Runoffs

[bassracer]

My family and I were rooting for Ted and the Kelly Moss crew so we were frustrated with the situation but glad to see SCCA did not ignore it. Regardless of driving, I think all of us were kind of excited to see the old car with a Ford try to win. And the net result of the race was a privateer family operation winning. I think Mateo (more exclusively F1600 guy) saying how good the race was in the interview was a cherry on top of a fantastic display of FF club racing.

Ted's day is coming! Super proud of Tazio - I don't have his contact so if you're reading this - WAY TO GO TAZIO!

[ric baribeault]

https://youtu.be/-lgZSmKWXO8

incident is at 30:00 minutes

thank you for the video. i watched the replay on youtube and it was impossible to discern anything improper. your video clearly shows blocking.

[Mschumi101]

Hey guys, Theodore Burns here, just wanted to chime in and say that I am okay, and uninjured after a 120+mph impact into the wall.

I know that the broadcast did not catch the incident clearly, but I believe Tazio's in-car video linked above shows the complete story for everyone curious as to what exactly happened and the SCCA's decision to penalize one of my competitors.

All-in-all with a 5mph closing speed when my competitor reacted to 2 of my moves in an unpredictable way, I ran out of space and had no where left to go. I think Tazio's video shows this clearly enough, and during the investigation into the incident, Jonathan's and my videos showed it to an even greater extent. That's all I will say about that.

I am thankful that the SCCA stepped up to condemn and penalize this unsportsmanlike, and dangerous driving. I am very lucky to walk away unscathed after a hit that hard/fast, others last weekend with similar impacts were not so lucky, so I'm glad that action was taken on the matter.

Congrats to Tazio on his win, it was well deserved after the performance he put on. Looking forward to coming back even stronger next year.

[alangbaker]

Hey guys, Theodore Burns here, just wanted to chime in and say that I am okay, and uninjured after a 120+mph impact into the wall.

I know that the broadcast did not catch the incident clearly, but I believe Tazio's in-car video linked above shows the complete story for everyone curious as to what exactly happened and the SCCA's decision to penalize one of my competitors.

All-in-all with a 5mph closing speed when my competitor reacted to 2 of my moves in an unpredictable way, I ran out of space and had no where left to go. I think Tazio's video shows this clearly enough, and during the investigation into the incident, Jonathan's and my videos showed it to an even greater extent. That's all I will say about that.

I am thankful that the SCCA stepped up to condemn and penalize this unsportsmanlike, and dangerous driving. I am very lucky to walk away unscathed after a hit that hard/fast, others last weekend with similar impacts were not so lucky, so I'm glad that action was taken on the matter.

Congrats to Tazio on his win, it was well deserved after the performance he put on. Looking forward to coming back even stronger next year.

Very, VERY glad you're OK, Theodore.

And I have to say that—now having seen Tazio's video, I too think that the SCCA reached the right decision.

[E1pix]

I, too am glad you came out unscathed (physically at least) and imparted your view.

I’ve been biting my tongue since my last post to not offend anyone, but find the incident increasingly disgusting and disappointing.

I counted at least three swerving block moves on my laptop from the Live feed, but from the in-car there were *five*. The last one was to the right when you were forced to that route, and showed a complete disrespect to you, your safety, and to fair sportsmanship itself.

Honestly, in all my decades around racing, IMHO… it was the single dirtiest piece of driving to my eyes, Ever. And I was a fan of that driver until then.

[DaveW]

...Honestly, in all my decades around racing, IMHO… it was the single dirtiest piece of driving to my eyes, Ever. And I was a fan of that driver until then.

A little history on my experiences regarding blocking.

For background, I never intentionally blocked (defined by a late defensive move after the following driver had started a passing maneuver). I, of course, have taken defensive lines and raced aggressively, but don't intentionally use blocking. Drivers who raced against me may differ in their opinion on that...

When I raced FV (1968 thru 72) no one blocked. It was all about passing strategy using the draft.

Early in my FF days, same thing as above. The 1st time I encountered aggressive blocking was in the '75 Runoffs where if I hadn't backed off I'd have been forced into the Road Atlanta turn 11 inner bridge abutment. From that time until a few years ago I encountered many instances of being aggressively blocked as drivers found it was very effective and hardly ever penalized. If the blocking driver was aggressive enough it was VERY intimidating, and unless one was not afraid of wheel-wheel contact (and its possible consequences), most drivers, including me, could be intimidated.

As in-car cameras started to be common, officials finally had a way to document and penalize blocking, and it got a lot less common, especially since blocking has been much more clearly defined.

In that regard I don't miss "the good old days" at all.

[E1pix]

I doubt you’d recall this, Dave… but a certain punk reporter asked you about this very thing in 1976 — probably a forever lost detail drowned out by really tough subjects like “Why 67?” and “I’ve never seen a shield attach to a visor like that.”

The ‘74 winner relayed near-identical tales about presumably the same driver, but got a luckier sequence into 11 and won anyway. As I recall, the move was even far more aggressive in your case, and TW got away with it.

