Not good. NOT GOOD AT ALL! 4 people dead.

The problem is A. the seting was all wrong I can't believe a pro driver won't run in that seting B. when he broke loose slowing down only makes it worst. bottom line keep racing on the track. it is a real sad day for alot of families

 

5-6 years ago at the Hell Mi cruise, cars when leaving the show area were encouraged to do burnouts on the city street. Water was layed down etc.
A "fastest street car" , you know the type with the sheetmetal intakes that call themselves street cars(yeah right) was doing a burnout and it slid out of the water and caught dry ground and it was off like a rocket-going sideways toward the crowd. Thankfully it did not hit anyone but it was close.
Freak accidents can and do happen all the time.

The driver of the Pro Mod car in the Selmer accident should have known better of all people what can happen in a split second

 

Of course, I feel for the people injured, killed and their families.

With that said...it looks like the sport of professional drag racing is going to take it on the chin again.

 

Feel sorry for the driver because he's gonna feel guilty,, NEVER GONNA HAPPEN.

He Screwed up, he deserves to feel guilty!! He's not the only one to blame, there is probably a long line of stupidity leading up to this event. Promoters, police, city council, all are guilty. BUT bottom line the driver is the one who dropped the hammer near a crowd of INNOCENT people.

These cars can and will do stupid $hit under the best of conditions, and these were not even close to being good conditions.

WHO THE HELL THOUGHT THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA?

3 more have passed on since last night, not cool.

 

I watched the amateur video and I felt like someone punched me in the gut. My thoughts and prayers are with the families of all involved.

Like any tragedy, it's not one event that caused it, it's the end result of a series of mistakes and failures. This was easily preventable but unfortunately it can't be undone.

My son always wants to know why we clear out when someone's doing a burnout. This is why.

 

Now Seven :cry:

 

http://edition.cnn.com/2007/US/06/17/carshow.deaths.ap/

 

We all bitch because of the things they won't let us do until something like this happens. Do you remember finally figuring out that your folks were actually right about something? That old 20/20 hindsight thing again.

 

I too feel sad for ALL involved.The repercussions from this incident will be very far-reaching I fear.

If people would just stop and THINK about the reasons behind this it would become very clear that this was inevitable.

Think of a car such as this set up for the street(barely):2000 lbs maybe;800-1000 hp;and a spool rear axle. The last item is the most critical of all.

Add to this the possibility of someone of limited driving experience on an unfamiliar surface.Factor in that the AVERAGE person's "reaction time" is about 3/4 of a second.

Suddenly an axle breaks. Not uncommon with a spool;especially if you are experiencing uneven traction due to the surface conditions or possibly unevenness.

What happens then is the car does an immediate right or left turn.Assuming the vehicle is moving at 60 mph(88 ft./sec.).Given the time it takes for the AVERAGE person to react before even initiating corrective measures(getting off the throttle;applying brakes;applying corrective steering),this unguided missile is already mowing people down.

Sorry for the long rant but people just DO NOT THINK about these possibilities.And it isn't just young people:

I experienced this first-hand several years ago while attending a car show(Car Wars III)in a neighboring town.Three dealerships (representing Ford,Chrysler,and GM)were participating.One of the dealers(who campaigns a Pro car)decided it would be fun to demonstrate how much of a fucking idiot he really was by lining up his car in the back row of the dealership lot and(with several hundred people standing along the row of used cars)and doing a series of really smoky power-on runs.

I can only imagine what would have transpired had his car broke an axle in the middle of a run.All you have to do is look at what happened yesterday to envision it.

A VERY sad day indeed!

 

This is already a front page news in swedish newspapers, and they describes it as an drag race event. Reading the lame article I figured out it to be a charity event. These kinds of things really blows my mind and my thoughts goes with the innocent bystanders, and the racer. Beeing a part of the drag racing community for 17 years I know 99 % of the racers puts safety first, and this must be a total accident. The driver probably doesn't feel so good but that's not an excuse. Racers often turn every effort into a good show and that's probably what' he tried to do.

 

Yes, I heard this morning to total dead is now at 7...

 

HAMBer Kennedy is from Selmer. He had left the show & was at the river when this all happened.

