???Don Eckel & Mike Saye CRASH at Z-Max???
 

Does anyone have any info on an incedent that happened during the last session of qualifying??

Re: ???Don Eckel & Mike Saye CRASH at Z-Max???
 

This is second hand so take it for what it is worth. What I was told is that the NHRA official signaled Donnie to make the turn at the end of the track. Mike Saye had no brakes and his car plowed into Donnie's as Donnie was turning

Again, this is second hand although the person who told me was waiting at the end of the track for those two cars to pull off the track and the accident happened right in front of him. The NHRA official might have a different version of the events.

Re: ???Don Eckel & Mike Saye CRASH at Z-Max???
 

Yes, Dave pretty much has it right. I made the run, had the chute out, pretty much uneventful. I saw the turnoff worker (who apparently is veteran help according to G Light.) with the bright green gloves in the middle of the track giving me the signal to turn off. As I made the swing, the last thing I heard was someone yell "SLOW DOWN!" A split second later I was center punched right at the footbox into the sand trap by Saye who had lost his brakes. I questioned myself afterward if I had seen the right signal, but others in the area confirmed I saw him correctly. I spoke to the worker later in the day, and his comments to me pretty much confirmed that he had an idea that Saye was in trouble, so I have no idea why I was waved in. I am OK other than a few bruises where I hit the bars with my legs, hip, knees, and ankle. Thankfully , Kurt put me in a well built car and the hit wasn't 3 feet further back. The chassis and body are pretty much junk. I will say this though, I will NEVER make that mistake again of trusting the turnout people to do the right thing when the other car is out of my line of sight. There will some people doing alot of pushing.

Re: ???Don Eckel & Mike Saye CRASH at Z-Max???
 

don sorry to hear about your mishap but cars can be rebuilt and you cant. glad you are ok.
if it was me that track worker would not have been !

russ

Re: ???Don Eckel & Mike Saye CRASH at Z-Max???
 

Thanks Russ, see you soon.

Re: ???Don Eckel & Mike Saye CRASH at Z-Max???
 

I second what Russ said, especially the part about you being ok.

Re: ???Don Eckel & Mike Saye CRASH at Z-Max???
 

Don and Mike

Glad you guys are ok.

But, I am surprised this does not happen more often. I was inches from taking out Arnie years back. We were at Gainesville, I was in the right lane, running about 160, and I did not pull the chute because I really did not have to, and it was very windy. Arnie was in the left lane going about 180, pulls his chute, slows down, and gets waved off the track directly in front of me at the 'earlier' turnoff, but, I was still going about 50 - maybe 60 MPH.

As he begins to make the right turn in front of me, I try to slam the brakes, but going to fast to stop. I had two choices.. take out Arnie, or the official standing there, well I thought Arnie was the better choice since he was in the car with safety equipment on, but I made an attempt at missing both of them...

I took it half way in the grass, and somehow passed between Arnie and the track official. I could not figure out how I did not hit Arnie, until later when Arnie said that he began to turn off, when he noticed the sudden scare on the official's face, and stopped dead!

Since then, I try to plan out the race, and tell my opponent if I am going to run to the last turnoff or not.. These days, NHRA has blocked most or all of the early turn offs this is not a problem at most tracks like it used to be.. but freak things can happen, like to Don and Mike.

Be careful out there.
Sal

Re: ???Don Eckel & Mike Saye CRASH at Z-Max???
 

This is truly an unfortunate incident........ glad to hear that DE3 and Mike Saye are OK........

Re: ???Don Eckel & Mike Saye CRASH at Z-Max???
 

I was asked by a friend about the accident but I wasn't sure about the answer so I'll ask it here. When this type of accident happens who is at fault? Does the track have insurance to cover the repairs?

Re: ???Don Eckel & Mike Saye CRASH at Z-Max???
 

In a nutshell, no. We spoke directly to Graham Light shortly after the incident to inquire about any coverage, because in my eyes, I did nothing wrong except put my trust in his worker. His exact words were that it was an "unfortunate racing incident", and that NHRA only provides excess medical coverage if you are injured. What's really unfortunate is that I lost a car, and this probably won't be the last time something like this happens, and its certainly not the first, because of the ineptness of someone at the end of the track. I had a minor incident once before when my chute got caught on a guardrail at a turnoff years ago while 4 workers sat on haybales. Not even so much as a warning from any of them that it had reblossomed and swung around on me.

