what a joke! nelson fiasco

[mark defer]

don't know if a white flag ever came out. it definitely wasn't and couldn't have been out in time to avoid the incident. by the time everybody was by the FA, the track was about to go FCY. on the next lap i don't recall seeing a white flag as we paraded under the yellow. i would assume under a FCY there would be no reason for a white since at that point we are ALL supposed to be slow moving vehicles. md

[KevinFirlein]

sorry " jerrod" i wasnt aware that i wasnt allowed to post an opinion that is different from yours. I am sorry for my mistake.

As far as all the comments about stupid driving let me point out one thing. No contact was made against our car. Perhaps if * everyone * had left each other more room things would have been different.

And yes Dave W is a very high class individual.
Kevin Firlein

[DaveW]

Kevin, I don't think it's proper to get defensive and blame the FC's for not leaving each other enough room and exacerbating the problem. I, for one, was in extreme conservative mode, and up till I can't remember due to the crash, everyone ahead of me seemed to be behaving themselves. Knowing that my car was very fast, there were only 8 FC's, and I had 23 laps for the race to unfold, I certainly was not taking any unecessary chances.
Perhaps we should hear Jim's side of the story directly.

[KevinFirlein]

Dave it wasnt my intention at all to blame the FC's. Its simply that we are all being rather wise after the fact. Hindsight being 20/20 its rather easy and correct to say get the car after the track immediately. But at the time its happening noone knows whats comming next. I find it rather hard to believe that all the people posting here would the jerk the car off the track the second it died unexpectantly. Ive spoken to people who dont want to post here saying the same basic things that i was thinking as a former driver. Car dies for no reason, check gauges to see if its blown up, push starter button to see if you accidently switched off ignition. now this takes only a few seconds but at racing speeds and on 1st lap now the pack is upon you. Now in this case as it turned out to be the wrong thing to do but that fact wasnt known at the time.

As far as a direct post by Jim I doubt he even knows this forum exists and is back working in France. However it is our intention to race the Sprints and we will be there for the test day on thursday. I dont think he would have a problem talking to anyone about it as he was indeed quite shaken up after seeing all the carnage. A post by him would simply allow for faceless abuse to be hurled at him and i dont think this is what doug would want to happen on this forum.

Kevin F

[size="1"][ May 23, 2002, 05:23 PM: Message edited by: KevinFirlein ][/size]

[rainman]

Dave, Conservative Mode? Please. You were Three abreast at the time of the accident.Doug Kniffin behind you and myself behind Doug. Dave Stevens was in the middle and Jordan was on the right side two wheels in the grass. It was an unfortunate ACCIDENT we are all very lucky no one was seriously hurt. At this very moment I'm having a hard enough time holding my head up after getting hit with someone's wheel assembly in the helmet. None the less looking at the half inch hole in my rool hoop (Just above my head)Stop this thread leave Jim alone he made a mistake. lets put the cars back together and move on. Christopher Burke

[DaveW]

Kevin, I agree with your last post. That's basically what I said a while back. Time passes quickly in that situation. Hope to see you at the Sprints.
To Chris Burke: I agree - that's basically what I have been saying, if you read my previous posts, that it was an accident. I can't remember the three-abreast part due to being knocked out, but before that I was (trying to be) relatively conservative (for me). I just have to assume that I would have gotten back in line or cleared Dave Stevens before the corner, had he not had to jerk left to miss the FA. Apparently you haven't seen me in my normal aggressive mode. If that was my wheel assembly, I'm sorry it hit you. Hope you feel better soon. Luckily, other than the black and bloodshot eye, I seem to have no other lingering effects.

[size="1"][ May 24, 2002, 10:41 AM: Message edited by: DaveW ][/size]

[Mike B]

This thread took an ugly turn so the last few posts were deleted.

Now play nice.

[markD]

Dave S and Dave W. Sorry to hear of your accident. I am glad that you are both alright. You are both a class act.
Maiden voyage and bad accident. Dave S, I think you just lived every racers worst nightmare!
Mark Dickens

[Dennis Hand]

Good to hear both of you are ok..
Seems that cars stopping on the surface is a real problem lately. One in particular that I responded to was halfway between T6 and T7 at Grattan yesterday. FF ran out of gas (during a full course yellow) and stopped very close to the line on the exit of the toilet bowl. Now I know that's not the safest area to pull off the course, but it happened in other instances.
Perhaps the stewards should announce it at drivers' meetings?

On a side note, Dave W...if you remember him, my dad Jim Hand (Orange Lola T-440 from about 1978-1982) says "Hi!"

Hope to see you all at the Sprints...
-Dennis Hand