A sad day in Aussie racing

[Ron Hill]

Freddy MIller and I have been friends for only 44 years. His son Gordie was quite the 45 Tunnel racer. Fred while working with his son and promoting races realized that the CRASH RATE was pretty high.

Freddy came up with a great idea and that was to keep the 45's on a 35 second course. I'm really not sure when he came up with this idea, but it has been around for about 20 years.

This is such a great "CONCEPT" it saves lives and equipment!

Capsules are GREAT, so are short tracks.

Bill Vukovich the III was killed testing a sprint car at Mesa Marin Speedway in Bakersfield. His Dirt Sprinter, on the big paved track just went too fast and he lost control, killing him. Mesa Marin decided that sprint cars didn't belong on paved tracks like they had.

At DePue, Illinois I was watching the 500 CC runabouts when one boat went sideways, causing a four boat wreck. One boat had hit a carp, it appeared, and turned sideways.

Looking at Dave Bryant's accident, his boat appeared to hit something. I will say this, those courses in Australia are F*^king long...too long, I think...

We have some great races at Long Beach....Long Beach IS PRETTY SHORT, REALLY...

[dawe22]

The cost, come on. Is there any cost greater than death. There are cheaper version's of capsules out there that are just as effective. Revolution does great work and if asked I'm sure could work it out. The time came a long time ago for action. No excuses lets start keeping our extended families in the pits racing with us.

[AZOutlaw]

That's just it...cheaper versions are always available, is that a good thing???...there needs to be standardization among minimal manufacturers for quality assurance in my opinion.

[Skoontz]

Ron:

You hit something with shorter courses and it would salove several issue. Leave safety aside...It gets pretty boring wathcing a race with a boat count low when they all get strung along the course. My thouht at Pudding stone would be that for the small boats, they could take about 150 yards out of the straights and add a lap or two. It would make for a more exciting race, and slow things down.

[dawe22]

Jeff there is, every new capsule has to meet the same test's as any other capsule. A champ boat does 120-130 mph, I saw them at kankakee and they also do not slow down in the turns. And these capsules hold up. At the nationals there where quite a few crashes through out the weekend and I never turned my head and said oh *&%$. I just waited expecting to see a helmet pop up and everthing to be ok. And it was for the most part. If us sst45 drivers can go racing on budgets with capsules ?????????????

[mcfrance__]

Please use capsules. Drivers are dying faster than one every ten years, but regardless, one is too many. 164 feet is a long fricken way to be thrown from a boat doing 120+ mph. A capsule would prevent that. Please use them. This is very sad.

[Racer BOB]

Come on guys this is not the place, it has been one of the hardest weekend over here in OZ with Brian and Dave passing. R.I.P gents.

[721 Jr.]

Everyone involved in this sport does it because they love it. I personally feel more comfortable in a capsule I believe it has saved my life. We all know the dangers as do our loved ones and crew. I think everyone knows that on any given weekend it could be any of us. As of right now the V-Drives have the choice to decide of they want a capsule or not. What has taken place is tragic however this is something that should be brought up at the National Meeting.

This post was started to remember the legacy of a fallen racer. I think we should all show the respect deserved.

[AZOutlaw]

Come on guys this is not the place, it has been one of the hardest weekend over here in OZ with Brian and Dave passing. R.I.P gents.

Sorry...the capsule issue needs to have its own thread in time...no disrespect to anyone. We all care about our sport no doubt, and those we have lost are dear to our hearts. GODSPEED to all of them.

Jeff Conant

[AZOutlaw]

Picture of Dave and Brian at Taree
Cell pictures of Dave after winning the 2009 K-Boat Summer Nationals at Long Beach, CA. Dave getting congratulated by Tony Scarlotta