This burnout display has been a long-standing part of this show. Done on city streets with no guard rails, barricades, or crowd control. It is the stupidest thing I've ever heard of at a show. Anyone who wants to line up & take a chance is welcome to join in. The asshats at Spike TV (Hot Rod TV & Trucks) just eat this crap up. They feature it every year.

I heard that arms & legs were everywhere & people flew as high as the Sonic sign when the car went into the crowd.

How anyone involved in any of this thought that this was a good idea is beyond me. Who authorizes something so stupid? The city, promoter (who, incidentally, is a great guy), sponsors, & driver woke up with their asses in a sling this morning.

I hate it for all involved.

JH

 

Burnout events are for the Brain Dead. Everyone laughs at the idiots doing the burnout. You'd think that would tell them something.

 

This will haunt people's minds for a long, long time. The event promoters, the driver, his crew, EMTs, police, all the kids that witnessed it, and the family's of those kill or injured will dealing with this for a long time.

I hope everyone who hears this story learns a lesson. Let's all try to keep it safe on the streets. Speed limits, laws, etc are there for a reason. It only takes a second to change yours or someone else's life.

Thoughts and prayers go out to everyone in Selmer...

Let's keep the streets safe and the hobby enjoyable.

 

I second that. Larry's not an idiot---he's a good man and has a heart of pure gold---and he would NEVER intentionally allow anything to go on if he felt somebody might get hurt.
I know that doesn't diminish the scale of this tragedy, but I KNOW Larry Price is suffering almost as bad as the victim's families.
Such a sad, sad thing.

 

First of all my heart goes out to all the victims, the driver, the people that had to witness this disturbing tragedy etc.
In my opinion in a situation like this you can not go around pointing fingers, because obviously it was not intentionally done. Everybody is quick to say its the driver's fault, but who knows what really happend besides the driver and the man upstairs. When you watch any kind of motorsport event, and in this case an unusual one YOU ARE TAKING A RISK! We all know that but seem to forget real easily because in the last few years even though cars are getting faster they are also getting safer and fatal crashes and tragedies are less common. We take risks every time we get in our own cars. Whos to blame when your in the crowd watching a motorsport and a car and/or parts get airborne and hurt/kill someone in the crowd? Do you blame the driver,the crew, the manufacturer of the part or do you take it as a lesson learned? I know its kinda off subject but this is the same mentality people had when Dale Earnhardt got killed at Daytona a few years ago. Everybody was quick to point fingers but forgot what these guys were doing for a living because they were angry about what happened. There is many ways you can look at things. Im pretty shure the driver is not gonna want to live with his self if he recovers.

Reading this article on AOL (wich is how I first heard about it) says he slammed into a pole. Here is a link it has more updated info on it.

http://news.aol.com/topnews/articles/_a/drag-racing-crash-kills-seven-at-parade/20070617074709990001

After reading that, I (including myself), would not let anyone even get near this event wether it was some sort of a drag race or parade for charity, it just does not sound safe!!

 

This is bad.

 

So Sad, something meant to help ends up hurting. I pray for all affected, families grieving and hurting, and the race team. The driver is a 20 year drag race veteran, who knows what happened. I'd hate to pay that price for one bad decision.

 

My sympathy's to the family's of the killed and injured. Yes the driver has to live with this for the rest of his life but that doesn't make him un accountable for his actions.
Culpable driving occasioning death and severe bodily harm, the severity of the incident could put him away for life regardless of how sorrowful he is. So to will the event organisers be facing charges. Anyone that has put on a large public event would know all about that.
Doc.

 

Yes, Larry is a good guy. Done more for kids than most people ever hope to do. Too bad the shyster lawyers will make him out to be the next worst thing since Ted Bundy.

Being a devils advocate here. The lawyers will place 100% of the blame on Larry and the driver, but don't the spectators have some culpability into what happened? If I stood next to a 1500 hp pro mod should I not take some of the responsibility if I get hit??
There was a lack of common sense with the show promotors, the driver, AND the crowd.

 

The crowd more than likely had no idea of the danger, and were obviously not warned about it.

Regardless of the good intentions of the promoter, driver etc, this was a very easy thing to avoid.

Do you feel sorry for the drunk that slams his car into a bus load of kids?

