DeFrank involved with crash with TS car in Fontana
 

Re: DeFrank involved with crash with TS car in Fontana
 

Do they normally pair T/S cars with stockers in time shots out west?

Ed F.

Re: DeFrank involved with crash with TS car in Fontana
 

Ed,
They do it here too. I almost had it happen at MIR a few years ago. Luckily for me the T/S car kept it on the wall.

That is a shame though looks like a nice car.
CHip

Re: DeFrank involved with crash with TS car in Fontana
 

The situation looked a little odd from my perspective. There were only three cars in the Test 'n Tune lanes assigned to cars using a three-amber, .500 tree. The four possible categories were, of course, Stock, Super Stock, TS and TD. One of the cars in the lanes was a GT/IA Super Stocker, the second was Jimmy D., and the third was the TS car. They were run in the order that they had arrived in the lanes. It could have been a different pairing but it wasn't. Jimmy left, wheels up, in the right lane, and as I recall, with a nearly perfect light. The TS sat until Jimmy was well past the tree but when he did launch, the run looked shaky right from the beginning. At about the time that the TS car pulled past the Stocker, it appeared to get out of shape, crossing in front of the Camaro and smacking the K-rail really hard in Jimmy's lane. Jimmy had very little time and very little room to avoid t-boning the wreck that was scattered across his lane. I saw pictures taken by a spectator that showed Jimmy's car with smoke coming off the right-side tires as it slid across the centerline. The left tires were both off the ground. It appeared to me that he might miss the wall altogether but after swapping ends and sliding backward, generally facing in the direction of the starting line, it swung back and smacked the wall on the right front corner after a good deal of the speed had been scrubbed off. There appeared to be significant sheet metal damage although the front wheel seemed to be in the right place and the frame damage was hopefully minimal. Of course, there may be more damage than I could see.

My reactions:
1. It doesn't seem to be a good idea to mismatch cars that have such a disparity in performance, especially when there is plenty of time, the lanes are sparsely populated, and more suitable match-ups are present.

2. Jimmy did a good job of dealing with a really bad set of circumstances. Had he not completed the spin in the way he did, he would likely have center-punched the wreck with a high level of probability that someone would have been SERIOUSLY hurt.

3. I was really glad it wasn't me! (in either lane).

c

Re: DeFrank involved with crash with TS car in Fontana
 

Is Jimy ok? I hate that for the DeFrank family and all involved.

Re: DeFrank involved with crash with TS car in Fontana
 

Sorry, I should have included what little I know about the condition of the drivers. Jimmy was out of the car by the time the track workers arrived. As of yesterday morning, he commented to me that he was feeling fine. I have no information regarding the driver of the TS car. At Fontana, Stock/SS has its own pit area somewhat removed from the rest of the competitors. Many of the Super cars are almost a mile from the starting line in the opposite direction so we rarely see those people. I didn't recognize the name of the other driver. Logically, human nature being what it is, no news is good news. If he had been seriously injured I'm fairly sure we would have heard something (probably an exaggerated version) yesterday.

c

Re: DeFrank involved with crash with TS car in Fontana
 

And I heard the T/S driver somehow had the nerve to bitch (afterwards) at DeFrank for some reason...

Re: DeFrank involved with crash with TS car in Fontana
 

What??? Complain to the DeFrank's?

What is he going to do? Sue the DeFrank's in the same way as Lori Johns sued Jim VanCleve after the crash in Comp Eliminator many years ago?
Give me a break!!!

Re: DeFrank involved with crash with TS car in Fontana
 

In any event it doesn't sound as if the crash would have been Jimmy's fault anyway. Anything can and will happen on the racetrack but I have seen time and time again how drivers are overmatched by the high HP TS or TD cars. Maybe someone should learn when to lift?

Just my $.02

Re: DeFrank involved with crash with TS car in Fontana
 

.......and who caused this accident??? Was it Jimmy's fault? I don't think so!