Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
Moderators: dirtonly  /  dmantx  /  hosehead

After watching two weeks in a row a recently fired sprint having to slam on the brakes and kill the engine because of someone stepping in front of them while focused ONLY on their phone I have to comment. If your phone is the most important thing to you while in the pits you have no business being in the pits. Period. There are far to many people in the pits that have no business being there. Pits are a dangerous place, one HAS to be aware of their surroundings at ALL times.

Amen!   I generally get roasted for saying this on forums, but if you're not driving or working on a racecar then your @$$ needs to be in the stands.   The pits certainly are no place for kids, and that's where I get blasted.  After all, racing should be about family togetherness.   Years ago at the old Cowtown Speedway there was a 16 year old girl killed in the pits after being hit by a tire that came off of a car.   

Agreed, spectating from the pits doesn't make you cool, or any more of a fan then those in the grandstands. The view from the stands is far superior anyway. 

I am with Willie on the kids in the pits.  If it was my track, no one under 18 would be in the pits unless they are a driver or are on a leash.

When the pits are LIVE / ALL FANS SHOULD BE OFF PIT ROAD, AMAZED MORE PEOPLE havent been hit YET, I FEEL SO SORRY for the drivers having to Dodge Fans entering and exiting the pit Area, RACE TRACKS WAKE UP !!!!!!!  

WAYYY back when I used to shoot pictures (will I tried anyway) at Knoxville I had four things I always watched out for:

1. NEVER TURN your back to the cars on the track - if one of them was going to get you it wasn't going to be the leaders it was one of the back markers.

2. Try to stay out of the way of the REALLY good photographers that wre shooting for the track or a publication.

3. WATCH OUT for the push trucks - they seemed to try and get as close to you as possible.

And

4. Keep you head on a swivel while walking around the infield - with all the noise you might not hear the car coming at you AND it's possible that the person driving might be a crew member who is not as skilled as the driver.

Like mentioned above if you DON'T have a good reason to be in the infield just stay in the stand, you'll see more of the races.

still as true today as it was back then....

I am a photographer, and I always tell people it is more dangerous when they are firing sprint cars in the pits than when I'm taking photos of the cars on the track!

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I would find it super annoying going into a turn and 10 flashes go off, especially as dark as some tracks are.

The tracks need to manage the situation of the pits since they charge to get in in the pits. They basically sell a ticket to those who pay to be in the pits for what ever purpose. One guys/gals money is as good as the other. You can't really complain about people walking around the pits and being in the way, if someone has sold them the right to be there. It's an easy fix if its an issue.

Actually I see more danger of ATV's driving fast through and around the pits than any other single "danger".

I agree on the ATV's as well. I hate to say it because I'm not generally a person who thinks there should be a rule in place to protect every idiot lacking common sense, but I feel strongly that all ATV operators in the pits should be made to wear a helmet. And no passangers allowed.

you think thats bad...the Grove has some real gem push truck drivers who can't get their @sses off the track via the pit entracne during TTs as the car they just pushed to start comes screaming into T3...we watched it play out for sereral close calls until my buddy called them out on TWIT and then a few slow pokes were routed to the BS cutoff or T2 pit!

Lincoln 1845 ft/.35 mile T1=118MPH 
Eldora 2287 ft/.43mile T3=135MPH
Port 2716 ft/.51 mile T3=TBD
Grove 2792 ft/.53 mile T3=135MPH
Selinsgrove 2847 ft/.54 mile T1=136MPH
"I didn't move to PA from El Paso in search of better 
weather." Van May

Never walk past an empty trailer without knowing where the car that belongs to that trailer is. You must always be alert in the pit area. Some folks wander around oblivious to everything going on around them. Not a good situation. 

"I would find it super annoying going into a turn and 10 flashes go off, especially as dark as some tracks are"

I've taken pictures 30 years with a flash and they were doing it long before I came along. Must be fine.

"Never walk past an empty trailer without knowing where the car that belongs to that trailer is."

That is one of the first things to teach someone new to the pits. The empty spot seems like the place to go, but it's actually where a car is going to pull in very soon.

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I don't have an issue with fans being in the pits but you need to know your place. I go in the pits all the time to talk to friends and just get an up close look at the cars and stuff but as soon as it's time for engine starts, I'm in the bleachers. If there's nothing going on during intermission, I'll sometimes take a quick walk through but I ALWAYS make sure I'm long gone before they start pushing out. Sometimes I'll sit in the pit bleachers but I stay out of the area where the cars are and if that isn't possible, I just stay up in the spectator area once the races start. I have no reason to be there walking around at that point and I refuse to be an ass and get in someone's way. Fans who go in the pits before the races don't hurt a damn thing. It's the ones who don't know when it's time to get back to the bleachers who cause problems. As with anything in life, just a little common sense will go a long way and unfortunately, far too many people don't have any. 

Never walk past an empty trailer without knowing where the car that belongs to that trailer is.

Never tried to stay down there when they fired motors but if I did & as I was walking the pits & noticed an empty spot you can bet you're sweet ass I was turning & looking to see if they were coming.

Have been in and out of the pits for over 30 years the first thing you learn is not an open trailer with no car is. But what direction are the cars one coming off the track and coming back to the trailer. And to not wear head phones or ear buds and walk around.

Age in the pits, we now have drivers that are 14 to 17 years old in sprint cars. We have classes of cars that have drivers from 12 to 15 called a JR class at many tracks.

The thing you learn is to look behind you if you know Sprint cars are coming off the track or are being cold started. Do not cross the lanes in the pits with out looking. Also the push trucks need to go around the pits and tell everyone we are cold firing Sprint Cars. And honk when they are pushing the Sprint car and follow the car.

The thing is we have classes of cars that have starters and clutches or are automatics. If a track doesn't run a Sprint Car class every week or a class does not always run when the Sprint Cars are there, you run into this. I have been yeld at get out of the way, but I was there for a reference point for my driver, I was helping.

Try to convince the promotor of that.

Great advice here guys, just hate hearing anyone blaming the track for not doing a better job of policing/controlling the pits. If you are ignorant enough to walk into the path of a moving race car, chances are you were gonna get run over crossing the street without looking anyway. Natural selection, sorry if it offends you, but most people of average intelligence who have attended a race or 2 in their lives shouldn't need instructions on how to keep from getting run over in the pits. 

Using Williams Grove Speedway as an Example because I know how tight there pit road is, Hypothetically speaking if a sprintcar comes down pit road from turn 4 and i get hit while not paying attention on pit road, and i become paralized will Williams Grove speedway cover my medical bills ? Thanks  

I believe you are covered by insurance when you sign in to the pits. But the amount of coverage varies from track to track. But you can be pretty sure you will pay a lot of the medical bills out of your own pocket.