Rich Shafer, CEO of Cool Shirt, went off at the Crow Mountain Hillclimb yesterday in his Camaro. He was airlifted to the hospital, but did not survive.
Our thoughts and sympathy go out to his family.
Rich Shafer, CEO of Cool Shirt, went off at the Crow Mountain Hillclimb yesterday in his Camaro. He was airlifted to the hospital, but did not survive.
Our thoughts and sympathy go out to his family.
It's a choice we make when we compete in our dangerous sport. I have seen two fatals in road racing. It always shakes you up, you feel terrible for the family. Worst one was at the old Moroso track in West Palm. Corvette roadster rolled, bar collapsed, decapitated the driver in front of his wife and kids. That was brutal. The other was a shifter kart at the Miami Grand Prix. Hit the wall hard. Bad track for karts. I can't imagine why there have not been more at Pikes Peak. Off road there would be instant death.
Sad to hear. Thoughts to the family.
Every sport has it's risks, unless it Golf, but that sport is boring.
The cool sports are dangerous. We take the risk, we fall in love with the risk, and sometimes we forget about the risk because we love the sport so much.
We are blessed with the ability to build machines that carry us to unnatural speed, bicycles, motorcycles, race cars, and all of them have risk. I love them all.
PHeller wrote: Every sport has it's risks, unless it Golf, but that sport is boring.
It's not my intention to hijack this serious thread. However, you wouldn't believe how many people have been killed by lightning on golf courses. My condolences to the Shafer family.
wow, what a shame. At least he was able to do something he obviously loved. Very few people get to enjoy their job. Most of us get up in the morning and go to work. Theres very few who are able to get up and go to fun. He was one of those lucky few. My condolences to his family. I hope he will inspire people to respect the sport and the need to think safety.
Oh man, I hate to hear this. 
I met him at Wolf Ridge last year, a genuinely nice guy.
My condolences to the Shafer family also.
Wow, this really hurts.
Rich was a regular auto-x competitor at Atlanta region events, always fast and friendly. An event never passed where we didn't cross paths and take time to talk with each other.
He will be missed.
My sincere condolences to his family.
Wow, that is sad. Rich was a regular when I first started autocrossing with the Atlanta Region SCCA 17 years ago. That Trans-Am had the ability to bend time.
Damn! That sucks. I had no idea they were racing there. That's only 20 min. from my house.
My condolences to the family.
“Auto racing, bull fighting, and mountain climbing are the only real sports ... all others are games.”
Ernest Hemingway
David S. Wallens wrote: Wow, that is sad. Rich was a regular when I first started autocrossing with the Atlanta Region SCCA 17 years ago. That Trans-Am had the ability to bend time.
I was actually thinking of Rich after our last points event. 10 years ago I showed up as a noob and his was the car that had people swarming it. It was loud, fast, and violent. He offered me a ride. I got out ~60 seconds later, trembling and hardly able to speak. Over the years my car has gotten faster, louder, and more violent. There was a noob at our last event that was checking it out, nearly continuously. I offered him a ride. ~60 seconds later he got out, trembling and hardly able to speak. I had never put it together until that moment, but I had become Rich. That made me smile.
I'm really bummed to see him go.
Wow - bad year. Lost two colleagues in the Buffalo Continental crash earlier this year, and now this. I started autocrossing in college in Atlanta in the late 80's in a Mustang, and Rich was like my pony-car Dad as we both attended most of the Atlanta solos and the SEDIV series. I saw him last December at PRI after not seeing him for a few years. It was pretty neat to see him morph his business into something racing related, and to have a nice private business discussion with him. I'll miss you, Rich.
I was a corner worker at the race he wrecked at. I was not at the corner he wrecked at. He was a big supporter of the event and also a big help in getting it started to begin with. Lots of people will miss him.
Rich was one of my mentors when I first started autocrossing. I just logged in and this post is the first thing I saw. Today sucks.
