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Conference oass::racers

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

17.0. "1993 Pikes Peak Hillclimb" by SASE::J_EVANS () Wed Jul 28 1993 16:55

From:	US2RMC::"mclafferty_s@apollo.hp.com" 28-JUL-1993 11:32:29.03
To:	sase::j_evans, zegowij%han@leia.polaroid.com, macarthur%thor@leia.polaroid.com, wonder::brodeur, jwf@ksr.com
CC:	
Subj:	Pikes Peak Stories (fwd)

Interesting story from the Pikes Peak Hillclimb, taken from the wheel-to-wheel
mailing list.  Makes you wonder if this could happen at Mt. Washington.

> 
> 
> Interesting Side Stories from Pike Peak
> 
> John Norris almost goes over the edge.
> 
> ESPN touched on this story in it's broadcast on Sat.,
> but I had talked to a couple of  course workers and
> have a few more details. On Tues. June 29th, the first
> day of pratice on Pikes Pikes, the stock cars and
> Showroom Stock classes are practicing on the top 1/3
> of the Mountain. John Norris from Los Angles over
> cooks a corner, the rear end of his Mitsubishi 3000GT
> gets away from him and before he can catch it
> both he and the car slide partially off the sharply
> graded shoulder of the road. Rear tires and back
> 1/2 of the car dangle off the edge of one of the
> steepest drop-offs on the mountain, almost 1000ft
> nearly straight down, the front end of the car
> rises 2ft off the ground as it counter-balances on less
> than a foot  of  soil. The closest course worker, radios
> in the incident and runs about 50yrds to the car. After
> watching the car teeter back and forth slightly, he
> decides that the best thing he can do to help John is to
> jump on the hood and lay spread-eagle across it to shift
> the weight a little more in his favor. Both men
> are then frozen in time afraid to move a muscle,
> and stay that way for almost 5mins before a
> safety truck shows up and figures out the best
> way to pull them both back from the edge of
> disaster. Later in the day, both men tell reporters 
> that those 5mins felt like hours. The course worker
> (sorry I can't remember his name) tells his friends that
> he felt every heartbeat and sweated every breeze in
> those 5mins as well. When the car is back on solid 
> ground, John Norris is checked by Medical personnel.
> They find that his blood pressure is so high that they
> want him taken to the hospital and immediately call 
> for the helicopter. After treatment, John is released
> sometime later that evening.
>

Steve McLafferty
mclafferty_s@apollo.hp.com

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% From: mclafferty_s@apollo.hp.com
% Subject: Pikes Peak Stories (fwd)
% To: sase::j_evans, zegowij%han@leia.polaroid.com, macarthur%thor@leia.polaroid.com, wonder::brodeur, jwf@ksr.co
% Date: Wed, 28 Jul 93 11:28:32 EDT
% Mailer: Elm [revision: 70.30]

T.R	Title	User	Personal Name	Date	Lines
17.1	There is always a risk	MLTVAX::FISHER	Kill your television	`Thu Jul 29 1993 18:44`	11
	Sure it could happen at Mt. Washington. It could conceivably happen at several other hillclimbs in the northeast, too. Being on the verge of a thousand foot drop is certainly dramatic, but hanging off a hundred (or even fifty) foot cliff is probably just as life-threatening. What can you do? The course marshalls cover the course as best they can, and the drivers stay on the road as best they can. You can never eliminate all risk, you do what you can to manage it, and accept the rest. Or you can just stay home and pray a plane doesn't land on you. Carl
17.2		SASE::J_EVANS		`Thu Jul 29 1993 19:23`	4
	I agree. If we didn't like the adrenaline, we wouldn't be at the track, autocross or rally.... or whatever other type of race you go to..... jim
17.3		OASS::BURDEN_D	This is a Studebaker Year	`Thu Jul 29 1993 19:50`	4
	That's why I never got concerned doing hillclimbs below tree level. There always seems to be a tree willing to catch you. Just ask Phil C. Dave
17.4	Runoof vs Dropoff	DVOPAS::MARSHL::malkoski		`Fri Jul 30 1993 20:09`	10
	Anyone who's been on the road to the summit of Pike's Peak knows how scary it is. The television cameras simply don't do it justice. There are a couple of other very high roads in the Colorado Rockies, but few have the sheer drop offs the Peak has. I cannot imagine doing what that course worked did. It was the right thing, but ... Most course workers know all about crash & burn proceedures, but they don't teach a lot about dealing with huge drop offs in SCCA. I wonder if Norris will be back. Will he ever be the same? He'll likely stick to events where they have runoff areas rahter than dropoff areas. I would. Paul
17.5	1994 results	OASS::BURDEN_D	and a dozen grey attorneys	`Thu Jul 21 1994 18:16`	50
	Newsgroups: rec.autos.sport Subject: SPOILER...1994 Pikes Peak Hill Climb 1994 USAC Pikes Peak Hill Climb Results attached! My sister just sent me a copy of the July 5, 1994 Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph newspaper. I'm surprized that no one else had posted these results! That's no way to treat a 72-year old race! Records set at 1994 USAC Pikes Peak Hill Climb: ----------------------------------------------- Overall and unlimited-- 10:04.06; Rod Millen; New Port Beach, CA; Toyota Celica; 1994 10:44.22; Nobuhiro Tajima; 1993 Open wheel-- 10:05.85; Robby Unser; Lincoln, NB; ADT Speedway Special Chevrolet; 1994 10:43.63: Paul Dallenbach; 1993 Super truck-- 11:36.63; Leonard Vahsholtz; Woodland Park, CO; Ford Bronco: 1994 11:47.22; Leonard Vahsholtz; 1993 Stock-- 11:39.17; Bobby Regester; Florissant, CO; J.B. Isaac Chevrolet Camaro; 1994 11:47.29; Leonard Vahsholtz; 1993 Showroom stock-- 12:28.06; Antonin Charouz; Prague, Czech Republic; Ford Escort RS; 1994 12:34.58; John Norris; 1993 Electric (new class)-- 15:44.71; Katy Endicott; San Pedro, CA; Honda; 1994 Open-pro motorcycle-- 12:21.13; Clint Vahsholtz; unknown; unknown, but his leathers had Harley Davidison on them!; 1994 12:29.38; unknown; 1993 According to this article, the 12.42-mile course had been treated with calcium chloride to harden the surface and reduce the dust. Some racers said it looked like a paved road. Roger Mears claimed the track was different than in the past and not as fun. In fact, he stated that the track scares the hell out him now (i.e marbles of gravel on the harder surface). Someday, the road may get paved and ruin the 72 years of history at the hill. Let's hope not! -buzz
17.6		CSC32::J_SHUMWAY		`Thu Jul 21 1994 19:28`	3
	Its a shame the hill climb is known internationaly as the premier event of its type in the world while folks in the USA pay little attention to it. Maybe if they ran two at a time...hmmmmmm 8-)
17.7	try to watch it!	OASS::BURDEN_D	and a dozen grey attorneys	`Thu Jul 21 1994 19:47`	4
	At least ESPN will air it (for an hour, anyway) - it's on Saturday at 2 I think (see 838.last for more details). Dave