Well, it has been two days since we posted comments on a couple of not so good incidences of track safety. The readers response has been huge. What we have learned is that there are strong feelings about this and mostly that there are a lot of tracks doing the right thing.
In the comments portion of the posted story we heard from racers saying things like,
“It’s a shame this happened. I have been following this and I am disappointed that the series has not provided an answer other than we are investigating it. How hard is it to ask what happened in this case? I am thinking there is more to the story.”
“It’s pretty sad this driver or when any driver, has to put his own fire out! Run over to a safety truck, grab extinguisher, and put it out while safety crew stands there and watches!”,
“The series should be responsible also. Joke.”,
“That car could have been saved!!”.
In years past we came to the conclusion that only a very small percentage of the readers who have an opinion actually responded and write to us about an article, even one that has this much passion attached to it. Based on that assumption, there has to be thousands of racers irate over this incident. On this topic, I received many emails. Here are a few of the comments to me. In keeping with my promise, I won’t reveal all of the names.
“Can’t tell you how many times I’ve screamed at my TV, live feed, and in person, at some of the near tragedies I’ve witnessed. In 2017 we have limitless research, skilled engineering, solid science, just plain old smart people, that can make facilities better. Please note I didn’t say ‘safer’, simply better.”,
“Evaluation for Flat Rock Speedway – I’m a driver in a weekly series at the track and unfortunately, I am scoring it a one (1). It is a great track, has a descent owner with ARCA backing but they have no regard for safety or the investment we have in our equipment. I’m also not sure of their training and whether or not they are prepared.”
Not all of the comments were negative. These readers wrote to praise their safety crews:
“If I would have rated them last year it would have been about a 5 at most. But this spring Kalamazoo Speedway had training classes and our safety crew attended, they learned a lot, and the plan is for them to attend every. This year I would rate them about a 7, and willing to learn more!”
“I race at Star Speedway in Epping, N.H. and they use Speedway Safety Services. These are the same crews that work the Cup races at NHMS. I feel very comfortable with safety there and would rank them at a 10. They’re all trained in motorsports emergencies and have specifically designed trucks and equipment. What Star has should be the standard for short tracks across the country.”
“I just read your article on track safety crews. I race at Ohsweken Speedway in Ontario, Canada. I can’t complement our guys enough. They are well trained, and we’ll equipped. They take their job seriously often getting to the crash site before the car comes to rest. A couple of years ago I barrel rolled out of turn two. There was some fluid leaking. They got me out of the car in about 20 seconds and had the car on its wheels almost immediately.”
“Maryland International Raceway. They get a 20!! Two fire trucks, two ambulances, and dedicated people to run them.”
“We run at Berlin Raceway in Marne, MI. I have to give our safety crews a 10. I have seen plenty of accidents, rollovers, and fires with my husband being involved in a couple that destroyed our car. They are always prompt and professional and always have what is needed in every situation that comes about. I thank you for wanting to improve track safety all over.”
We also got a lot of responses from promoters and safety officials at race tracks too, like these:
“Dear Sir, I am the director of Emergency Services at Raceway Park. I read your recent online article and in some ways tend to agree with you. Here, all my staff are certified EMT’S or Firefighters with at least Fire 1 certification. On top of that ALL staff take the NFPA 610 Racetrack Response course. The majority of my staff have been here for more than five years, myself for 45. We do everything possible to insure our driver’s, moto riders and patrons safety. Sadly, those few “bad apples” shine a bright negative light on us all. I hope you’ll get a few positive responses from our racers. I welcome all honest feed back. Bob Jessen, Director of Emergency Services, Old Bridge Twp Raceway Park.”
“I have been thrust into situations in the South (Bob Bolles, you were there for some of those races) where, if I had my druthers, we would have loaded up and gone home. We raced and got lucky. I’ve been fortunate to have quality rescue and fire services at the tracks I have promoted. You get what you pay for as a rule. And if you care about your racers you will pay willingly.”
This one is a bit long, but packed with good information:
“I am the Operations Chief for Speedway Volunteer Fire Department. Speedway Fire is a State recognized volunteer Fire Department that specializes in Motorsports fire rescue. Speedway provides fire rescue services to local tracks in the inland empire and I would consider us to be one of the best in the business. Most all of our Volunteers are certified firefighter EMTs and have extensive training in motorsports fire rescue.
One of the biggest problems I see at other small tracks is a lack of training as well as proper equipment and personal protective gear. If the rescuers are not properly equipped and trained how can they do their job safely and effectively. One major issue and question to ask is whether the fire crew are properly trained for medical situations.
My Firefighters train extensively on driver assessment as soon as we get to the driver providing there are no immediate threats such as fire. First and foremost is life before property and driver safety is our #1 priority. If it means putting ourselves in harm’s way to rescue a driver from a burning car, well that’s just part of the job.
Track safety I think has gone to the wayside at the local level due to money. We get less and less respect from track officials as well as drivers. Track officials want to get the wreck cleaned up and resume racing as quickly as possible with little to no regard for drivers and allowing the driver to get checked out. I have actually had Firefighters shoved out of the way by drivers for simply trying to make sure they are ok.
We operate on a shoestring budget and all of our Firefighters are Volunteer and it makes it very hard to keep our crews motivated and willing to do the job when we don’t get the backing and respect at the tracks. I feel that most Safety crews probably feel the same and are not going to put in the effort if they don’t have the backing from the track promoters or the drivers and the teams. I feel the track promoters should take a more active role in making sure they have trained and properly equipped crews working their tracks. Thank you, Ronnie Gilman, Operations Chief, Speedway Volunteer Fire Department.”
And finally this one:
“Tracks have a responsibility to be better at hosting a dangerous sport. I’ve worked everything from Concord’s 1/5th mile to Indianapolis Speedway. They can all do better.”
Seeing all of these responses tells me something profound. If the promoters who are not doing the best job of putting together a responsible safety crew think that the racers are ignorant of your disregard for their safety, then maybe you need to take a good look around you at the next race. Talk to a few of the teams and get their opinions on how you are doing with track safety. Or, are you afraid of the answers you might get? If so, then maybe you need to find something else to do.
In the past, racers have taken it upon themselves to send a message when they think their lives and property are in danger. Some years ago, at Texas Motor Speedway, Indy car drivers decided it was way too fast and way too dangerous to race there and refused to participate that year. I’m not saying you should do that at your track necessarily, but then again, what’s more important, a race or the safety of the participants. It’s your choice by the way, nobody is forcing you to race.
I find it interesting that many promoters think that they are providing the racer with the opportunity to race and those same racers should somehow get down on their knees and thank said promoter for allowing them show up. This is not the way it is friends. Without the racer, the promoter does not have a show. So, who should be down on their knees? Just saying, you the racer can and should control the level of safety at your track.
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