RE: Phil and Dallas Smith
Miscommunications on stage notes had me thinking I had "100" after the R5 before the L1....nope. She called it, I just didn't process it. Seeing that I clearly was going to launch off the far end of the hairpin, I stood on the brakes (bad habits learned at the track) and slid into a rather sturdy tree. 40? 45? 50? I'm not sure, but I was in third gear at the time of impact.
Enough that the front of the MG is toast. Front frame rails are pushed up, displacing the driveline rearward about 4 inches, so the rear axle is bent. From the firewall on back, the car looks to be intact, no ripples, no creases, no cracked paint, no popped welds (that I have can see so far). Windscreen and cowl intact. Cage totally unphased. Good, strong car. Obviously I've got to get this mess apart, but at this point I'm hopeful that if I can find a front clip we can get 'er fixed and on the road in time for ....?LSPR. Obviously engine and gearbox need disassembly and inspection to look for thrust surface damage as well.
I had the wind badly knocked out of me and in a panic for air unbuckled and got out despite my back absolutely killing me. She also was suffering pretty significant back pain. We both pretty quickly came to our senses about possible spinal injury and laid down and asked for backboards/braces. They took good care of us and we were both relieved to see XRays of necks/backs with no displacements/fractures. Right now, it's time for lots of Motrin, heating pads, and Percocet at night for a few days....
I'll take this moment to comment on a recurring topic here, since I unfortunately now have first-hand knowledge: helmets and harness mounts. We pull our harnesses down very tight, this was the first event on brand new harnesses, and I have the shoulder belts originating on a bar just behind the seats. We also both wear full face helmets. Inspection of our stuff today shows my steering wheel bent in about 2 inchs at the top and a large crack and scuff on my helmet's chin bar. There is now NOTHING anybody can say to me that would allow me to think that anchoring the shoulder harness further back in the car or wearing an open face helmet makes much sense; it sure looks like I would have been in some oral surgeon's OR last night otherwise.
Dallas and I both greatly appreciate the concern shown by fellow competitors, workers and spectators alike, thank you.
Any word on what happened to Dan/Bill/510? They had their rig next to ours this morning at the PennWells, and that was the first I knew that Historic Class now has been virtually halved.... I heard they were OK, but the car sure was ugly this morning.