Last night just before 8pm at the California 200 off road truck race, one of the most horrific motorsports accidents happened. It was in lucerne valley california at soggy dry lake, I was there and it was horrific. A truck lost it in a section called the rock pile and swiped into a huge crowd, and then rolled. 8 people were confirmed dead and 12 injured. Most of them severely. This has never happened at a truck race and will surely change the sport forever. I know a lot of you on this board are into off road racing, and if your not I know you all have hearts. I would love for all us hambers to keep the victims as well as their families and friends in your hearts and prayers. A very reputable Charity foundations www.fast-aid.org has already set up a account for these folks. if any of you could spare a few bucks to help out the victims Im sure it would greatly appreciated. If you would like to know more about this, punch in california 200 into google, or just turn on your local news. its all over the airwaves. thanks, David
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hell , the crowd was even throwing rocks at the driver. It will for sure change things . To close to the track , i guess. god bless.
This is horrible, but from all the footage I have seen of desert racing (which I want to do so badly, but they dont around here) it surprises me this is the first time something like this has happend. I read on another news site, that the spectators killed/injured were on the track side of the fence that had been setup, but at this point it is just hearsay. I feel for the families, but I hope it doesnt kill the sport.
1. Rocks were not thrown at the driver, he got out of his truck and took off running. He knew he just killed many people and was completely distraught, he went into shock very soon after he took off. the co driver got out and was running circles around the truck screaming, i cant imagine that happening to me.... so, i have no idea where the media came up with the rock story, because it didnt happen. 2. there was no fence, If anyone has seen the footage of the truck crashing, i was standing close to where it was taken. i was actually talking to a buddy about how everyone was getting way to close this year and how we thought something bad was going to happen. less then a min late i saw the truck come through and i just knew it wasnt going to be good. Its normal for a crowd to surround the track like that in a truck race, nothing has ever happened before. this time people were just to close and a horrible thing happened. As a racer of these trucks myself, this is every drivers worst nightmare. we think about it a lot, now its reality.
It has happened many times in the Baja races. As a former racer my self, I once hit a Chevy S-10 Blazer that was on the outside of a corner after a high speed road crossing (Near Slash X for those that know) The Blazer was occupied by two guys who were EMT's for the race and had parked there for a better view of the Race! The almost needed their own services. The impact of my class 10 car totaled the Blazer and I had a knee injury. If I'd have been in my Class 7 Truck it would have been much worse. During all the years I raced I was amazed there weren't more incidents like that. It used to scare the hell out of me. We were in one race where spectators were trying to slap the cars as they went by! The stupidity of the human race never ceases to amaze me. I talked to guy who was in the middle of this and said the driver did not take off running but did freak out when he got out, but was still near the back of the crowd shaking in shock. They tried to comfort and stabilize him. Although my heart goes out to all, I especially feel bad for the driver as he will have to live with the consequences of the actions of people who were too stupid to stay back a safe distance. Apparently MDR had put up NO Spectating signs and snow fencing in the area and the crowd had torn them down long before the race ever started, although I have not confirmed that. They also have a rule that spectators must stay back 100 ft from the course, but no one ever bothers to follow that!
Never understood why people stand so close in this type of racing....victims in my prayers ! Very sad......
ugh. really really feel bad for those people and families, and feel bad for the driver and crew of truck. i've been racing in Baja for a few years now. strange thing is that the crowds take MUCH bigger risks in Mexico and this has never happened there. for some reason, racing in the U.S. just seemed safer, but i guess it's only as safe as the crowd wants to be. our first race in new class 10 is next week at Vegas to Reno. i'm not sure how the crowds can be controlled over a course of 500 miles through the desert? the big risk (other than the risks the crowds take) is that the events get shut down. prayers to their families, and i will take a look at fast-aid.
Actually incidents have happened in Baja. Perhaps not as horrible but there have been some pretty ugly things happen over the years. It is never a good thing when someone gets hurt at a race. if you are a driver you have to accept that it is the nature of the beats. but as a spectator you never really expect anything to happen to you. I feel for everyone involved. The driver will probably never get over it, but unless you have seen a terrible incident in your time you can't understand how negatively it will effect those who witnessed it as well.
I understand that. This Summer at the 500, my buddy on our crew broke his neck and leg - for doing something stupid - was hit by a truck. He'll recover fully. At the 250 a local spectator had his leg ripped off - for doing something stupid. Always feels safer IN the race truck. On average 1 spectator per year dies - usually a local. BUT... this is 20 people ran over in one swoop, and 8 dead! This is worse than I have ever heard of at ANY racing event. Here's one vote to save the judgement, and offer a prayer. Or maybe offer something to the original posters link. The deceased family members didn't do anything stupid and they are paying a large price right now
I can't believe the people just stand right there along the side of the road! Doesn't look like a safe place to be. My heart goes out to all involved <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/EvNyFr_CtiM?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/EvNyFr_CtiM?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>
+2 on that, particularly if that's true. You want to go to a race track to have a big ol' party, go to a Nascar race, they put up fences for a reason.
Safety rules are written in the blood of the dead and wounded. Yet people have to get their jollies standing next to speeding racers on the course. It's stupid!
if i had the money this is a sport id be in..as my heart goes out to the people injured a lot of people live in a little bubble that everything is safe. common sense goes right out the window. this sucks for the sport, just something else for the anti offroaders to sink their teeth in...
Man, that's terrible news. The off-road crowd better hang on, it's gonna get rough for them soon. Rally in europe can be the same way. I've seen footage of fans trying to reach out and touch the cars as they go by. I've been a corner worker at several events and I can't believe people would get that close on purpose. Shawn
It was going to happen sooner or later,everytime these races take place,saftey is not a factor at all ,they let people line up right on the edge of the track and if you watch the newsclip no wonder this happens.After this,the off-road racing spectators might just wake up and maybe some saftey issues will be put into effect.Its sad that people have to die just to fix an existing problem.Deepest sympathy to all the families
How do you control hundreds of beer drinking spectators? People seem to be getting dumber all the time. Dont get me wrong, I enjoy a cold one, but I respect 4000+ lb vehicles and what they can do if they hit me or one of my loved ones. The poor driver will have to live with this forever. I just hope the powers that be dont shut down this type of racing all together.
Look at the media already tying this crash to the NHRA spectator death to the out of control drag car at that car show a couple years back.........yes I saw an online story along those lines yesterday. This is not good for the car hobby at all. Kill your television.
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