat??

OP, sorry to hear about it and glad you're ok!!!

As others have said, I trust NO ONE with things that affect to my safety.

Hopefully you'll find another satisfying hobby. A back injury permanently ended most of the things I find enjoyable. I still have the motox bike but only get to look at it, its not worth becoming a cripple (at least thats what I keep telling myself). If I lost the ability for track days, it will be time to put me out of my misery!

Good luck with the lawsuit!

Lawdogg

Black Dog is a professional race shop. Its owner used to race a Corvette in Speed World Challenge. Do you think he checked the torque on his lug nuts or did he rely on his pro race team to prep the car? If you have Abc Auto repair prep your car you might want to go over it before hitting the track. I wouldn't think that a car prepped by Phoenix Performance, Black Dog Speed Shop, LGM, Pratt and Miller, etc., would require the driver to go over the car.

redtopz

Yeah, checking tire pressures and torquing lug nuts at the track is one thing. But a paying customer should not have to inspect and correct negligent brake installs from a pro shop. Come on guys, where is the accountability from the shop? Would you feel the same way if your wife or daughter brought her car to a shop for a brake install and then had a major accident? "Well honey, you should have gotten down under the car and made sure it was done right before you drove it".

If you are going to charge people to work on race cars then you better make sure you get it right and have some quality control in place. Not everyone who tracks a race car is a proficient mechanic. Have you seen Porsche racers?

FASTFATBOY

I would have AT LEAST looked the car over, I mean ....how could you NOT notice the wheels/tires in the wrong spots? I mean come on, different size tires on the left and right sides? That's a blatant case of HUA, which is Head Up *** syndrome.

The rest of it I will agree to a certain point, but after the first time that shop put me at risk I would have MADE time to check that car over. And If I found just ONE more thing out of line that shop would have never seen another nickel from me....after they got an in person *** chewing.

It almost seems to me Blackdog was TRYING to run the OP off.....or is it just me?

mgarfias

Pretty sure the OP votes democrat.