CALIF' 200 race / 8 Dead

[Dirty-Detour]

Been goggle-n all morning,  Best link i've found so far.
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http://www.news4jax.com/nationalnews/24636292/detail.html#video
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http://bajasafari.blogspot.com/2010/08/bulletin-desert-off-road-race-disaster.html
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[Metal Twister]

Im suprised it hasnt happened long before now... I cant make myself watch it.

[99xj]

Im suprised it hasnt happened long before now... I cant make myself watch it.

Yeah I've seen some close calls at other races over the years. Spectators just don't have the concept of how fast and out of control, just dangerous it is being that close to the cars as they go by.

I feel for the families that lost loved ones in the accident.

[Metal Twister]

Just like the sand drags at Gordons... Just a matter of time.

[JustChad]

It sucks people died.  From what I read on Yahoo the driver had to run away to a safe location because people started throwing rocks at him.  It amazes me evry time I have been to a race or seen one on TV how close people get to the tracks.  These drivers are doing their best to keep a very powerful vehicle under control but they can easily lose control and if people would respect that then things like this wouldn't happen.  I just hope that this will act as some kind of wake up call to everyone. 

[Chief Gunner]

You know, the truth of the matter is anyone who races competitively has to balance their vehicle right on the edge of being in control and out of control.  It is real easy to cross that line into out of control.  I feel for everyone affected by this accident.  I only hope that sanity and cool heads prevail in the coming days, weeks, and months.  I would hate to see knee jerk reactions ruin a sport.

[Rubic03]

my best friend is friends with the driver of this truck... and he is in bootcamp and doesn't know about this crash....

Prayers for all the families who lost loved ones in this crash

[Mikegyver1]

What a shame

[Mikegyver1]

When I used to race in the Fud races / Superstitions series the race course was 50ft from center line wide on both sides. People didn't stack up that close to the race course. Even if you felt safe from the vehicles, the rocks being thrown from the tires were coming at you like they were shot from a canon. Stay off the race course people.

[hurleyup]

Fans push the limits and then blog about the driver. I am so sick of Haters. The next generation scares the  outa me!


http://bajasafari.blogspot.com/2010/08/bulletin-desert-off-road-race-disaster.html

[dezertcrawlin]

This was an ACCIDENT!  I know the driver if the truck and this was an offroad race.  You cannot control some things in a race and this is one of them.  I feel extremely bad for everyone involved.  My prayers have been going out to the families and friends of everyone involved.  I missed this race this year but have gone the last 4 years in a row and my friends usually race but not this year.  Last year my friends and I were parked in the same spot the truck rolled.

Do not believe anything you read from the news sites.  They are putting this way out of proportion which is very unfortuanate for us as an offroad community.  This is just fuel for more desert to be closed unfortunately.  The driver did NOT have rocks thrown at him, he left the scene because he could not bare with what happened.  I could not imagine being the driver or anyone on scene.  Very tramatizing accident.  Keep everyone in your thoughts and prayers.

Some offroad racers have setup a donation website for the victims and families.  http://www.fast-aid.org/california-200.html

Donate if you can and support the people that really need it right now.  We all have to stick together as an ofroad community even if this is mostly a rock crawling website it is still desert and offroad.

For info a better site would be racedezert.  The news is pretty bad at getting accurate info.  http://www.race-dezert.com/forum/forumdisplay.php/3-Desert-Racing

I could barely sleep last night after finding out about this.

[dezertcrawlin]

When I used to race in the Fud races / Superstitions series the race course was 50ft from center line wide on both sides. People didn't stack up that close to the race course. Even if you felt safe from the vehicles, the rocks being thrown from the tires were coming at you like they were shot from a canon. Stay off the race course people.

They were not on the course.  The truck was trying to avoid a slower truck in front of him and hit his brakes and was turned full lock as he landed and the truck shot sideways and rolled.  A FRIEK ACCIDENT.