There is no excuse for this kind of incident. I know it wasn't done on purpose but come on folks 2000 hp (Probably more), 2500 pounds, crowded city streets, NO BRAINER.

 

The crowd was aware of what was happening because it was announced over the loudspeaker beforehand. Also these burnout type runs on the street was a yearly thing at this event and was going on before the guy in the Pro Mod made his run.

You cannot compare this to a driver of a car driving into a crowd. The people were lined up along that gaudrail because they KNEW what was taking place-and wanted to see it.

 

This is terrible!

I went over for the day and visited with the Kennedy's and some other folks and left before all this happened. Looks like it was on the main road in front of the show.

It's incomprehensible that spectator safety was thrown to the winds
for the "thrill" of getting to watch this. It was thrilling, all right.

May God comfort all of the families involved in this senseless loss.

 

God Bless the The ones who died for this show of excess..God Bless the ones who saw and lived to tell about it...God Bless the poor Man who dropped the hammer and Did the wrong thing in the wrong place.. We all Have the CHOICE..and we all like to see what our cars can do..lets try to keep it rational and at a lower key..We as car buffs need to start legislating tward Drag ways so these shows of power can be kept where they belong..This was no ordinary "street" car and didnt belong in a crowd doing this..That said..every one on here has probably mashed the throttle once or twice..think next time you do it about how close people are and what you will do..say that throttle sticks and shes off in a direction you hadent anticpated..My prayers go out to those peoples families..all of them including the driver. :-(

 

The drunk didn't mean to slam into the bus either!! In my opinion both are just as stupid!

Did they announce it over the loudspeaker to tell everyone to stand back because of the danger, or to get the crowd excited about it, and therefore closer to the action?

It doesn't really matter what caused it, who set it up, or how long they have been doing it. It was STUPID, and hindsight is proving it!

These cars are what I build, I know them inside, outside and sometimes upside down. They can and will do stupid shit with or without driver input. To put them on the crowded street and turn them loose is STUPID!!!!!!!!! Regardless of intentions.

The chain of stupidity starts with the promoter and goes all the way down. Driver more so than others simply because he didn't have to hit the switch.

If my best friend who pilots our blown altered even suggested taking part in this type of STUPID display, I'd make sure the car wouldn't start. I have preached to every street race punk I have ever talked to about this kind of danger, to have a professional driver with that kind of time behind the wheel take part in it, is just disgusting.

We take part in as many local car shows as we can, to impress these types of crowds is pretty simple. Just start the fucker up, get some heat in it and whop the throttle once or twice. Make thier eyes water and ears ring and they are happy.

NUFF SAID?

 

Oh my.

This is horrible.

I started this thread last night but I didn't know any of the details. I just watched the vids and I got choked up.

I feel so sorry for the families involved.

I don't care what anyone says, the show promoter and the driver should be in hot water.



When I first read about this, I thought it might be a hopped up pro street car losing control. I had NO IDEA this was a full blown professional (pro mod) car. That fact makes it even worse....and in my opinion, makes the show manager and the driver MUCH more at fault.

This whole thing will have lots of repercussions.

I had no idea it was as bad as it is. Oh my. I really don't have the words to express how awful I feel over this whole thing. I especially feel sorry for those young people who got mowed down for a few seconds of bullshit.

 

tingler, not that it makes shit for difference, it was a promod car not a funny car...
i just can't believe how fucking dumb people are...not you tingler, i mean the driver+crew, promoter, the spectators all the way down the line

 

I fixed it.

Guess that shows how much I know about pro drag racing.


Here is a partial list of the victims. I just found this in one of the articles.

Please take a moment to think about these folks.

The Highway Patrol said Raven Griswell, 15, of Finger; and Sean Michael Driskill, 22, of Adamsville, died at the scene. Four others - Brook L. Pope, 20, of Selmer; Scarlett Replogle, 15, of Selmer; Kimberly A. Barfield, 17, of Adamsville; and Nicole Griswell, no age or hometown given - died later in area hospitals.

 

Its all kids,, FUCKIN KIDS!!! Happy Fathers Day, unbelievable.

 

I was surprised and shocked by the young ages that Tingler posted also. The newscast I heard this morning called them older adults.