This is a post from the CASC forums about an incident that happened last Sunday in my race. I was not involved but drove by the incident on the back straight. It is posted in 2 places so take the time to read through each! It was a real wake up call for me and about 170 other drivers! It made me think of all the times I go testing etc just wearing my tshirt and jeans. The driver was about 5-10 seconds away from being severly injured or dead.............It all started with a blown engine, but in a rotary it could have been a simple broken/blown oil line etc.

http://www.casc.on.ca/forums/showthread.php?t=22811

http://www.casc.on.ca/forums/showthread.php?t=22818

For those of you who have highly modified cars, it really give you something to think about!
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"Never press the gas pedal until you know you never have to take it off"

 

fire suit ftw. Ever since I had to get mine (for 24 hours of lemons) I've worn it every time I've been on a roadcourse. I'll probably wear it at the dragstrip too if I'm in something fast enough to bother.

 

it reminds me of a video i saw the other day on destroyed in seconds a car crashed and burst into flames the only car that stopped was an RX-7 who just happened to have a fire extinguisher

 

The reason I posted this is that there are guys on here that have posted lap times on the big track faster than myself or the Corvette that had the issues, the difference is the Corvette and I have onboard fire extinguishing systems, firesuits etc. The scary part about things like this are "its not a matter of if it will happen, its only when..."

 

Accidents happen to everything regardless of preparation and etc. If you overthink it you will end up wanting to wear a full body firesuit on the way to the store in your 9000LB SUV just because it's safer. Guys racing motorcycles have almost nothing in the way of safety equipment compared to a car and aren't dying in every race. I often feel safer on-track than off just because of instant response ambulance and fire compared to 20+ minutes on the street.

I strongly feel that not all accidents are preventable, but by taking proper precautions building the car and while you are driving it you can reduce your chances of becoming crispy/otherwise injured dramatically. Lots of aftermarket stuff is nowhere near as good as OEM when it comes to stuff like hardline quality, etc. People route hoses stupidly all the time. 99% of them get away with it too. (I certainly have, and looked back and said why didn't I fix that?).

I noticed when attempting to scavenge a piece of the OEM hardline out of my GTR for another purpose (I needed bigger/different hardlines now) how tough the OEM ones are. They're coated in nickle or something and were harder to cut through with my angle grinder than a piece of solid 1/4" steel. Earls aluminum hardlines I can almost cut with a pair of scissors. etc. I bet almost nobody cares, and when your car is scraping those bits against sharp gravel or whatever at 100MPH on a track, it matters a lot.

I guess my point here is that I agree with you - preparation and proper mindset are key, but don't overthink it.

 

My point is not to over think, rather to think about what your doing. Street cars are lapping faster than the Player Challenge Camaro's did 20 years ago. If you go to a drag strip and your street car runs under a certain time they will pull you off the track and tell you not to come back until your car has the required safety items (scatter shield/trans blanket, drive shaft loop etc.) Road racing has never caught up. If you have a car that can run a sub 1:45 on the big track you are going fast enough if you crash to do serious damage. What I am saying is think about it in that aspect and police yourself accordingly. A motorcycle rated helmet is probably not a good idea, a 5 or 6 point quality harness with mounts above your shoulders are a good idea, an inertia fuel cut off, a proper seat etc. I guess when your there and you see what should have been a car that coasted off the track with a broken motor, with the drivers suit burned and covered in dust from the extinguishers etc it really makes you think. When you start to run externally mounted fuel pumps, huge turbo's that produce incredible heat with oil lines not far away, it may be time to spend on something other than all out performance.

 

Excellent points. I think that whether you are on a bike or a car you had better be thinking about safety!