I was spectating in the exact same area last year.  Kinda makes you think a little now tho...  I will never look at another race the same

[Mikegyver1]

They were not on the course.  The truck was trying to avoid a slower truck in front of him and hit his brakes and was turned full lock as he landed and the truck shot sideways and rolled.  A FRIEK ACCIDENT.

I was spectating in the exact same area last year.  Kinda makes you think a little now tho...  I will never look at another race the same

I agree with you.... I feel for everyone envolved and my prayers go out to everyone.
Just saying people are getting way to close to the action leaving no room for error.

 This is from the race site spectator rules

Spectators - Please observe the following rules:
?Be aware the desert tortoise is a protected species
?Cross the course only at road crossings
?Do not interfere with the teams in the pits
?Do not park with your lights on and facing on coming race vehicles
?Do not spectate on the outside of a curve or turn
?Do not spectate within 100 feet of the course
?Do not stand or drive on the course
?Never drive backwards on the course
?No noise after 11:00 pm on the night before the race
?Remove all trash - haul out more than you haul in
?Spectate only on the pit side of the course
?The speed limit around the pits and in all camping areas is 15 MPH

[84sr5]

It was just a matter of time something like this was going to happen here in the states,2 years ago at the start of the 1000 some spectators were killed, it happens all the time in Europen rally races, You didn,t see those accidents on the news at 7am on sunday morning. So now the media will spin this to make off roading racing or off roaders some sort of "EVIL" sport just you watch. I,m sorry for the families and for the driver of this terrible accident but that,s exactly what it was..........an accident.

[Rubic03]

i was just watching 5 news and they said that the driver had to leave because of angry spectators... news lying again?

[84socal]

yes the news is lying     the driver was not getting rocks thrown at him    my buddy was there     he was very close friends to the girl that died there  
i also know dave cole  the promoter for king of the hammers   he was standing 15 feet from  my freind dallas


this will change the way racing  is as a spectator sport  as we know it right now      i have a feeling  sledge at koh next year   will not be how it has been in the past years

my prayers go out to the family and friends  of injured and lost       and   my prayers also  go out to the driver  and co driver     this is a tragic thing that wil be with them for the rest of their life    i hope he doenst get out of the racing scene now  

http://bajasafari.blogspot.com/

theres also a pretty big thread on dezertrangers.com    but u have to be a member    iv been mostly following there





hey dezertcrawlling     i heard somethign about the rear trailing arm     broke  and thats why he started to swap  u got any info on that ???

[SNOTROCKET]

my heart goes out to all thos invloved. but i do agree. this incident will definately change the way spectators view these races. its too bad it takes an incident like this for people to realize that standing right next to a race track with vehicles going 70+ MPH is not such a great idea. 

[Metal Twister]

Im looking at these videos and wondering where is the common sense with all those spectators? Look at the crowd and how close they are to the speeding trucks. How could this not happen? I see it in Mexico all the time and to be honest thats one of the reasons I dont enjoy going down there anymore. Unless you have a helicopter spotter telling you whats around the next corner its just too crazy. I have a good friend who picked off a couple going the wrong direction on a quad last Mexico race. Weatherman took over and he finished. But he left a couple of people laying in the desert pretty busted up. Im a big time desert race fan but until some kind of spectator responsibility is observed Im not sure its worth it? At the same time I dont know what the answer is. Id hate to loose a great sport with a rich So Cal /Mexico history. The races are about the only thing keeping the Mexican economy going in some small community's.    The loss of life is always tragic! Especially young life while attending a fun event. My heart felt sorrow goes out to all involved. I hope somehow that positive things follow as a result of this tragedy and that we all learn from these mistakes.    Very Sad Day Indeed.

[yotarunner]

?Do not spectate within 100 feet of the course.
If this rule was followed those people would be alive to tell about the crash.

[Dirty-Detour]

Different video angle showing truck being lifted off injured on LA news channel...........
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15QQ_BEl82E&feature=related