Cascade Crew

alloy · Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2010 8:41 am Post subject: Driver killed at SIR

This really sucks.

http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2010/07/dragster_driver_killed_in_seattle-area_race_on_sunday.html

iansane · Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2010 9:20 am Post subject:

Schultzy89GTA · Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2010 11:26 am Post subject:

sadness

-Schultzy

KatsCam · Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2010 11:36 am Post subject:

R. I. P.

Twilightoptics · Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2010 11:41 am Post subject:

Mark Niver.

Set top Speed for the event too.

Guy built like 90% of his car himself in his own machine shop.

Been saying it for years.... there is too much reliance on the parachutes to stop these machines. The brakes barely work and at those speeds? Thirdgen stock brakes would be an improvement. A longer sand trap would also have been nice. It looked like the dragster folded in half when it hit the net.

Tragic.

First death or serious accident I've ever seen in 14-15 years of going to Pacific Raceways (Formerly SIR).

Quasi-Traction · Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2010 7:19 pm Post subject:

Very tragic indeed.

Even with all the tech, safety equipment and guidelines, and all we try to do to make the sport as safe as possible, things can go wrong or people can make mistakes, and at that point all you can do is hope you get out of it okay.

Unfortunately he didn't.

Condolences to his friends and family.

alloy · Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2010 7:47 pm Post subject:

Kinda reminds me of when Darrell Gwynn bought it in 89. I was watching it on TV. He survived but is in a wheel chair now. I believe his steering broke. Then I remember when Don Garlits blew a clutch and cut most of his foot off. Then there was Shirley Muldowney, she got burned really bad. Thankfully these incidents are years between and don't happen often.

If you want to watch a great drag racing movie, watch "Heart like a Wheel"

KatsCam · Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2010 7:49 pm Post subject:

Ahh, I had some awesome chats with Big Daddy Don back in the day. The stories he told me still can give me nightmares! WHOA!!

IROCDave · Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2010 8:01 pm Post subject:

RIP.

KIRO News described his injuries, then showed the video. It basicaly broke him in half. It's really to bad that things like this have to happen before more changes are made for safety. Theres alot more room at the end of the track for a longer sand runnoff and the chain link fence should have had a tear away post on one side.

alloy · Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2010 8:20 pm Post subject:

I'd not seen the vid when I posted this. Wow............he did his best to stop it, just not enough room. And the sand pit didn't look like it did much to slow him down at all.

I've watch a lot of races over the years but have never saw a chute fail like that one did.

91RSVert · Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2010 4:21 am Post subject:

Where is the video? Confused

DBL_TKE · Posted: Tue Jul 20, 2010 12:35 am Post subject:

I was there when it happened. It's pretty wierd knowing I saw somebody die in person. It really looks like he hit the safety net at 30 mph. You really need a parachute to slow down at those speeds. When rails or door cars with huge slicks get on the brakes too hard they get all kinds of wheels hop. May he rest in peace.