Re: ???Don Eckel & Mike Saye CRASH at Z-Max???
 

Glad everyone is ok, or as well as can be expected..........the thing that upsets me is .......being home watching & listening....never heard anything about.............no body wants to bash the sport or nhra, but its nice to know the real stories, not just what they want you to know..............it reminds me of the year of the keystones when numerous trailers & race cars were under water & the owners came back the next day looking for their trailers only to find that they were towed out of the water.......thanks to some dedicated maple grove employees / nhra & a backhoe..............we took several pictures & sent them into the " dragster " just so people could see what can happen when mother nature roars, but nothing was said or no pictures posted......................again. I'm glad you guys are ok, & i hope this type of information doesn't fall between the cracks....if not for this web site i would have never known, not to mention others who did not know.......

Re: ???Don Eckel & Mike Saye CRASH at Z-Max???
 

Don, Did not know yoou were in the cash.glad to here your ok.To bad about the car,can be replaced.Again if it wasn't for this site,I would not have known.
Bob Lasko
SS/CS
1134

Re: ???Don Eckel & Mike Saye CRASH at Z-Max???
 

Relatively simple. Car on exit hole side of the track ALWAYS has the right of way. When that car is by, the other lane car has a clear path off the track. Odd car need a push or pull? Safety first at the cost of periodic inconvenience.

Regards,
Dave Robertson

Re: ???Don Eckel & Mike Saye CRASH at Z-Max???
 

Dear Mr. Johnny-Come-Lately, simple would have been if the green-gloved idiot at the end of the track knew what was going on in front of him.

Re: ???Don Eckel & Mike Saye CRASH at Z-Max???
 

No real need to get snarky about my suggestion. There was an accident, wasn't there? Somebody assumed something. If it was like I said, there would have been direction to allow the inside car to finish his route, FOLLOWED by the crossover.No one wants to see any racers wrecked or worse still injured. Oh by the way on your "Johnny come Lately" comment, I was on a crew for a national level record holder in the 60's. At that time some tracks lacked guardrails, much less barriers.I can understand the incident was upsetting and disappointing to both you and your racing program. All I said was standardize the format.

Regards,
Dave Robertson

Re: ???Don Eckel & Mike Saye CRASH at Z-Max???
 

No real need to get snarky about my suggestion. There was an accident, wasn't there? Somebody assumed something. If it was like I said, there would have been direction to allow the inside car to finish his route, FOLLOWED by the crossover.No one wants to see any racers wrecked or worse still injured. Oh by the way on your "Johnny come Lately" comment, I was on a crew for a national level record holder in the 60's. At that time some tracks lacked guardrails, much less barriers.I can understand the incident was upsetting and disappointing to both you and your racing program. All I said was standardize the format.

Regards,
Dave Robertson

Re: ???Don Eckel & Mike Saye CRASH at Z-Max???
 

Well we didn't know you were a pit bitch in the 60s....well that changes everything.....why didn' you say that in the first place....now we know how to race from here out because NOTHING has changed from the 60s to today!

The crew guys know everything the drivers are just idiots behind the wheel I guess.

Thanks for your input....

Re: ???Don Eckel & Mike Saye CRASH at Z-Max???
 

like i said before, onl;y a suggestion to further safety. common sense isn't limited to the drivers, the crews or the spectators. Don't see many of the chirpers in the all time winners circles. More than a pleasure to sign off from this jerkoff site.

Re: ???Don Eckel & Mike Saye CRASH at Z-Max???
 

we are not asking for you to sign off.....what we are asking is to not be ignorant with someone elses problems and understand that a car going 7.0s VS a car running 10-11s cant make the decision to STOP on the track and let the other guy come by him when there is a person REGULATING the turn off procedure

Re: ???Don Eckel & Mike Saye CRASH at Z-Max???
 

chris, your everywhere..............tommy d tought you good..........i heard macy's is looking for a new pr man , just in time for the parade...........................your the ticket............glad to see your on top of things......................................see ya at the banquet...!






wayne

Re: ???Don Eckel & Mike Saye CRASH at Z-Max???
 

