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Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
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Topic: It's OK to disagree with Westbrook, but there is no reason to be childish Email this topic to a friend | Subscribe to this TopicReport this Topic to Moderator
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HoldenCaulfield
July 26, 2014 at 09:50:41 AM
Joined: 03/22/2008
Posts: 2484
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Posted By: StaggerLee on July 25 2014 at 11:52:21 AM


With all due respect to you Mrs. Westbrook, In your first paragraph you say John wants racing to be as safe as possible and dosnt want want any other drivers to deal with a catostrophic injury, yet the car he owns continues to race through turns 1 & 2 at Williamsgrove on a weekly basis. Is he not putting his driver in danger by agreeing to race his car there?  I dont beleive all fans "love" to see wrecks and crashes, and you sound like someone forced John to race there, He chose to race there, I think its wrong of you to say race tracks take advantage of drivers and make there money on the backs of drivers, No one forces any driver to race at any track, tracks dont force drivers to take risks, they provide a place to race, that drivers and owners choose to race at, nothing more nothing less. You also assume a catch fence would have prevented his injuries, how do we know it couldnt have been fatal had he been thrown back into traffic like so many other racers all over the country. Nothing will ever change what happend to your son and for that Im truly sorry, but to place all the blame on Williamsgrove is not right. Sadly your son was well aware of the dangers before he made the choice to race at Williamsgrove, He decided to take the risk and we all know the rest of the story. I hope you and John and the rest of your family are able to make peace with this horrible accident and move on.



Agreed. We park in the reserved section off turn 1 and we checked out the outside of turns 1-2 last weekend and it's about a 30 degree slope, nothing that looks all that treacherous. It's not like your dropping off the grand canyon. There are a lot of tracks that have trees and other obstacles outside the turns. I'm all for safety improvements but I don't know what the Grove can do here. 410's are hitting 140+ mph there and other half-mile tracks and a crash at that speed is gonna be dangerous no matter what. It is also my understanding that John wasn't wearing a HANS device. Maybe that would have helped even more than a catch fence. We'll never know about either, but how can you blame the track when you're not wearing all the recommended safety equipment?

I also don't think WG is exploiting anybody. Most tracks today are struggling to get by, not making millions. If they wanted to make millions, they'd just sell the track to a developer like some have already done. They don't because they are owned by people that love dirt track racing.

I feel bad about what happened to John and I still respect and admire him for being a racer and car owner. I think all real race fans do, but IMO the jury reached the right verdict. BTW I hate crashes becasue I know the dangers and the costs involved, plus I'm there to see racing and crashes just hold up the show.

 

 


A

John's Mom
July 26, 2014 at 10:05:47 AM
Joined: 07/25/2014
Posts: 2
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Posted By: HoldenCaulfield on July 26 2014 at 09:50:41 AM

Agreed. We park in the reserved section off turn 1 and we checked out the outside of turns 1-2 last weekend and it's about a 30 degree slope, nothing that looks all that treacherous. It's not like your dropping off the grand canyon. There are a lot of tracks that have trees and other obstacles outside the turns. I'm all for safety improvements but I don't know what the Grove can do here. 410's are hitting 140+ mph there and other half-mile tracks and a crash at that speed is gonna be dangerous no matter what. It is also my understanding that John wasn't wearing a HANS device. Maybe that would have helped even more than a catch fence. We'll never know about either, but how can you blame the track when you're not wearing all the recommended safety equipment?

I also don't think WG is exploiting anybody. Most tracks today are struggling to get by, not making millions. If they wanted to make millions, they'd just sell the track to a developer like some have already done. They don't because they are owned by people that love dirt track racing.

I feel bad about what happened to John and I still respect and admire him for being a racer and car owner. I think all real race fans do, but IMO the jury reached the right verdict. BTW I hate crashes becasue I know the dangers and the costs involved, plus I'm there to see racing and crashes just hold up the show.

 

 



With all due respect, it's obvious that turn 1 and 2 are treacherous since my son was paralyzed there. And he didn't just fall from the height of the gaurd rail, his car dropped 15.9 feet onto the road, not the slope. 

My son was wearing all of the safety equipment that was in Williams Grove rules on September 5, 2008. And if Williams Grove says he should have been wearing a HANS device and that would have prevented his injury, why haven't they changes their rules to this day and recommend that the drivers wear it now? if they have expert testimony that if a driver wears it and they still don't put it in their rules, is that right?

You're naive if you think the track isn't in it to make money.

Finally, to Mr. Stagger and everyone else, in my original post I agreed to driver responsibility. But I also am not blind to corporate responsibility as well. 

Thank you for your time. 



StaggerLee
MyWebsite
July 26, 2014 at 12:17:49 PM
Joined: 05/14/2014
Posts: 645
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Posted By: John's Mom on July 26 2014 at 10:05:47 AM

With all due respect, it's obvious that turn 1 and 2 are treacherous since my son was paralyzed there. And he didn't just fall from the height of the gaurd rail, his car dropped 15.9 feet onto the road, not the slope. 

My son was wearing all of the safety equipment that was in Williams Grove rules on September 5, 2008. And if Williams Grove says he should have been wearing a HANS device and that would have prevented his injury, why haven't they changes their rules to this day and recommend that the drivers wear it now? if they have expert testimony that if a driver wears it and they still don't put it in their rules, is that right?

You're naive if you think the track isn't in it to make money.

Finally, to Mr. Stagger and everyone else, in my original post I agreed to driver responsibility. But I also am not blind to corporate responsibility as well. 

Thank you for your time. 




Sadly you seem to be the only ones that see it that way, Im blown away at how easily you blame someone else. Im sure that most of the other drivers were wearing Hans devices the night your son was injured and they didnt require a rule book to make the decision to wear one, they decided on there own to wear one because its safer. Thank god one of Williamsgrove's rules required that he wear a helmet or he may have been racing without one. Wow, I apolagize but seriously, you are convinced that somehow your son is without blame in this situation, this all happend to him and he didnt play a part in any of it. Please Please Please answer one question for me, how can you and your son support Brock Zearfoss racing on this track? You say you agree with driver responsibility but the fact that Brock is still racing at the same track seems to be quite hypocritical, I mean if the same exact thing happens to Brock whos fault would that be? I would say your son would be as much to blame as anyone, afterall he just tried to sue for 6 million dollars because the track is unsafe but yet its safe enough to put Brocks life in danger? If you and your son can live with that, and believe thats OK, I feel very sorry for both of you. Sorry if offended you Mrs. Westbrook, thats not my intention, and I promise this is my last post on this subject. I hope at some point you will be able to accept this as a very unfortunate accident and somtimes its nobodys fault, simply an unfortunate result of a risky life choice.




gentleman
July 26, 2014 at 12:43:29 PM
Joined: 05/16/2008
Posts: 89
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Posted By: gators0849 on July 24 2014 at 12:22:56 PM

It's OK to disagree publicly with John Westbrook, but there is no reason for childish comments



I hope that everybody on this board understands that by signing into the back gate release,ANY injury you incur is your own problem.....don't expect help or sympathy,or insurance coverage.....you'll even pay for your own ambulance or helicopter ride....





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