Rich was a cool guy. That pun was completely unintended, but it always seemed appropriate that he produced a product that reaffirmed his coolness. This is a bummer.
jg
Proud to have Rich as a friend for past 20 years. We started a tradition many years ago. We have a mexican restaurant at just about every racing venue we go to. Missed him greatly Saturday night.
pulled this from another forum... don't think they'll mind the repost...
Fellow Racers,
I’m sure there’s an “appropriate” way to state this, but I’ll be damned if I know what it is. Instead I’ll just pass along what I know:
Rich Shafer (Mr. Cool Shirt) passed away late yesterday afternoon (Oct. 3) from complications after a wreck at Turn Three of the Crow Mountain Hillclimb. It was Rich’s second run up the mountain, and witnesses say there were no brake lights (there definitely were no skid marks) and that he didn’t appear to try and make the corner. There was a heavy impact against the rocks on the outside of the corner. He was conscious and talking to the workers as they cut the roll cage to get him out (they were aware of his history of back issues), and said he had a lot of pain in his lower abdomen. The EMTs were not able to find a pulse in his feet, and that’s when they called for Life Flight. His blood sugar was also well over 200 – high enough that they asked if he was diabetic. I’m not a doctor (or a lawyer), so I’ll not speculate on what happened to cause the wreck.
Reportedly his heart stopped at least once before he got to the hospital ( Erlanger Medical Center in Chattanooga ) but they got him going again. Reportedly they also tried clamping his aorta to restrict the blood flow to his lower extremities so I’m guessing he had major bleeding in his abdomen and/or legs, but they were unable to control it. I don’t believe he ever regained consciousness at the hospital, but his wife Eilene, son Tom, and assorted friends, fellow racers, and co-workers were there when he passed. “Shocked” was the operative word for the next fifteen minutes or so.
Rich was a helluva guy – full of life and always looking forward to the future. He loved his family, he loved his friends, and he loved racing. For Rich the words “you can’t do that” were a challenge to be overcome rather than a statement of limits. More than once he said he was lucky enough to still be able to get in the car (after two back surgeries), and he’d continue to mash the gas pedal until he couldn’t do so any longer. He turned sixty-six last April and could still outdrive guys half his age. We had a lot of good times together.
I’ll pass along service arrangements as I know them, but in the meantime please keep Eilene and the family in your thoughts.
Butch
I was a corner worker at the hillclimb and have been since it started. Rich was there every year and was a big supporter. I met him there and he really truly is a great guy. Last year I got a signed "Cool Shirt" Banner from him. it's hanging in my garage. I'll miss that Camaro going up the hill. He truly will be missed and condolences to his family.
DILYSI Dave wrote: I was actually thinking of Rich after our last points event. 10 years ago I showed up as a noob and his was the car that had people swarming it. It was loud, fast, and violent. He offered me a ride. I got out ~60 seconds later, trembling and hardly able to speak. Over the years my car has gotten faster, louder, and more violent. There was a noob at our last event that was checking it out, nearly continuously. I offered him a ride. ~60 seconds later he got out, trembling and hardly able to speak. I had never put it together until that moment, but I had become Rich. That made me smile. I'm really bummed to see him go.
That's pretty awesome.
I located this when searching for info on Rich
http://www.crowmountainhillclimb.org/entries/RichShafer.htm
Never had the privlege of meeting him, but the loss is sad. Sounds like a great guy.
Ohhh I saw him win at snowshoe hillclimb in 2004.
I'm surprised that he was injured so severely in a tube frame car, aren't they generally considered pretty safe? I wonder if a newer frame would have been safer.
I hope his friends and family are comforted by the fact that he went out doing what he loved.
Sad to hear the news
In reply to andrave:
This has been discussed on a hillclimb email list I'm on. The mention of cutting him out seems to conjure up images of a crumpled up mess. Apparently they cut him out because he has a history of back issues, and it was deemed the safest way to remove him from the car keeping his back history in mind. The impression I was given was that it was one of those freak accidents, and internal injuries may have been a factor rather than deformation of the car. Regardless, it is a very sad day. This is not the news anyone ever wants to hear.
You'll need to log in to post.
