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

That bridge is part of williams grove and it's history. Someone starts this rumor every year, and you know what, every year there wrong.  There is steel and concrete that goes around all race tracks. I've seen guys flip into flag stands,  steel poles that hold fencing, concrete walls.  If it's not the bridge at the grove, it's the back pit gate. Give it a rest.

IF Doug Esh would have hit the bridge cage side first, he probably would have been killed. He hit the bridge during a flip where luckily he hit bottom side of the car first.  The time Greg Hodnett hit it, he had to be cut from the car because his leg/s were trapped.  Bobby Hersh, in the 60's, had his career end when he hit the bridge.

Can't they cut it in half and turn it into a draw bridge? Then just retract that sucker during the racing action. Problem solved and your welcome.

Many pit lizards use that 'bridge shot' for their instagram posts. Let's not forget them either. The bridge stays. 

#Savethebridge 

Send the bridge to the scrap yard. Anyone wanting to go to the infield parks on the side where there is a tunnel just like all other tracks. Problem solved. I am usually on the side of tradition but some things just need done. PS also fix the opening.

I'm the one that posted about the bridge being removed. It's been in the works for awhile. As one other poster said, fans crossing the track creates a bad situation and the insurance company is absolutely against it and with good reason. Participants sign a release stating that they accept the facility as is. Spectators on the other, do accept some risk but the risk for a damaging lawsuit is much greater in the event that something happens to a spectator than if it happens to someone who signed a release. Especially if that someone who willingly drives an open wheel, open cockpit, 1000 hp racecar around the track. So replacing the bridge is a lot more complicated than most internet know it alls can comprehend. It isn't that Williams Grove doesn't care, it's the fact that any solution they come up with, has to be as good or better logistically, within a reasonable range of cost and it has to obviously please the insurance company which isn't always easy. Word is, a new, much safer bridge is in the works. The insurance company prefers the bridge because it's safest for the spectators so more than likely, there will be a replacement bridge that's wider to allow more people to cross and obviously higher with I'd assume some sort of protection in the event that a car would hit it. Sometimes its best for people to just shut their mouths and let the people with the problem to work out a solution.

Great idea!!!....but probably too expensive

I believe Bobby Hersh hit the outside guard rail between turns three and four and did several rolls

That ended his career

I forget what year but Lance was driving the brick mobile and got caught up in the back stretch wreck that dam near ended his career. He was very lucky in that wreck.

I've never been to the grove so this might be a stupid question but why is the bridge needed?  Why does anyone need to cross the track at all?  Williams Grove is the only dirt track I know of that has a bridge across the track and the countless other dirt racks across the country don't have a problem with policing people crossing the track.  Most tracks don't allow people crossing until the track is clear or the night's over.  I assume they don't let anyone use the bridge when there is racing on the track?  Also just to be clear, if I was a fan there I wouldn't want it to come down either, it gives the track character.  I've always thought it would be awesome to watch a race from there.  But if it's a safety hazard it should go in my opinion.

The bridge lets the fans either parking or sitting along the back strech to get into the infield or access to the pits. There is a tunnel on the front strech to let the fans into the infield from that side of the track. The track has always had a good amount of fans that like to watch from the infield. You are corect, they do not allow anyone on the bridge when cars are in motion.

I have mixed feelings. I like the bridge, but if it could save a life or prevent a serious injury, take it down.

Nobody's been killed there yet, in all these years

I guess there's always a first time, sadly.....

It's because of the way the parking is and the fact there is a significant amount of people who want to watch from the infield. The backstretch parking area is much bigger and usually easier to find parking/camp so people enter from the backstretch entrance and cross into the infield or frontstretch from there. 

I don't think it's your intention to say this but your second line really bugs me.  And you're not the only person to say that.  But sadly that's a lot of people's thoughts on safety.  "It's been there 50 years and nobody's hit it so it's not an obstacle."  Unfortunately that's not true, freak accidents happen everyday.

I have to say that before this thread I knew nothing about Williams Grove other than the name.  I did some digging online and have to say that it's a very cool track.  That tunnel is awesome and something I haven't seen at another dirt track, the bridge is also cool.  After looking at pictures online I see the issue with parking that you're talking about where the majority of parking is on the backstretch.  So I have another possibly dumb solution to something that many might not see as a problem.  What if they flipped the track so the front stretch became the back stretch and vice versa?  I get the grandstand issues but what if they just built a new one on the current backstretch?  And again I hate to mess with tradition, it's a cool track but if it saves a life I think it's worth it.

The track isn't going to pay to MOVE it.  That's on EMMR if they want to do it.  Tracks in PA with an infield access tunnel:  Lincoln, Port Royal, Williams Grove (frontstretch tunnel).  Doesn't seem like it takes a rocket scientist to put a tunnel where the bridge is, which would likely also be cheaper and more practical than raising the bridge.  Insuracne would be happier with less stairs being climbed by hundreds of people weekly and not having an obstruction for cars to hit.  

I agree with what you're saying. A tunnel would certainly be an easy, though costly, fix. Maybe replace the bridge with a tunnel. Then put a string of lights where the bottom of the bridge was. If anybody takes down the lights, you can figure a life was saved. 

Not to nitpick, but...it would be about the same number of stairs up over the track, or down under the track. The new steps would be built to modern specs so they would be safer.

Sorry if it bugged you... my first sentence said take it down if it saves a life. We'll never know until it happens, hopefully never

Its an inherently dangerous sport, people have been killed lots of ways on different tracks, but so far nobody on the bridge. Thats why I said I have mixed feelings. I just like the bridge, but if they decide to take it down for safety reasons, i'm OK with that.

I was just thinking the same thing about raising the bridge. But I'm guessing it would probably have to be raised probably 20 feet. But also would have to be made longer. So the risk of a car flipping off. The outside of the track, or the inside of the track, what not hit the bridge supports. We all know what happened with Jason Johnson. At Beaver Dam? When he flipped out of the track and hit The I beam. that was holding up the billboard. So not a matter of just only raising the bridge, but lengthening the bridge? And from what I've seen when there's a big race out there, There are a lot of people that use the infield. But I do think the bridge the way it is now has to go. And the sooner the better. It's just a disaster waiting to happen.  Glen Murra

your comment about freak accidents reminds me of my flight deck days.  Planes didn't hit the island structure or round down very often but when they did the fixed structures always won.

Stan Meissner