| Title: | Racers and Racing |
| Notice: | As long as it's not NASCAR or F1 or Drags... |
| Moderator: | RHETT::BURDEN _D |
| Created: | Tue Aug 08 1995 |
| Last Modified: | Thu Jun 05 1997 |
| Last Successful Update: | Fri Jun 06 1997 |
| Number of topics: | 391 |
| Total number of notes: | 4486 |
J.D. McDuffie was killed yesterday in the NASCAR race at Watkins Glen. McDuffie was an independent racer who did so out of love of the sport. Lacking a large corporate sponsorship he raced with money out of his own pocket and had done so for years. R.I.P. In the most current issue of ON TRACK (Vol 11 #15) Jonathan Ingram wrote a most prophetic article in which he decries the lack of safety measures at North American race tracks. He uses three recent incidents to make his case. Scott Pruett's and A.J. Foyt's Indy car wrecks, as well as the wreck of Tom Kendall's GTP car at the Glen only last month. All the accidents left the drivers with career threatening leg injuries, but thankfully, not fatal injuries. Ingram praised FISA and world motorsport for having taken safety to heart. He especially applauded the use of gravel traps and *properly* constructed tire walls placed in front of Armco barriers. Ingram focused some of his attention on the fast right-hand turn at the end of the Watkins Glen back straight where Kendall had his wreck. (BTW, Raul Boesel had a big wreck there in the same race but thankfully backed his car into the tire barrier. Last year Geoff Bodine went straight into this barrier with his WC car and was fortunate to walk away. Indeed there have been numerous hair- raising accidents at this turn.) Ingram stopped short of calling on the owners of the Glen to build a gravel trap and *properly* constructed tire wall in this spot but it was clear where his sentiment lay. McDuffie perished at this very corner. So, with McDuffie's death surely the owners of the Glen will build a proper gravel pit and tire wall at this location. That's good if it happens. Too bad for McDuffie though. But, what about the rest of our circuits? Bernie Ecclestone is quoted as having been scared to death while he drove around Road Atlanta in a *road* car. (I guess the final turn under the bridge is especially frightening.) This is a track proposed as a venue for F1. Something major needs to be done before Senna, Prost et al will race there! I've said it before in this file and been pooh-poohed, but our tracks don't measure up. North America can't truly claim to have world class road racing until it deals with the safety problems so obvious at it's race tracks. It seems the sanctioning bodies and organizers are loath to deal with the problem so perhaps it is time the drivers took matters into their own hands. REAL safety in motorsports is first and foremost PROACTIVE.
| T.R | Title | User | Personal Name | Date | Lines |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 76.1 | NSDC::SIMPSON | The shortest distance between any two mistakes is a straight lin | Fri Aug 23 1991 15:40 | 18 | |
RE: -.1 Unfortunately, I've got to agree with you... Watkins Glen stopped doing F1 because of safety and facilities. I was really worried to see a note put in here a few weeks ago where Laguna Seca (sp?) was cited as a potential F1 track - and as being the best the US has to offer. I watch the bikes there, and whilst it is exciting (I love the downhill twist and spiral!!), there is a lack of runoff areas and safety barriers. A significant number of riders have been injured over the last couple of seasons. Finally, the facilities are apparently appalling - pits and sanitation. I'm a European who would very much like to see F1 and WSC road racing in the States. Is what I've said above a fair appraisal, or is what I've read wide of the mark? Cheers Steve | |||||
| 76.2 | Watkins Glen - major course revision announced!!! | BEING::MCCULLEY | RSX Pro | Thu Oct 10 1991 19:26 | 86 |
The following items floated past on the "wheeltowheel" USEnet mailing
distribution recently (I've deleted opinion and polemics while trying
to leave the information intact):
From: DECWRL::"neptune!calvin@uunet.UU.NET" "Calvin Sanders" 9-OCT-1991 14:40:46.17
To: wheeltowheel@abingdon.Eng.Sun.COM
Subj: Watkins Glen changes
I heard on the radio this morning that the President of Watkins Glen
raceway announced that there will be major changes in turn 5 for next
year. The track has aquired 140 acres of land near turn 5 and will
incorporate an "S" curve onto a new section of track. He said the
corner will not resemble the current corner. He went on to say that this
was a planned improvement and not as a result of the accidents there
the past couple of years. He also said that the accidents were all
due to mechanical failure not the fault of the track design.