Don, you won't even get a letter of opoligy from NHRA. Yes my brake rod fell out of car and i had put faith in the trap and net, boy was i wrong, i am very lucky to have survived the crash lil on landing upside down in a lake, very close to drowning! Sorry to hear about your wreck but they could give a crap less!:mad:

Re: ???Don Eckel & Mike Saye CRASH at Z-Max???
 

being a turnaround worker, i need to speak of this. I have seen a worker wave in a t/f car and the other one lost his brakes also. trashed both of them. Last year at Dallas, i was just about to open the second gate to let Shelly Payne in, luckily I saw the other P/M car coming up fast and waved her down to the 3rd gate. Avoided what could have been a big disaster. I know that now that one person pretty much travels to all the Nats and does the traffic cop thing.

You have to remember that you have 100's of cars coming down to the big end. It's very unfortunate, but it's like driving in rush hour traffic, you loose concentration. Of course, when cars are coming at you anywhere from 150 to300 mph, it hard to judge how fast they are going. Ecspecially when they are coming STRAIGHT at you.

Sorry it happens to any racer. I know how much time and money they put into their cars. It's a big loss when this happens.

Re: ???Don Eckel & Mike Saye CRASH at Z-Max???
 

Woodro, although I understand what you are saying, I do believe that there are people out there who truly do care about our safety and well being, in all aspects. Unfortunately, I think they all reside in the middle and not at the top and bottom rungs of the ladder. We are held accountable for our appearance and actions at the track, at what point do they become accountable? Anyway, I'm glad you were OK after your incident also.

Bobby, your analogy of rush hour traffic is exactly why you should have the MOST concentration. There is alot more going on around you to require your attention. And in the case of my incident, neither car was going nearly that fast. I was going maybe 5 MPH and I'll guess at that point Mike was going 30-40 when he hit me. The real problem I have is that after speaking with the turnout worker, it became apparent to me that he knew there was a problem, yet he STILL made the wrong decision. There are alot more of these incidents and near misses than you can imagine, many unmentioned. I'm curious, did you receive or know of any formal training for the job at the turnouts? If not, then what qualifies you or anyone else to be out there with the potential of someones safety in your hands? Its easy to say that its just unfortunate when it's not you.

Re: ???Don Eckel & Mike Saye CRASH at Z-Max???
 

You hit it on the head Don......... with the key word beng "accountable".......... the NHRA should be held accountable for incidents like this, especially when an accident occurs as a result of an employees actions........ Mr Light's explanation of it being an unfortunate racing incident is a lame attempt at avoiding accountability and is unacceptable........ wonder what his response would be if someone threw an anchor line into the props of his yacht and apologized claiming it to be an unfortunate yachting incident........

Do you think that incidents like this should be brought to the table during the off season by our SRAC reps???........ and would it be out of line to ask for compensation as a result of negligence???........ I think not........

Re: ???Don Eckel & Mike Saye CRASH at Z-Max???
 

No we don't have any formal training. In years past we just use to vote we got to guide the cars in, now there is the same person working most of the tracks with that job. It's one that i wouldn't want to have anymore. Did it for one year and didn't want to be responsible for any accidents. Now I just push cars out of the way and roll up parachutes.

Yes, I believe that NHRA needs to do something about that, esp after seeing a coworker guide 2 t/f cars into each other.

My anology about the freeway is that if you are standing between 2 cars and they are coming straight at you, you cannot tell how fast they are going. And you cannot tell who is in front of the other.

Re: ???Don Eckel & Mike Saye CRASH at Z-Max???
 

Makes sense to me.

M68

Re: ???Don Eckel & Mike Saye CRASH at Z-Max???
 

When I worked at my local track when I was younger it was told to everyone that the car on the inside lane (the exit side of track) ALWAYS had the right of way. If the faster car was in the outside lane and finished first would wait at the turn off until the inside car turned off. Everyone caught on and it worked. I still do this till this day when I race at other tracks. It works!! Very simple...... I am sorry this incident happened. Thank goodness everyone is ok.

Robert

Re: ???Don Eckel & Mike Saye CRASH at Z-Max???
 

In 93 at the fall Nationals in Topeka the same thing happened to me. My car was totaled! I was unhurt. I talked to the worker who waved me in front of the other car and it was the same story. (didn't realize how fast I was going). After talking to the workers, I found out that it was the workers FIRST race and had had NO training. Later that weekend I stood where I could see the turn off and watched them try to crash two pairs of F/C's that weekend. NHRA avoided me like when ever I asked questions. Even my Division Director. No help at all morally or financially.
It's sad to see that NHRA still haven't fixed the problem. When you have an "Official" directing you, you follow his lead.