Major crash at the Texas Mile

[dbk]

Word is an orange gallardo flipped end over end at the end of the runway at the Texas Mile. It was in the air with the chute deployed. Apparently the run was 235 mph and the car flipped and cartwheeled. The driver IS OK and is OUT OF THE CAR walking around. This is the same car that went off the end of the runway twice last year.

I had this conversation with Ray and Jason and a number of other people this year. This seemed like the year that something like this was going to go down. Cars are getting too fast, shutdown is too short. They are going to need to rethink a number of things at the Texas Mile in the future. If it was wind related, and it sounds like the winds are pretty hefty, they are going to need to shutdown under certain wind conditions in the future.

Either way, major, major luck today with the driver being unhurt.

 

[shelbyelite]

WOW! So glad no one is in the hospital or dead. It really is only a matter of time. Thank God today was not THE DAY.

 

[Outkastscc]

Richard Holt was the driver. Like dbk said he is walking around and ok.

Car went airborn about 30 feet in the air after the end over end flips. Came straight down nose first and landed on it's wheels. Lotsa people taking lotsa pics.

 

[HHGT]

Incredible... Many times, thrill seekers will live to race another day.

 

[RALPHIE]

... Like dbk said he is walking around and ok....

Irregardless, he should be taken to a hospital for complete examination.

 

[Outkastscc]

Irregardless, he should be taken to a hospital for complete examination.

Lifeflight came but Richard signed a waiver and didn't want to go.

 

[Fast Freddy]

doesn't surprise me......

 

[Paul Vincent]

Irregardless, he should be taken to a hospital for complete examination.

You are 100% right; he should have no say in the matter lest he wind up like Natasha Richardson.

 

[Empty Pockets]

You are 100% right; he should have no say in the matter lest he wind up like Natasha Richardson.

'Just what I was thinking...

 

[Outkastscc]

Talked to Jay and he said they did take Richard to the hospital. Another offical that was at the scene had told me the other erroneous information.

 

[Hennessey Performance]

I ran at the Big Bend Open race about 10 yrs ago. A guy was running a Mercedes and crashed at the finish line. He got out of the car ok but the car burned to the ground. The EMT's said he was fine and at the time he did not want to go to the ER. A while later he told the EMT he was not feeling so well. They told him he was fine. The guy persisted and the EMT's eventually took him to the ER which was about an hour away. The guy was walking into the ER, fell down, had a heart attack and died right there.

The lesson learned is to always go to the ER and get checked out if you have a crash at a race. Your adrenalin will be flowing and you may even be in shock and just dont know you are hurt.

Racing is a dangerous business. 20 yrs ago when I started I didnt think it was all that much. The reality is that for events like the Texas Mile, they are loosely run without any serious safety rules. I hate rules for the most part but in racing they save a lot of lives. The other reality is that racing series events like Indy, Nascar, etc. have trauma centers at the track with trained doctors right there. Weekend warrior events dont have that. Waiting for Life Flight is about the best you can do if something goes really wrong.

Not trying to piss on anybody's parade here, but I have personally known several good guys and good racers who have died or have had injuries so serious that they greatly reduced their quality of life. Ford GT's were meant for having fun. Taking them out and running them is a lot of fun. However, the faster you go and the more times you go faster the greater the risk. Just something to think about.

 

[skyrex]

Just glad to hear the driver is well and everyone is safe. The short shut down is one of the things that has kept me from trying Texas. Undoubtedly the premier event, but I personally like a long braking zone.

Does anyone know if the Gallardo had a cage??

Continue to have fun and stay safe guys.

 

[Hennessey Performance]

One last thing, if you are going to build a car fast enough to need a parachute, please have your builder contact Bill Stroud so he can design you the right chute. Some guys are putting drag chutes on the back of their mile cars and I've seen them cause some cars to wreck when deployed. Not saying this is the case with what happened today at Goliad. I am not there and dont know anything about the car that crashed. But I have been to many other events and seen what a drag chute can do to a car that is not drag racing. If you are running mile events you need a land speed chute design which generally has a longer tether, smaller chute design and big ass spring that throws it a log ways behind the car when deployed. Bill Stroud is the man to talk to about your specific design.

 

[Shadowman]

I am glad that he is alright

Shadowman

 

[Fast Freddy]

One last thing, if you are going to build a car fast enough to need a parachute, please have your builder contact Bill Stroud so he can design you the right chute. Some guys are putting drag chutes on the back of their mile cars and I've seen them cause some cars to wreck when deployed. Not saying this is the case with what happened today at Goliad. I am not there and dont know anything about the car that crashed. But I have been to many other events and seen what a drag chute can do to a car that is not drag racing. If you are running mile events you need a land speed chute design which generally has a longer tether, smaller chute design and big ass spring that throws it a log ways behind the car when deployed. Bill Stroud is the man to talk to about your specific design.

+1

some dude in a viper showed up at the HIGH noon shootout at the Silver State Classic a few years ago and his chute was mounted to HIGH on the back of the car. when he deployed the chute it lifted the back of the car off the ground and he wrecked. i wonder if this was the case for the Lambo?

 

[ChipBeck]

Does anyone know if the Gallardo had a cage??

Yes it did.

Chip

 

[kumar]

Glad he is ok. Lesson learned for me. If I ever plan to go faster than 230, copy Ray's braking setup.

 

[dbtgt]

One last thing, if you are going to build a car fast enough to need a parachute, please have your builder contact Bill Stroud so he can design you the right chute. Some guys are putting drag chutes on the back of their mile cars and I've seen them cause some cars to wreck when deployed. Not saying this is the case with what happened today at Goliad. I am not there and dont know anything about the car that crashed. But I have been to many other events and seen what a drag chute can do to a car that is not drag racing. If you are running mile events you need a land speed chute design which generally has a longer tether, smaller chute design and big ass spring that throws it a log ways behind the car when deployed. Bill Stroud is the man to talk to about your specific design.

This is really good advice. The SCTA guys have been doing this for a long time and have built quite a learning curve. It really makes sense to do your homework over 200 mph IMHO.

 

[nota4re]

The eyewitnesses here are stating that it was, in fact, the chute. Somehow during deployment it came out to one side, either a gust of wind, too short of cord, etc. Once out to the side it jerked the car sideways causing the driver to lose control. Again, this is early speculation as to the cause/effect.

There is obviously a science to engineering a chute to a vehicle and an expected deployment speed, etc... that is best left to experts.

 

[Empty Pockets]

Some guys are putting drag chutes on the back of their mile cars and I've seen them cause some cars to wreck when deployed...seen what a drag chute can do to a car that is not drag racing.

Hey, John, will you please explain to us dummies (okay, THIS dummy!) what difference it makes whether a car is doing 200+ in a drag race vs. 200+ in the standing mile and therefore why a drag chute isn't kosher for the 'mile? The aero on any given car is the same no matter which "race" situation it's in...and it's still stopping from 200+ in either case.

I'm not questioning the wisdom of what you said. I just don't grasp the reasoning BEHIND it - and I wanna.

Thanks. :thumbsup