[...opinions deleted... --lbm]
From: DECWRL::"garnett@theory.TC.CORNELL.EDU" "Roger Garnett" 9-OCT-1991 19:19:21.95
To: wheeltowheel@abingdon.Eng.Sun.COM (Wheel-to-Wheel)
Subj: Re: Watkins Glen changes
[...Calvin Sanders' context deleted... --lbm]
I just read a local news article/release, complete with diagram. I'm
not going to type it all in, but some highlights:
The modifications, being called "the inner loop", whick I might dub the
J.D. McDuffie chichane, consists of 4 new 90 degree turns. At
about 2/3 of the way down the current 5/8 mile back stretch, there will
be a right into the current infield, a breif straight, then left, with
a bit more straight parallel to the current straight, another left &
straight stub, then right again back onto the end of the current straight,
leading onto an unchanged turn 5.
This will reduce the back straight to around 2200 feet, then R (New 5),
L (6), ~400 ft inner straight, L (7), R (8), then a 600 ft. straight
leading onto turn 9 (old turn 5.) This will result in 15 turns, and 3.4
miles total. Construction begins Monday, and should be ready for
the begining of next year.
The rest of the project will consist of spectator amenities, and new
stands, one of which will be outside the new 8, which is where some of the new
acreage comes in. There was no mention of any new sand/gravel traps, etc.
[...deleted uninformative text... --lbm]
From: DECWRL::"garnett@theory.TC.CORNELL.EDU" "Roger Garnett" 10-OCT-1991 08:44:03.77
To: wheeltowheel@abingdon.Eng.Sun.COM (Wheel-to-Wheel)
Subj: Re: Watkins Glen changes
I wrote:
>} Subject: Watkins Glen changes
>The modifications, being called "the inner loop", whick I will dub the
>J.D. McDuffie chichane, consists of 4 new 90 degree-ish turns.
>This will reduce the back straight to around 2200 feet,
>then R (New 5), L (6), ~400 ft inner straight, L (7), R (8), then a 600 ft.
>straight leading onto turn 9 (old turn 5.)
Let me correct some errors, now that I've got the article in front of me.
Turn 5 and 8 look like a gradual curve leading off/on the main straight,
and 6 & 7 look to be about 70-80 degrees. It says 5 will occur about 600 ft.
before the end of the current straight, and the inner straight will be
around 300 ft., leaving about 250 ft. before turn 9 (old 5).
This takes the long course to 3.4 miles, from 3.377 (a lot easier to
remember), and the NASCAR course goes from 2.428 to 2.45. A little
math seys this adds about 120 feet, meaning the inner straight will
lie about 50 feet inside the current line. There will be a new barrier
around this in the infield.
The proposed grandstand outside the new 8 is shown tilted towards 7
and the inner straight, with a good end view of cars coming right
at you down the main straight. It's not clear whether the unused section
of old straight will be solidly blocked off, or will be able to act as a
300 ft. runoff. (At the end of which, an uncontrolled car could either
encounter traffic at turn 8, or veer left into the new grandstand...)
________
/___ _ \ Roger Garnett (garnett@BATCOMPUTER.TC.CORNELL.EDU)
/| || \ \ Agricultural Economics | South Lansing Centre For
| |___|| _ | 3 Warren Hall | Wayward Sports Cars
| | \ | | | Cornell University | (Lansing, NY)
\| \ |__/ / Ithaca, N.Y. 14853 | (607) 533-7735
\________/ (607) 255-2522 | Safety Fast!
% ====== Internet headers and postmarks (see DECWRL::GATEWAY.DOC) ======
| |||||
| 76.3 | When is the test session? | NYTP05::JANKOWITZ | Ready the lifeboats | Fri Oct 11 1991 13:12 | 9 |
I liked the old turn 5 except for the lack of runnoff area. A very fast deceptive downhill right hand turn that I probably enter at close to 100mph. At the bottom of the turn you are going about as fast as you were at the end of the back straight. It's one of the turns that you hold your breath through. I was hoping that they'd clear and grade the other side of the guardrail (a 30 foot drop right now) and put in a gravel trap. My car is at an aerodynamic disadvantage so cutting the length of the back straight should help me. | |||||