Carnage during Spectator Racing

Future dirt track champions, on asphalt that is inexcusable.

MA$$hole wrote:

WilberM3 wrote: yea that buick vid is just spectacular

Not to mention downright stupid.

I think you meant to say, not to mention downright AWESOME.

It's only stupid if he hit the trees. Right?

I'm glad that other people do not-so-smart things for the sake of our entertainment; otherwise, the internet would be downright Puritanical.

Doc What is with the hatting? Stones in glass houses and all that. We need positive energy! The glass is half full.

They way I see it they are having a blast. I don't understand it but I would try it.

Oh ya and THANK GOD portable inexpensive video and Youtube were not around when I was a kid. The things we did with cars.. . .

So I know you want examples OK.

You can jump / skip cars across a river. Saab's, I think it was a 99's, worked the best followed by bugs. This came out of drinking beer fishing and skipping stones. Then someone got the great idea to see if we can skip cars. Hilarity ensured, some cars floated some cars would sink. Only a select few would actually "skip" across. We had a blast. If this had been videoed Yikes.

I am betting that we all have done some interesting/dumb/crazy/totally useless/pointless stuff. It is only now that it gets saved in all its glory for others to see on video. Before these stories were things of myth and legend.

I don't understand the outrage. What's not to like? People want to risk their stuff in this kind of racing, where's the foul? As long as both parties understand the rules/no rules.

I think I would very much enjoy watching this, although I might feel just a tinge of guilt. Kinda like watching Jackass-The Movie.

Note to self: Leave the AMG Benz at home.

It's just when I see those vids I am perplexed. The SRT8 getting side swiped by a crappy S blazer? The Grand Am intentionally t-boning another car? I'm not saying it's wrong, I'm saying I dont' get it. There's something happening there that doesn't compute in my meager mind. Maybe those vids were sort of staged, I dunno.
And I totally understand low-buck racing, that's why I've been a subsriber to this mag since the $1500 challenge and competed in the '04 challenge. It hits my buttons. But, there's a difference in watching (and driving) a bone stock miata around a road course or cones, and driving a bone stock FWD slush-box in a large circle....once. If I was a spectator I'm sure I'd enjoy it more than I would expect but in the end, after a few races I'd be looking for the gates.

Complete and utter stupidity explains a lot. I have walked this earth long enough to be unfazed by all but the most extreme cases. Trashing a newish SRT-8 in a grudge race doesn't even register on the scale.

dean1484 wrote: Oh ya and THANK GOD portable inexpensive video and Youtube were not around when I was a kid. The things we did with cars.. . . So I know you want examples OK. You can jump / skip cars across a river. Saab's, I think it was a 99's, worked the best followed by bugs. This came out of drinking beer fishing and skipping stones. Then someone got the great idea to see if we can skip cars. Hilarity ensured, some cars floated some cars would sink. Only a select few would actually "skip" across. We had a blast. If this had been videoed Yikes. I am betting that we all have done some interesting/dumb/crazy/totally useless/pointless stuff. It is only now that it gets saved in all its glory for others to see on video. Before these stories were things of myth and legend.

OK... So does it work better to just get a good nose up run at the river...

Or does it help if the car is spinning through the air.

I missed the part where it was at Beech Ridge, Maine. That explains alot. We ran a Busch north race there in 95 and of the dozens of circle tracks I've been to it is the only track I won't go back to. The fans were like animals throwing garbage onto the track, and most of the events were more demo derby than race.

These have to be flood or drug acq cars... or the title of some of these would be "Man Murdered following Race Crash". No way I don't bludgeon the S10 guy to death with his own femur if I paid for that Jeep.

But, there's a difference in watching (and driving) a bone stock miata around a road course or cones, and driving a bone stock FWD slush-box in a large circle....once.

If they are both on the same venue and run the same time, id say that difference is all in the driver. I cant tell you how many times ive outrawed and outpaxed miatas in a stock dodge dynasty (fwd slushbox). Maybe the miata is prettier to look at but if you're making any assumptions about how a car+driver will actually perform you better know that driver. Id rather see drivers do something that is fun to watch, regardless of the vehicle. Ive only raced 2 rwds, a c5 and a miata, outdrove both the owners by large margins, and still have never been convinced that racing a FWD slushbox can not be as fun as a RWD manual.

To me, the more off-beat the cars/matchup, the better.

ronholm wrote:

dean1484 wrote: Oh ya and THANK GOD portable inexpensive video and Youtube were not around when I was a kid. The things we did with cars.. . . So I know you want examples OK. You can jump / skip cars across a river. Saab's, I think it was a 99's, worked the best followed by bugs. This came out of drinking beer fishing and skipping stones. Then someone got the great idea to see if we can skip cars. Hilarity ensured, some cars floated some cars would sink. Only a select few would actually "skip" across. We had a blast. If this had been videoed Yikes. I am betting that we all have done some interesting/dumb/crazy/totally useless/pointless stuff. It is only now that it gets saved in all its glory for others to see on video. Before these stories were things of myth and legend.

OK... So does it work better to just get a good nose up run at the river... Or does it help if the car is spinning through the air.

Nose up by timing how you peg the throttle at the last minute. Why rear mounted motor cars seemed to work the best