It seemed to me that things changed right around that time. Also in ‘75, our mutual friend Carl got stuffed into the fearful Turn 10 and hurt as you’ll recall — and knocked out of two hard-earned front row starts in the process.

We all heard rumors over here of similar tactics being common in British FF, and maybe that played a part — and/or the reality that winning FF back then brought with it a real if not likely chance at a Pro career.

One can almost forgive a momentary error of judgement, and a block or two with that on the line… but those days have passed, and this was at least a dozen blocks over two miles and all just to get a fifth win. Even after the hit, he tried to pinch Taz off the outside into 12, and kept swerving towards 13.

Inexcusable, total, heartless, mindless, utter BS.

I wonder if they even know what kind of safety disregard is coming to England soon…

[TimH]

My less-experienced observations:

A defensive line, or weaving to break the draft, will necessarily be slower than just going as fast as you can. The following driver may be able to exploit that at the next corner, so the tactic must be used very judiciously and can be seen as a tool of racecraft.

Blocking, divebombing, or threatening to close the door is just asking for trouble. It doesn't help when we see it on TV in F1, and it really really has no place in amateur racing.

[billtebbutt]

.....And it told the whole story.

I think the driver in the DB-6 had been as low as 6th in the race to that point, and had passed into the lead multiple times up until that point. From my vantage point, he had "the car" (not to take anything away from his driving skill!).

So what I don't understand is this: why block at all going into 5 on the last lap? IF you must, take a defensive line (but heed Tim's point above). Same into between the Kink and Canada. My sense was that if he had been passed between the Kink and Canada, AND he then drove the perfect line through the rest of the lap, he would still have been able to make a pass going up the hill to the chequered flag using the draft. Given what I had seen, it may have even been an easy pass.

best,
bt

[rallaer]

Hey guys, Theodore Burns here, just wanted to chime in and say that I am okay, and uninjured after a 120+mph impact into the wall.

I know that the broadcast did not catch the incident clearly, but I believe Tazio's in-car video linked above shows the complete story for everyone curious as to what exactly happened and the SCCA's decision to penalize one of my competitors.

All-in-all with a 5mph closing speed when my competitor reacted to 2 of my moves in an unpredictable way, I ran out of space and had no where left to go. I think Tazio's video shows this clearly enough, and during the investigation into the incident, Jonathan's and my videos showed it to an even greater extent. That's all I will say about that.

I am thankful that the SCCA stepped up to condemn and penalize this unsportsmanlike, and dangerous driving. I am very lucky to walk away unscathed after a hit that hard/fast, others last weekend with similar impacts were not so lucky, so I'm glad that action was taken on the matter.

Congrats to Tazio on his win, it was well deserved after the performance he put on. Looking forward to coming back even stronger next year.

Teddy - so glad you're okay. That was scary to watch. You're a first class racer and person, and your response above illustrates that. This was so undeserved and honestly, sickening. Unfortunately that guy has done stuff like this his entire career. He is the biggest poor sport I have ever seen, and the fact that he is willing to chance his, and obviously, others lives to win a plastic trophy is ridiculous. You deserved a much better outcome. We were rooting for you and hopefully you can get back out there next year and go back after it in a clean, fair race. Keep your head up and look past this garbage. Good luck bud!

[Mike B]

My sense was that if he had been passed between the Kink and Canada, AND he then drove the perfect line through the rest of the lap, he would still have been able to make a pass going up the hill to the chequered flag using the draft. Given what I had seen, it may have even been an easy pass.

This is exactly what had been happening throughout the race but usually the pass on the main straight wasn't completed until well after the S/F line. Kotyk knew that and knew that if he got passed into Canada he would finish 2nd at best. If he hadn't blocked into T5 he might have been in a better position going into Canada. Poor racecraft and poor decision-making on his part.

[stonebridge20]

This is exactly what had been happening throughout the race but usually the pass on the main straight wasn't completed until well after the S/F line. Kotyk knew that and knew that if he got passed into Canada he would finish 2nd at best. If he hadn't blocked into T5 he might have been in a better position going into Canada. Poor racecraft and poor decision-making on his part.

Exactly this.

[s800racer]

This is exactly what had been happening throughout the race but usually the pass on the main straight wasn't completed until well after the S/F line. Kotyk knew that and knew that if he got passed into Canada he would finish 2nd at best. If he hadn't blocked into T5 he might have been in a better position going into Canada. Poor racecraft and poor decision-making on his part.

Yep, when he passed into T1 on the last lap, I thought "What are you thinking? How is that going to work?" So he tried to make it work by weaving and blocking for 4 miles. SMH.

I race exclusively vintage FF. Blocking and even "defensive lines" are frowned upon. Race craft and decision making are all the more important without blocking and defensive driving.

[lbermud]

I’ve noticed the same thing, it’s been way quieter than usual this time around. I’ve been swamped at work, so I haven’t been able to keep up as much either, but from what I’ve caught, the buzz isn’t really there yet.