Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
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Just seeing some stuff on Twitter about cancelling rest of night due to severity of an accident? Eek. Anyone have more details? Praying already and hoping its not tragic. 

A sprint car flipped into the infield pit area and a person on 1 of the tow truck crews was killed. Thoughts and prayers for all involved.

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Oh gosh. So sick and so sad. Prayers to all. 

https://www.pennlive.com/news/2019/08/accident-at-williams-grove-speedway-kills-spectator.html

Unfortunately, I saw it all. It was ugly. Prayers for the family & friends of Mr. Speck. 

Should I just go ahead and assume it’s OK to get people killed every now and then? That way I can decide where to spend my money. 

Somebody said last night they were surprised a car made it into the pits. I’m not. There’s essentially nothing there to keep cars out. 

Is there any type of R/D going on related to safety? I realize it costs money that NASCAR had after Earnhardt but the sprint car community doesn’t have. They had 20 cars and hardly any fans last night. When do you draw the line to make the sport safer?

I hate to say it, but it was careless by the grove to let the truck park there. The very same thing happened at Port Royal years ago. It is long past to get the cars out of the infield so the push trucks and wreckers have a place to park safely and the view is not blocked. I like the grove but it is one of the worst tracks to watch a race unless you sit up high. Sad to see a life was lost.

I totally agree but at the same time, that gentleman chose to park there so there's culpability that can be equally distributed to both ends. The next tragedy will be at Port Royal. One of these days, a car is going to flip to the inside just like we saw last night and get up on the stage and when it does, there will likely be a dozen or so people right in the crosshairs. I can't believe they let spectators stand down there with that wannabe flagman guy. That area is totally exposed. Just watch a video of the 1985 Tuscarora 50 when Van May took out the flagstand and then imagine that crash happening nowadays. It wouldn't be good at all. Hopefully after last night, the folks at Port get smart and keep people the hell out of there.

You are spot on about Port. Not just that spot but down inside of turns 3 & 4, they let people just stand there, feet away.  And I sure do remember the flagstand being taken out. That flagman was my Uncle Bob Hockenberry and my mom (Bob's sister) & I were sitting straight across from him when it happened. Scary shit for sure. Tracks need to keep folks farther back from the inside because things can and do happen.

First of all, prayers for the family.

Second, FiXXXer----I'm sorry you had to witness this.  It sucks to see this kind of thing happen when watching the sport we love.  I have witnessed a couple of horrible events over the last 25 years and they are etched in my mind like I took a video of it.  

That said, the main discussion for the next 7-10 days is going to be focused on the deaths and tragedies surrounding sprint car racing. 

Folks----Keep yourself as safe as you can at the races.  Find seats that lessen the chances of being struck by a car or parts from a car.  If you enter the pits, there is a reason you sign the waiver-----it's dangerous!  I take responsibility for that every time I enter the pits. Do not walk down by the fence when the track is under green.   Is it up to the track to make it as safe as possible?  Yes, and I would expect there will be changes as there always are after events like this.  It does not change the fact that we are all responsible for ourselves at the track.  These things can defy physics at the speeds they travel. 

On a related note, I was told Knoxville is installing a "buffer" fence between the backstretch fence and the grandstand steps.  Did this end up happening during the offseason?

I was there that night, Van was in the 33 and took out the flagstand.  Very ugly for all involved.  Bob Hockenberry luckly he got out of the way.   My brother Morgan was a pushtruck driver at the time.

Lifeline landed in he infield to take Van to the hospital.  I remember picking up a lot of cans so it wouldn't blow them all over the place when it landed.

Prayers for all the family members that were involved with this accident at the grove last night.

Let's go Sprint Car Racing!

Knoxville - Best Track In the USA!
Eldora - 2nd Best Track in the USA!

Do any of you remember the grove before the infield fence went up ?  Why was he parked there. REALLY ? 10 feet either way this wouldn't be a conversation.  My crew and I used to stand at the exit to 4 and listen and watch to see what line guys where in and how hard they were on the gas. The tow truck on the back stretch anyone ever see where he sits ?

This thread should be about condolences for a guy that reading the article on penn live was a good guy. RIP

Thoughts and prayers.

https://www.pennlive.com/news/2019/08/man-killed-in-williams-grove-crash-was-beloved-former-teacher-adoring-grandfather.html

 
 
 
They don't even know how to spell sprint car 
much less chromoly...http://www.ycmco.com

Yeah it definitely sucks. Luckily, I didn't really see anything graphic like I'm sure those in the adjacent pit stalls did but I certainly saw enough. Saw the whole crash from start to finish. Kendall and Macri were racing hard like we all pay to see and just got together. When they did, Robbie jumped Macri's tire and went for a violent series of flips and hit the truck full bore. As sad is it is that that Mr. Speck lost his life, on the otherhand it could've been even worse. Luckily no pieces of Kendalls car and/flying debris struck anyone else and there were few people standing near that spot who saw it and ran like hell to get out of the way. Thankfully Robbie wasn't injured as well because that was a violent crash. Like I said, I hope when I go to Port Royal tonight that there aren't dozens of people standing near the stage like usual because the crash that happened last night should open some eyes. If that same crash happens at the end of the frontstretch at Port where all those people usually stand, the results will be catastrophic.

Yep. 3 & 4 is a problem too. To be honest if it were my call, the flag guy by the stage wouldn't even be there. No offense but I don't personally see what purpose he serves. He just waves a yellow flag when the head flagman does and they already have all the necessary corner flagmen in both turns. Maybe I'm wrong but I just don't see where they need a guy there and to make it worse, his wife sits there in a lawn chair totally exposed. If they feel the need to have a flagman (perhaps the drivers have a hard time seeing the flagstand at times?) or any other official in that area, that's up to them but the people who just stand down there and watch absolutely should not be there.

While I don‘t know exactly what transpired I wouldn’t assume he was directed to park there. Nor would I assume he parked there via his own decision.

Sucks this happened. I feel horrible for his family and all the folks that tried to help. I’m certain there were many crew members and such trying to help initially that this will be etched in their minds eye forever. Terrible thing to have happen.  

My condolences to all the families involved & the people y witnessed everything. Never been to any Central PA tracks to know what they look like in person. Only know of what I have seen in videos. Situations like this unfortunately show you how fragile life is. There have probably been times all of us have put ourselves in a bad position at the track without knowing it. We don't really think about some of the consequences at the time, we just are trying to get the best experience possible. 

Be safe at whatever tracks you go to tonight & in the future. 

Port Royal has security down in turn 1 keeping people out of there. It's about time. Props to Port for doing the right thing.

Watching the Ironman on Dirtvision. People are standing right on the infield fence almost the entire around the track. Never really paid much attention to that sort of thing before. Knowing what happened last night, unfortunately it could easily happen again with much greater consequences.

There is a fence inside at Pevely.  Not real tall but at least something. I wouldn’t stand there tho