No one was injured
Kenny tells me that I must write up an incident report for the Forum before he posts the pictures of the incident. The incident in question took place during the Big Bore Production heat race on Saturday afternoon. Car 111, a Studebaker of some description, blew his engine in a big way in Portland’s turn 3, causing him to spin in his own oil off the track drivers right. He came to a stop facing oncoming traffic about 15 feet off the racing surface. Ross “Rooster” Thornton, Larry Firth, Kim McFarland and I were in the new Safety 2 truck wearing its brand new livery and were stationed at Turn 6. This new truck is a Ford F-350 4-wheel drive with a Triton V-10 engine. It is a big tough truck with a nice new drop bumper to keeps cars out from under it. When the Studebaker blew its engine, we started moving in that direction. On our way to the rarely used Turn 3 station, one of the historic NASCAR cars, number 15, spun in the oil and hit the wall drivers left, across the track from the Studebaker. The NASCAR was able to continue but due to the impact, an alert was called over comm. We were dispatched and headed for the only car there, the Studebaker. I parked the truck in a shield position while Larry and Rooster jumped out with a fire bottle to check for fire. There was lots of smoke from under the hood. While they were starting to open the hood, I checked my mirrors and saw that rather than a line of oil, the Studebaker and spread oil over half the racetrack right in the exit of Turn 3. At that point, I knew we were in trouble and called for a Pace Car Now over the radio. Kim was still in the back of the truck helping me by keeping an eye on what the traffic was doing. The first few cars to pass us were still very fast and very lucky to get through without losing control. I had my eyes glued to my left side mirror and my hand on the horn, basically waiting for the worst. I didn’t have to wait long. Car 45 black, a Sunbeam Tiger that is a regular at northwest tracks had seen the flags at Turn 1 and the lights of the new truck ahead. He came around Turn 3 at about 75%, which would probably have been enough if this had been a normal line of oil, instead of a lake covering a huge area. When he hit the oil, I realized that he was going to get the truck, so I leaned on the horn to help warn Larry and Rooster. The Tiger spun and hit the left rear tire of Safety 2 a glancing blow with his left front corner. He bounced away from that impact while the truck jumped sideways. He clipped the left front running board under my door on his way past, but did not damage the cab of the truck at all. The car continued to spin and managed to hit the right front corner of the Studebaker right where the workers had been a few seconds before. Kim saw the Tiger coming and slammed herself into the racing seat that is in the back of the new truck. After the impact, I asked Kim if she was ok and she said she was. I then scanned the scene and could see that Rooster and Larry and the Studebaker driver were ok. They all checked on the Tiger driver and signaled “driver ok”. I radioed in that Safety 2 had been hit and that all workers were ok and all drivers were ok. Later on, we found that in the process and as a result of the impact of the Tiger, Kim received some bruising along her ribs and the inside of her upper arms. Otherwise, she was ok. Rooster and Larry had both been on their toes and saw the Tiger coming and realized that it was time to exit the area. They were fine as well. I was unharmed thanks to the good seats in the truck, though I did lean away from the door in case the Tiger had punched it in. The two drivers in question have stated that had the truck not been there shielding things, one or both of the drivers would have ended up in the hospital. I fully agree with that assessment. The truck did its job and was on its way to be repaired before the day had ended. In 20-20 hindsight, had I seen how much oil had been spread, I might have chosen not to drive my friends into the line of danger, but hearing the drivers comments, I’m glad we did what we did. The truck will be repaired before the NSACAR race next weekend. The damage to the truck was mostly limited to the left rear with only minor damage to the utility box. No equipment got loose during the impact. Both race cars suffered heavy damage. I don’t know if they are repairable at this time. I hope so. I’m just glad that the truck did its job and protected the people from serious injury or death. She is a sweet truck that I will be delighted to operate in the future. Adam and I will be in Spokane for the Conference race next weekend. Russ Newhouse will be driving the repaired Safety 2 for the NASCAR event.